The 2022 season of Volta a Catalunya kicked off last Sunday (March 27) with Italian rider Andrea Bagioli from QuickStep-AlphaVinyl winning his first World Tour title. This year's overall title was won by Sergio Higuita.
S1 Stage
This year's Tour de Catalonia departs from Sant Feliu de Guixols, Spain, passing 3 tertiary slopes on the way back to the san Feliu de Gusauls terminus, with a total mileage of 171.2 kilometers.
The cycling trade team's Michael Matthews won in the final group sprint, with Bahrain's Victory's Sonny Colbrelli and FDJ's Quentin Pacher finishing second and third.
After the group crossed the line, Colbreli, who had just rushed down the second line, stopped and just took a sip of water, suddenly fell to the ground with a cardiac arrest, and the medical staff on the scene immediately performed CPR for him, and then he was taken to the local Girona University Hospital for treatment. He has been diagnosed with intermittent arrhythmias and is currently in stable condition and has returned home to continue treatment.
S2 Stage
The Tour de Catalunya S2 is 202.4 km, with a total climb of 2166 m, a total of 3 tertiary slopes, but the last tertiary slope is still 60 km from the finish line, so there is not much threat to sprinters.
The final stage winner was won by Kaden Groves from Team BikeExchange-Jayco, Groves' first victory on the World Tour and cycling team's second victory in the Tour de Catalunya.
S3 Stage
This stage departs from Perpignan and will pass through 3 first-class slopes on the way, ending at the uphill finish in La Molina.
Ben O'Connor from the AG2R team won the offensive solo flight in the La Molina climb and topped the overall results table.
The Australian driver attacked in the uphill 8km from the finish line and won by a narrow margin. Among the chase groups that followed, Emirates talented newcomer Juan Ayuso crossed the line first, followed by Dayer Quintana for third in stage.
S4 Stage
The S4 stage takes place in the Pyrenees and is preceded by a Boí Taüll climbing section with an average gradient of 6%, which is 13 km long and finishes at an altitude of 2,049 m.
Emirates Team's Jo o Almeida was in great form on this stage, winning the stage with a final mountain sprint over Nairo Quintana of Akea's and Sergio Higuita of Bora's.
S5 Stage
The S5, with a total length of 206 km, is the longest stage of this year's race. The first half of the stage has a lot of uphill and downhill, but the middle and back stages are basically downhill, and this stage will basically end in the group sprint, and the impact on the overall performance list will not be obvious. However, the gap between the top few in the total performance list at this time is very small, and the competition is tense from the beginning, because only one successful breakout or a victory at the sprint point on the way may affect the total result of the green shirt.
Ethan Vernon, a 21-year-old who signed a quickspeaker to become a professional driver three months ago, won his first career victory over Bahrain-Victory team Phil Bauhaus and AG2R team's Dorian Godon in the final group sprint.
In terms of overall results, the competition was fierce late in the stage, and Almeida snatched the green shirt from Quintana with a second advantage by sprinting points on the way, and came to the top position in the overall results table. At this time, Iquita from Bora Team was third in the overall result with a second difference of 7 seconds behind, and was also a strong contender for the total.
S6 Stage
The S6 stage, which has a total mileage of 168.8 km, departed in the torrential rains in Salou and ended on the Cambrils coast.
Iquita and Ineos' Richard Carapaz launched a 130-kilometer long-range breakout, with Kalapas slightly winning the stage in the finish sprint. Kaden Groves of the cycling trade team won the group sprint to finish third in the stage.
Due to the huge advantage gained by this stage, Iquita put on the green shirt on the overall result, Carapas was second with a 16-second difference, and Almeida was 48 seconds after this period, temporarily third in the overall result.
S7 Stage
The S7 stage, which has a total distance of 136 kilometers, will circle Montju c Park before reaching the finish line, which is a short but intense route.
Andrea Bagioli of The Quickshoots won the stage with the victory over FDJs' Attila Valter and Fernando Barcelo of the Agricultural Bank of Spain in the finish sprint.
The 23-year-old Bajoli made a final dash from behind Cofids' Guillaume Martin 125 metres before the finish line, pressing the crowd and being the first to cross the finish line, with Walter close behind.
After the unexpected breakout victory in the S6 stage, Iquita, assisted by his teammates, safely crossed the line with the leading group, defended the overall score of the green shirt, and became the overall champion of the Tour de Catalan. Calapas and Almeida crossed the line in the same group as Iquita, and the top three in the overall results table maintained the sixth stage ranking unchanged. Calapas was second with a 16-second difference, and Almeida was third with a 52-second difference.
Honor shirt attribution
Overall green shirt: Sergio Higuita – Bora team
Sprint King Blueshirts: Kaden Groves – Bike trade team
Hill Climb King Sequoia: Sergio Higuita – Bora Team
Best Newcomer Huang Shan: Sergio Higuita – Bora Team
Daredevil Award: Steven Kruijswijk – Jumbo Team
Best Team: Bahrain Victorious
Top 10 on the stage
Top 10 overall scores
Tournament Atlas
Edit: Johnny
Image source: Ring Catalan state media