Sergio Higuita wins Volta a Catalunya as Andrea Bagioli wins chaotic final stage

Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team have sealed a strong week in Catalunya by taking another stage win. The final stage of the race saw a flurry of attacks that saw a chaotic GC battle, however with no-one standing out the stage ended up being decided in a sprint and Andrea Bagioli was the fastest in the final meters.

Dries Devenyns (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team), Louis Meintjes (Intermarché - Wanty - Gobert Matériaux), Steven Kruijswijk (Jumbo-Visma), Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates), Dylan Teuns (Bahrain - Victorious, Jesús Herrada (Cofidis), Henri Vandenabeele (Team DSM), Antwan Tolhoek and Giulio Ciccone (Trek - Segafredo), Sébastien Reichenbach, Quentin Pacher and Michael Storer (Groupama - FDJ) went up the road early on in a stage that was very well suited to a breakaway. It was en Elite group packed with possible winners, but they couldn't get a winning gap as Uno-X put on the effort to ensure the group would not take the win, as they ambitioned the stage win and to keep their two riders in the Top10.

The gap was around 45 seconds at the entry of the final circuit, and from the front riders it was Kruijswijk and Pacher who attacked after the summit of the first ascent to the Montjuic. The duo rode well in a circuit that favoured early attacks, however the peloton saw fierce surges of pace from UAE Team Emirates and INEOS Grenadiers in the uphill sections. Several riders attempted to escape, but the pace was constantly high which has seen all riders caught eventually, as Carlos Rodríguez setup Carapaz for the final two ascents.

Tobias Johannessen attacked on the penultimate ascent, with Carapaz and Higuita following, however on the descent things calmed down and Hindley returned to the head of the peloton to control things until the final climb. On that final ascent UAE took to the front with Ayuso and Almeida putting on a stinging pace which once again split the GC group, but no-one stood out, as all attacks were covered in the front group in the following kilometers.

In the final kilometer a small chasing group came from behind and hit the head of the race with speed, taking the best positions for the final sprint. Guillaume Martin launched his move, but gave way to Andrea Bagioli who sprinted to the win, beating Attila Valter and Fernando Barceló to the line.

Higuita arrived in the leading group and has sealed his overall title. Carapaz and Almeida wrapped up the podium. Higuita has also conquered the mountains and youth classification, whilst BikeExchange's Kaden Groves won the points classification.