The final stage in Barcelona was marked by a strong ride of the BORA – hansgrohe squad. On the first 10 kilometers Jay McCarthy jumped into the breakaway of the day and worked the whole day in front of the race. On the last lap Rafal Majka pulled hard and finished in 4th place.
Today was the final stage at the Volta a Catalunya, which was held in Barcelona. The profile covered 139 km, in the final, the peloton had to handle 8 laps in the city of Barcelona.
After some kilometers of racing a breakaway group with 21 riders pulled away and went down the road, one of them was Jay McCarthy. This group built a gap to the peloton of some minutes. Team Quick-Step Floors pulled hard in front of the peloton to keep the gap low.
At the 75km mark, BORA – hansgrohe rider Jay McCarthy and 5 other riders attacked out of the breakaway group and were able to build a gap of some seconds to the former group.
Team Sky and Movistar raised the pace to close the gap to the escapees. Meanwhile Jay McCarthy started with another rider a last attack out of the break group. The duo pulled away but the chasing group set up the pace. Jay showed strong legs and was always in first position. But on the last laps the race went on fire. All groups were caught and the main bunch started into the last lap. A main bunch sprint was set up.
The BORA – hansgrohe team formed for their lead-out and brought Rafal in a good position before the finish. A hard fight for the best position ended with a 4th place for Rafal. Jay and the rest of the BORA – hansgrohe squad finished in the main bunch.
“The boys did a stellar job today. Everyone showed a strong performance, Jay in the group, Pawel, Jose, Jan in the peloton. The race was really fast today and therefore I think we did a really good job. I am happy with the results.” – Rafal Majka
“I am very satisfied with today´s performance. The team did really a great job with Jay in the breakaway group, also the rest of the team worked very well together in the peloton and brought Rafal in a good position. He finished 4th and in the GC he finished this year´s Volta a Catalunya in 11th place.” – Enrico Poitschke, sports director
