Lopez holds off Yates brothers to win Tour of Catalonia
BARCELONA: Colombian Miguel Angel Lopez of the Astana team withstood a late attack by British brothers Adam and Simon Yates to claim victory in the Tour of Catalonia on Sunday.
Lopez seized control of the Tour on Thursday's summit-finish and the 25-year-old added to the Tour of Colombia he won in impressive fashion in February.
"I'm tired but very happy," the climb specialist said in an Instagram post alongside a photo of him smiling broadly on the team bus.
The day's racing was marred by a heavy crash of around 20 riders on an 70/kph downhill section. The great French hope Romain Bardet, who appeared to break a collarbone, Simon Geschke and Gari Bravo were all taken to hospital for treatment. Marc Soler also pulled out of the race.
"It was a violent fall because we were going downhill fast," explained Bardet.
"I'm suffering with my ribs but it could have been much worse," said the 28-year-old Frenchman whose teammate Tony Gallopin also went over his handlebars.
"We had quite a fright," said team boss Stephane Goubert, who watched his two top riders take a battering.
The seventh and final stage, a hilly 143km ride that started and ended in Barcelona, culminating in seven laps of the coastal city and its steep climb to Montjuic.
Lopez started the day with a slender 14sec lead over Mitchelton-Scott rider Adam Yates, who, accompanied by his brother Simon, the Vuelta a Espana winner, attempted a late attack but could not break Lopez.
Eventually, a reduced group of 13 contenders all finished about 55sec behind the solo winner Bora-Hansgrohe rider Davide Formolo of Italy.
Yates' runner-up spot follows on the heels of his gut-wrenching second place, by a single second to Primo Roglic, at the Tirreno Adriatico two weeks ago.
After Chris Froome fell early in the Tour, Sky made the 22-year-old Colombian Egan Bernal team leader and the all rounder finished third.
Top Colombian climber Nairo Quintana of Movistar finished fourth. Defending champion Alejandro Valverde ended 10th.
Tour of Catalonia results
7th and final Stage
- Davide Formolo (ITA/BOR) 3hr 19min 41sec, 2. Enric Mas (ESP/DEC) at 51sec, 3. Maximilian Schachmann (GER/BOR) 53, 4. Dion Smith (NZL/MIT) 55, 5. Alejandro Valverde (ESP/MOV) 55, 6. Egan Bernal (COL/SKY) 55, 7. Adam Yates (GBR/MIT) 55, 8. Nairo Quintana (COL/MOV) 55, 9. Steven Kruijswijk (NED/JUM) 55, 10. Michael Woods (CAN/EF1) 55
Overall standings
- Miguel Angel Lopez (COL/Astana) 29hr 14min 17sec, 2. Adam Yates (GBR/MIT) at 14sec, 3. Egan Bernal (COL/SKY) 17, 4. Nairo Quintana (COL/MOV) 25, 5. Steven Kruijswijk (NED/JUM) 56, 6. Michael Woods (CAN/EF1) 1:42, 7. Rafal Majka (POL/BOR) 2:27, 8. Guillaume Martin (FRA/WGG) 2:41, 9. Enric Mas (ESP/DEC) 2:49, 10. Alejandro Valverde (ESP/MOV) 3:02
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