Richard Carapaz wins spectacular stage in Catalonia, Higuita new leader | cycling

Early in the Catalan rain, the peloton was in pieces and pieces. A campaign organized by INEOS at the Coll de les Llebres – Mussara led to Australian champion Lucas Plapp and Olympic champion Richard Carapaz leading the way along with Colombian champion Sergio Higuita. Plapp emptied himself for his teammate, after which the Ecuadorian and Higuita had to continue together. The numbers nine and three respectively extended their lead on the group with, among others, leader Joao Almeida (UAE Emirates) and Steven Kruijswijk to even more than 3.5 minutes.

Still, the two lost some of their lead in the closing stages after UAE Emirates occasionally got some help in the chase. Fortunately for the leaders, the peloton fell apart in the descent, so a small group with Wout Poels was formed behind the duo, but in the end they were caught by the peloton with Almeida.

Carapaz and Higuita stayed out of the pack’s grip. Carapaz eventually narrowly won the sprint from his companion, who does take over the leader’s jersey. Kaden Groves won the peloton sprint after more than three quarters of a minute.

Cerny wins in Italy

In Coppi e Bartali the victory on Saturday was in the final stage for Josef Cerny. The rider of Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl jumped away from a group of escapees in the final phase. In the final meters he was overtaken by his French teammate Rémi Cavagna, who finished second. Third place was for the Israeli Omer Goldstein and the Dutchman Julius van den Berg was fourth.

The overall victory went to Eddie Dunbar of INEOS Grenadiers. For Dunbar (25) it was his first victory as a cycling professional. He had finished second twice in recent days and wore the leader’s jersey in the Italian five days since the third stage.

Mathieu van der Poel did not interfere with the course of events on Saturday. He won the stage on Friday.