"It's been almost a year of struggle..." - Magnus Cort Nielsen turns difficult period around with Catalunya success

The Volta a Catalunya has started off with two stages fit for the sprinters, both of which with uphill finales. Whilst the opening day saw more of a GC-oriented sprint, day 2 saw the fast men more present; and it was none other than Magnus Cort Nielsen who took the victory for Uno-X Mobility.

"Yes, it was a tough stage. On the descent, there was a huge battle for positions; I don't really like that, so I was a bit far back. But the team kept believing in me," the Dane said in a post-race interview. "I don't know how they did it, but the team guided me from last to first position between 3 km and 1.5 kilometers from the finish. Then, I had Anton Charmig to make the final push. It was incredible, a real team effort".

It is something not many sprinters managed to do. Ethan Vernon, Alberto Dainese and Dorian Godon were nowhere near Cort Nielsen when the sprint was launched, neither were they in contention for the stage win. It was a perfect positioning job, culminated by a perfect sprint in which there was little doubt who was the strongest.

"Here in Catalunya, there are a lot of stages like this, small group sprints that suit me well. That's why I've wanted to come for years," he adds. However, surprisingly, it's his first ever win in the Catalan race, which he considers almost a home race.

"I'm really excited to win, especially since it's a place I know very well. When I turned pro, I lived in Girona for several years. I still love coming here for training camps. I've ridden this road a million times on my rest days; it's the perfect recovery ride to come for a swim in the lake. For me, it's like winning at home".

This was Cort Nielsen's 35th pro win, and 14th at World Tour level. The 33-year old is a rider used to winning at the highest level, but such hadn't happened in almost two years. After a difficult 2025 and a start to the current season that didn't look too promising, he is now back to speed.

"Look, it's still a great World Tour win, but it's different because I'm coming back from a difficult period," the veteran says with honesty.

"Last year, I rode the Tour de France, but I kept fighting despite the fatigue, which turned out to be a bad decision. In the end, I only had two days of racing after the Tour. I trained for a long time without managing to get back to my previous level. It's been almost a year of struggle, so I'm really happy to be here and able to win again".