Volta a Catalunya: Michael Matthews wins opening uphill sprint

Team BikeExchange were very active on the treacherous opening day of the Volta a Catalunya and they took the big win they were ambitioning. Michael Matthews won the uphill sprint into Sant Feliu de Guíxols and is the first leader of the race.

It was a rough day at the start as the peloton looked to prevent a strong breakaway from going up the road. Jetse Bol (Burgos-BH), Marco Brenner (Team DSM), Jonathan Caicedo (EF Education-EasyPost), Raúl García Pierna (Equipo Kern Pharma), Carlos Canal and Antonio Soto (Euskaltel-Euskadi) set off on what would turn out to be a stormy day, with strong winds and frequent rain showers making things very complicated for everyone in the race.

Chaos was installed early on as a combination of wet roads and crosswinds saw big splits in the peloton, with the whole Team BikeExchange - Jayco present in the front split, with six riders from Israel-Premier Tech and a mix of very different riders behind. It was a very dangerous move, but in the peloton several teams quickly reacted and after around 40 kilometers of chasing, the group - aswell as the breakaway survivors - was caught.

Soon enough another group went up the road with once again: Jonathan Caicedo, Bruno Armirail, Pieter Serry, Théo Delacroix and Jonas Iversby. The group worked well together and kept their small gap for a long time, eventually being reeled in with nine kilometers to go. The approach to the finish was rolling and complicated for many, Quick-Step set the pace for the finale.

On the drag to the line Richard Carapaz attacked but was followed in the pack, pre-race favourites Michael Matthews and Sonny Colbrelli launched their sprint with around 200 meters to go and on opposite sides of the road sprinted towards the finish line, with the Australian being able to pack the best punch and take the win, as Colbrelli and Quentin Pacher wrapped up the podium with a significant gap to those behind.