Volta a Catalunya victory "a big relief" for Marijn van den Berg - Dutchman's first win since August

Marijn van den Berg has now four wins as a pro rider, and half of them at World Tour level. After winning at the Tour de Pologne last year, he has now won the one stage of the Volta a Catalunya that was expected to be finishing in a bunch sprint.

"It's a big relief. I was doubting whether I could still win, but luckily it was a prize today," van den Berg said in a post-race interview. "Everyone had a hard time, because there were no large sprint trains available and so every sprinter had to make his own way." Stage 4 of the Catalan race was almost completely flat, and bunch sprint came to be. A few teams had their leadouts towards the front, but in the absence of world-class sprinters, a few of the fast men that made their way to the seven-day race took advantage of the situation.

Van den Berg had the edge over all of them at the final sprint. "Bryan Coquard in particular positioned himself well and it was a real battle for his wheel. In the end it was I who caught his wheel and I was able to jump over him," van den Berg explains. "It wasn't a crazy sprint, but enough for the victory."

This "I still have some pain and discomfort after my fall, but you forget that during the sprint because of the adrenaline. Now I mainly want to reach the end of the race and hopefully I will be in good shape next week in the Tour of Flanders," he concludes. Flanders and Roubaix are in the schedule for the Dutchman, who sees his trip to Spain now completely justified as he skips through the Belgian cobbled classics this week.