Philippa York suggests Remco Evenepoel used Catalunya as "more of a form check for the upcoming Ardennes rather than comparison with Vingegaard"
Cycling
The 2026 Volta a Catalunya brought together, on paper, virtually all the big names expected to fight for the general classifications at the upcoming Grand Tours. That is how Philippa York frames her analysis, noting the start list was hard to improve, with one major absentee: Tadej Pogacar, alongside the victory of Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel’s bittersweet week.
The Briton underlines that the Slovenian chose an alternative calendar focused on the Classics, delaying his return to stage racing until the Tour de Romandie. Meanwhile, the rest of the contenders did show up in Catalonia with a twin goal: to trade blows and gauge their real condition against direct rivals.
"All those who consider themselves serious GC contenders were there. Everyone, except Tadej Pogačar," notes York, stressing the competitive weight of this edition.
In that context, Jonas Vingegaard started as the benchmark. According to York, his status as the only rider able to challenge Pogačar’s throne made him the standout favourite. "Jonas Vingegaard set the tone and, being the only one who could rival Pogacar, he was the clear favourite," she explains.
Evenepoel caught between two targets
Around him, riders like Remco Evenepoel, João Almeida, and Tom Pidcock arrived needing to validate their form. For the Belgian, the bar was high after his start to the season: "Remco Evenepoel needed to rediscover the form that allowed him to crush everyone in January and February."
Evenepoel’s case merits its own chapter in York’s reading. The Belgian showed a more solid version than in recent outings, but still short of his top level. "It wasn’t as bad as at the UAE Tour last month, but it also wasn’t the performance the team management would have wished for," she says.
The analyst also suggests his approach may have been shaped by the calendar. "Seeing how he rode in the days before the mountain stages, I can’t help but think this was more a form check for the upcoming Ardennes races than a direct comparison with Jonas Vingegaard."
In that sense, the conclusion is nuanced: "Catalunya can be considered a success, as he was dynamic, strong, and present in the opening days, but then he chased rather than raced in the high mountains."
York also highlights others looking to reassert themselves, like Oscar Onley, at a key moment after an uneven start: "This was a decisive moment, the time to step up after the disappointments at Paris-Nice."
INEOS fails to convince in the GC
One team that did not come out well in the review was INEOS Grenadiers. There were positives, especially with Dorian Godon, but the GC fight never truly took shape.
York underlines the Frenchman’s role in attritional sprints: "Repeating the feat two days later, while wearing the leader’s jersey, showed he was a valuable asset: the sprinter who can survive medium-mountain stages." His victory in the points classification, she adds, "was well deserved."
Oscar Onley at the 2026 Volta a Catalunya with INEOS
The doubts surfaced in the mountains. "They tried to take control on uphill finishes, but Onley and Rodríguez couldn’t hold their own when the fight narrowed to the top climbers, and that’s a concern," she analyses.
The requirement was clear: "It’s understandable they couldn’t match Vingegaard when he attacked, but one of them should have been in the immediate chase group."
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Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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- Not just ManU, far worse in some minority sports ventures.Jumpyjohn12-11-2026
- From your writing it sounds like you’ve been sharing your views with people here for quite a while, quite presumouptuous for a new profile.Jumpyjohn12-11-2026
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- Bingo...I was also going to say that young pretty women are obsessed Pogi fan girls... who are chasing him. All glossy "____" (blank) about Tadej. PS: You can all fill in the "blank" yourselves, whatever you prefer. The definition of glossy is: It looks unusually shiny, glazed over, watery, or vacant/unfocused.PogiSloFans12-11-2026
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- PogiSloFansUpToDate: The Tadej Pogačar Foundation has awarded scholarships for the 2026/2027 school and academic year in Slovenia. It received more than 60 applications from young people who have faced cancer, and all of them were approved. This year, Pogi's Foundation has therefore signed scholarship agreements with 63 recipients, totalling €166,000. This is almost double last year’s amount, when it awarded 35 scholarships worth €94,000. Pogačar: "We believe in you and your dreams. Now I’m cheering for you."PogiSloFans12-11-2026
- as we all like the david-style rebels, he will leave a gap.Ketterechts12-11-2026
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