Dave Brailsford
, the guardian of the Ineos, opted for the more Stakhanovistic twin, the one who treasured the most room for progression, the one who always ran in the shadow of his talented brother
Simon
.
The British manager chose
Adam Yates
(28 years old)
for this season to
strengthen his powerful group from the base, above him there were plenty of figures with laurels in the big rounds:
Bernal
,
Carapaz
,
Thomas
,
Tao Geoghegan
... With Adam he had guaranteed delivery, sacrifice and hunger for triumphs.
The British coach can be discussed many things, but not that he has a good eye (and checkbook) to sign.
His commitment to Adam Yates makes him right again.
This Sunday he was awarded the centenary edition of the
Volta a Catalunya
, his first great victory in the general of a round in stages (last year the UAE Tour was scored, abruptly closed by the pandemic).
After winning the stage of Vallter 2000, he solidly wore the leader's jersey, always backed by an ambitious squad, with
Porte
and Thomas opting for the places of honor, second and third, respectively.
The British runner's pulse did not tremble at the closing of the round, with the six ascents to Montjuic Castle.
The Ineos left the initiative to the adventurers.
Thomas de Gendt
and
Matej Mohoric
escaped and fought from afar.
In the absence of 25 kilometers he had an advantage of five minutes with the peloton and 30 seconds with a small group including
Luis León Sánchez, Bouwman
and
Marc Soler
.
The escapees endured the harassment and the Belgian veteran (34 years old) was the most astute: he let his teammate wear himself out, saved his strength and in a change of pace with 5 kilometers to go he took down Mohoric.
He took the stage victory, the fifth in the Volta.
New display of tactical intelligence and bravery from the best stage hunter, the one who always runs more comfortable in solitude.
The highlight of the day was behind, with the fight for the podium of
Alejandro Valverde
, who started with only 14 seconds
behind
Thomas and four more than Porte.
The grandfather of the platoon, tried, with the collaboration of
Enric Mas
, to break the control of the Ineos with accelerations in the ascents and descents of the castle.
He tried without success.
The Spaniard sought to claim his claim in one of his fetish events (he triumphed three times: 2009, 2017, 2018), but he could not stop his unproductive streak: since the 2019 Vuelta he has not won a stage again.
Chris Froome
, who has not won since the 2018 Giro d'Italia,
did not find any satisfactory feelings either
. Now, the Briton watches from the rear of the peloton the rise of his compatriot Adam Yates, the less brilliant brother who has adorned a record of partial triumphs. in
Tirreno-Adriatico
(in a hellish stage in 2018), Dauphiné, Comunidad Valenciana or País Vasco.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
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