- Ulissi wins at Coppi e Bartali, Pogačar prevails in Catalunya
A beautiful day for UAE Team Emirates, ended in a double victory with stage 2 of the Coppi e Bartali thanks to Diego Ulissi and in stage 3 of the Volta a Catalunya with Tadej Pogačar.
In chronological order, Ulissi was the first to celebrate. He displayed his best in the final part of the stage, 156,5 km from Riccione to Sogliano al Rubicone with final hill of 4.7 km at 4.3%.
The Italian cyclist perfectly managed the effort, pushing hard in the final 400 meters and overtaking the leading duo De Pretto (Jayco Alula)-Ryan (Ef-EasyPost) at -200 meters and crossing the finish line with his hands up.
Thanks to the victory, Ulissi is now the new leader of the general classification, with 7” on Davide De Pretto and has extended his winning streak: the veteran has obtained at least one success per season since he turned pro (2010).
Ulissi: “Victory always gives great feelings. My first part of the season has been good until now, obtaining good results in Oman and in Milano-Torino. I also had to overcome some sickness, but I arrived to Coppi e Bartali in good form.
Today I hadn’t good sensations until the final part of the race, but on the last climb my legs were great. My congrats to my teammates: many of them are very young riders from our development team, today they supported me in an amazing way”.
Coppi e Bartali – stage 2 results
1. Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates) 3h55’31”
2. Davide De Pretto (Jayco Alula) s.t.
3. Archie Ryan (EF Education-EasyPost) s.t.
Coppi e Bartali – general classification after stage 2
1. Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates) 6h26’00”
2. Davide De Pretto (Jayco Alula) +7”
3. Archie Ryan (EF Education-EasyPost) +9”
Minutes after, UAE Team Emirates could also celebrate the stage victory of Pogačar in Volta a Catalunya (16 wins for the Emirati team in 2024).
Repeating the winning move that brought him to victory on stage 2, the Slovenian star attacked on the final climb of the day (stage 3, 176,7 km from Sant Joan de les Abadesses to Port Ainé, final climb of 18,4 km at 6,7%).
Pogačar sped up at -6 km, overtaking Mikel Landa (Soudal-Quick Step) and powering on to the finish , where he had an advantage of 48” on the Spaniard.
Pogačar: “Definitely it wasn’t easy, it was a really hard climb, also in altitude and cold at the top. Once again, it was a super good stage for us, I wanted to take the victory because the team worked super hard for me.
Mikel Landa attacked first; I went on the counter after him because I saw he had already made the gap. I thought that it could be maybe too early to attack, but I found a good rhythm and I could still push good until the final 2 km, though I could definitely feel the altitude in the final section.”
Volta a Catalunya – stage 3 results
1. Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) 4h34’25”
2. Mikel Landa (Soudal Quick Step) +48“
3. Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain-Victorious) +1’02”
Volta a Catalunya – general classification after stage 3
1. Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) 13h38’12”
2. Mikel Landa (Soudal Quick Step) +2’27”
3. Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-hansgrohe) +2’55”
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