The three stages of the Catalan round of this edition have been led by Australian riders
BARCELONA, 23 (EUROPA PRESS)
The Australian cyclist Ben O’Connor (AG2R Citröen Team) has won this Wednesday the third stage of the Cycling Volta a Catalunya, disputed between Perpinyà and the ski resort of La Molina over 161 kilometres, after culminating alone an attack in the ascent of the last port and is the new leader of the Catalan round.
Ben O’Connor, who won with a time of 4h12:51, stood out from the group of favorites in the last five kilometers and surpassed the Spanish Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) and the Colombians Nairo Quintana (Team Arkéa-Samsic) and Sergio Higuita (BORA Hansgrohe), second, third and fourth, in 6 seconds.
The peloton picked up its pace as the race approached the foot of the final pass, but it was not enough to open a gap in a succession of attacks until O’Connor, the third Australian to wear the leader’s jersey after Michael Matthews and Kaden Groves, both of Team BikeExchange-Jayco.
The stage was also marked by a breakaway made up of four riders who opened a gap from kilometer 20 to the end of the stage, achieving a lead of almost nine minutes.
In the general classification, O’Connor will wear the third leader’s jersey this Thursday with an advantage of 10 and 12 seconds over Ayuso and Quintana before facing the fourth stage, he considers it ‘queen’, with three first category climbs in the 166, 7 kilometers that will connect La Seu d’Urgell with Boí Taüll.
–CLASSIFICATIONS.
– Stage.
.1. Ben O’Connor (Aus/AG2R Citroen Team) 4h12:51.
.2. JUAN AYUSO (Esp/UAE Team Emirates) a 6.
.3. Nairo Quintana (Col / Team Arkéa-Samsic) mt
.4. Sergio Higuita (Col/BORA Hansgrohe) m.t.
.5. Joao Almeida (By/UAE Emirates) mt
– General.
.1. Ben O’Connor (Aus/AG2R Citröen Team)12h44:20.
.2. JUAN AYUSO (Esp/UAE Team Emirates) a 10.
.3. Nairo Quintana (Col/Team Arkéa-Samsic) 12.
.4. Sergio Higuita (Col/BORA Hansgrohe) 16.
.5. Giulio Ciccone (Ita/Trek-Segafredo) m.t.