The breakaway failed to get the better of the bunch on Thursday in the Volta a Catalunya. Kaden Groves therefore took stage 4 in a bunch sprint, as the Groupama-FDJ team did not experience a fully calm day. Michael Storer had to leave his teammates before the start following his crash on day 1, and Matthieu Ladagnous also suffered a small crash along the way. Lenny Martinez still is fifteenth overall ahead of the decisive week’s third summit finish at Lo Port.
Less than twenty-four hours after finishing stage 3 at the top of La Molina, the riders started stage 4 of the Volta a Catalunya with the same climb on Thursday. Located after about ten kilometres, it looked like a perfect spot to create the day’s breakaway. The Groupama-FDJ team however took the start with only five riders. After Clément Davy’s withdrawal on Wednesday, Michael Storer was also forced to leave the event. “We were rather optimistic yesterday at the start, but in the end, it wasn’t better at the finish”, explained Jussi. “Following medical advice, we decided this morning together with Michael that he would not start. He will undergo additional exams following his crash”. Despite being reduced, the team still tried to join the fight early. “We just named one man for the breakaway, and that was Bruno”, added Jussi. “We didn’t want to move right at the start, but only when approaching the top of La Molina. This is exactly what Bruno did. It wasn’t the good move eventually, even though he was with good riders. In the end, we don’t have regrets, because the group that went away after him was caught in the final”.
“An important day tomorrow”, Jussi Veikkanen
Although Roger Adrià (Equipo Kern Pharma), David de la Cruz (Astana-Premier Tech), Torstein Træen (Uno-X), Christopher Juul-Jensen (Jayco-AlUla) and Nans Peters (AG2R Citroën) succeeded in establishing the day’s breakaway, the bunch proved very careful and never left them a decent lead. They were eventually caught with six kilometres to go before an expected bunch sprint and the victory of Kaden Groves. “As for the team’s day, it was Lada who crashed this time, far from the finish”, noted Jussi. “It doesn’t look serious, but it’s still annoying… We’ve suffered a crash every day since the start of this Volta a Catalunya. The stage was also not that quiet. It was fast in La Molina, and actually fast all day on quite winding roads. The goal for Lenny was to save as much energy as possible prior to the summit finish scheduled tomorrow”. The French climber finished safely in the peloton on Thursday, and therefore remains fifteenth in the general classification. “We thought that stage 3 would be the queen stage, with more than 4000 meters of elevation gain, but everything is still on the table and open”, completed Jussi. “It will be an important day for us tomorrow, and we hope it will suit Lenny more.”
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