The stage was animated from one end to the other. Remco Evenepoel, second in the standings, ten seconds behind Roglic, attacked in the difficulty of the day, the Alt de la Creu d'Aragall (2nd category), 27 km from the finish.

But the Slovenian, triple winner of the Vuelta a España, did not concede anything. And when the two men, who are engaged in their only face-to-face in Catalonia before their expected duel at the Giro d'Italia (6-28 May), found themselves alone in the lead in the final, Roglic refused to collaborate.

The Belgian "little cannibal", visibly annoyed, then got up 9 km from the finish, allowing the peloton to come back and fight for victory in the sprint.

Groves, the winner of the day, managed a small feat, as he suffered a mechanical incident three kilometers from the finish, and had to stop to borrow a teammate's bike.

"I wasn't sure I could get back into the pack," admitted the 24-year-old sprinter, "but I was lucky, I didn't waste much time changing bikes, a teammate brought me back and I was able to do my sprint."

Colombian Egan Bernal, victim of a crash at the beginning of the stage, was forced to retire.

Remco Evenepoel at the finish of the 6th and penultimate stage of the Tour of Catalonia on March 25, 2023. On the eve of the finish, the Belgian world champion is still 10 seconds behind Slovenian Primoz Roglic © Josep LAGO / AFP/Archives

On Sunday, the final stage will be in Barcelona with a final on a very rugged circuit around the hill of Montjuïc Castle, which the peloton will have to climb six times.

Classification of the 6th stage of the Tour of Catalonia, contested on Saturday between Martorell and Molins de Rei:

1. Kaden Groves (AUS/ALP) the 183.2 km in 3 h 50:32.

(average: 47.8 km/h)

2. Bryan Coquard (FRA/COF) m.t.

3. Ide Schelling (NED/BOR) m.t.

4. Maxim Van Gils (BEL/LOT) m.t.

5. Remco Evenepoel (BEL/QST) m.t.

Overall ranking:

1. Primož Roglic (SLO/JUM) 25:19:52.

2. Remco Evenepoel (BEL/QST) at 10.

3. João Almeida (POR/UAE) 1:07.

4. Marc Soler (ESP/UAE) 1:54.

5. Mikel Landa (ESP/BAH) 1:55.

./bds/cpb/hpa

© 2023 AFP