On Thursday what was supposed to be the first of three consecutive HC-rated to Cat. 1 summit finishes at the Volta a Catalunya was altered because of the threat of high winds on Vallter 2000. This translated into a bunch sprint in Camprodón, where Ethan Vernon chalked up a win for NSN. Vernon also took a victory in January’s Tour Down Under. Runner-up Dorian Godon kept the race lead.
Preliminaries
After winning his second stage on Wednesday, Dorian Godon led Remco Evenepoel by 11 seconds, Tom Pidcock by 16 seconds and Jonas Vingegaard by 18 seconds.
The Course
With winds forecasted to lash Vallter 2000, the summit finish was cut from the stage. Twenty-two kilometres were lopped off, and the day ended in Camprodón after a 41-km uphill drag. The sun was out but because of the wind arm warmers were de rigueur.
For once, mountains classification leader Baptiste Veistroffer took no points on the opening climb, Cat. 3 Coll de Parpers. However, he was part of the ProTeam-dominated quartet that sprang forth on the way to Cat. 2 Alt de Sant Feliu de Codines. Veistroffer grabbed the maximum KOM points, ducked out with one other guy and the remaining duo turned its attention to keeping away over the next 105 km.
The uphill drag seemed interminable, the two fugitives dangling just under the minute mark. With 18 km to go, the breakaway was over. Tom Pidcock flared out from the bunch to take maximum bonus seconds at the intermediate sprint.
At 11.5 km to go, Gee-West crashed with a Visma rider, and it took the Canadian a while to sort out his bike. A few kilometres later Michael Leonard crashed…on his birthday.
The colour blocks formed. Pier-André Coté was at the front. It was a real grunt to sprint uphill. Coté’s teammate Ethan Vernon whipped around the final right-hand curve and staved off Godon’s bid for the win.
Five climbs are shoehorned into Friday’s 155 km, and if all goes to plan, HC Coll de Pal will be the summit finish.
2026 Volta a Catalunya, Stage 4
1) Ethan Vernon (Great Britain/NSN) 4:01:03
2) Dorian Godon (France/Ineos) s.t.
3) Tom Pidcock (Great Britain/Pinarello-Q36.5) s.t.
2026 Volta a Catalunya GC
1) Dorian Godon (France/Ineos) 15:30:47
2) Tom Pidcock (Great Britain/Pinarello-Q36.5) +0:13
3) Remco Evenepoel (Belgium/Red Bull)…
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