Home > News

Satisfaction for Nacer Bouhanni on Volta a Catalunya’s shortened Stage 4

Long opening descent from Pyrenees cut due to snow and cold

March 23, 2017
Share on SMS

Beaten by Davide Cimolai on Monday’s first stage of the Volta a Catalunya, Nacer Bouhanni got revenge by coming around FDJ’s Italian to take Thursday’s compacted Stage 4. The stage was cut because of poor conditions. Tejay Van Garderen (USA/BMC) kept the white and green leader’s jersey.
https://twitter.com/wcstats/status/844945481902034945
Although the stage was originally 134-km with a long opening descent from the Pyrenees, organizers enacted the extreme weather protocol when they saw the snowy, cold conditions. They lopped off the long drop.


The new course was 74-km with a Cat. 3 and Cat. 2 peaking 14-km from the finishing town of Igualada.

It was another twist in an already odd stage race. Tuesday’s very long team time trial was a real muddle. First Movistar won the event by two-seconds. Then BMC complained that Movistar had pushed and showed footage to race commissars to prove its assertion. Initial race leader JJ Rojas was penalized three minutes for three pushes, Andrey Amador two minutes for receiving two pushes and Nelson Oliveira one minute for receiving one push.

Then Movistar woke up on Wednesday morning to find that the race official had decided to instead use the actual UCI rules, which involve docking the whole team a minute. BMC was therefore the winner of Stage 2, Sky second and Movistar third, 0:58 in arrears. Ben Hermans was given the leader’s jersey. Thereupon Alejandro Valverde promptly went out and won the mountain stage, moving into fourth placs. Hermans exploded so teammate Tejay van Garderen took over the lead. Movistar released a statement protesting the decision, characterizing the pushes as touches and warning that the incident set a bad precedent for future team time trials. BMC will certainly be scrutinized from now on.

To Thursday then. The teams cheerfully drove the 60-km to Montferrer and lit out for Igualada, the road dropping almost to the foot of the Cat. 3 climb. Breakaway one failed and it looked like the peloton wasn’t having any of the second attempt either but then changed its mind. A quintet stalked off to be the day’s rabbits.

Juan Filipe Osorio (Colombia/Manzana Postobon) was first over the Cat. 3 Alto de Pubill on which the peloton edged closer. There was an intermediate sprint atop an uncategorized climb before the Cat. 2 Turo del Puig. Diego Rubio (Spain/Caja Rural) took the intermediate sprint, but the peloton was close on the fugitives’ heels, Bouhanni and Andre Greipel’s teams figuring their sprinters could make it up Turo del Puig.

With 32-km to go, just as the catch was imminent, there was a crash in the peloton. Although no one was injured, it made the teams even more worried about their protected riders. The break finally submitted to the peloton’s will. Sky led the way.

Astana sent a duo up the road: Jakob Fuglsang and Dario Cataldo. The two were brought back, but then Romain Bardet (France/AG2R) skipped away with Dan Martin (Ireland/Quick Step) close behind. The new twosome prompted Alberto Contador and Geraint Thomas to attack as well. As the Puig crested, no one had a gap, but the peloton was now strung out, with Greipel fading back.


On the descent Movistar’s Marc Soler bolted, with Alejandro Valverde, Chris Froome and little David Gaudu (FDJ) coming across. They dropped like stones at the ragged edge of their bike-handling abilities.


But they were swallowed up with 4.5-km to go. The remaining riders made it through the roundabout with 2-km remaining and FDJ led it out for Stage 1 winner Davide Cimolai. But this time Nacer Bouhanni had his number and came past him for the win.

Michael Woods finished in a gang of 13 2:27 back and dropped a few places to 38th on GC.

Friday’s stage ends on the long, nasty, Especial Lo Port climb. It will go a long way to determining the winner of the 2017 Volta a Catalunya.

2017 Volta a Catalunya Stage 4
1) Nacer Bouhanni (France/Cofidis) 3:04:27
2) Davide Cimolai (Italy/FDJ) s.t.
3) Daryl Impey (South Africa/Orica-Scott) s.t.
130) Michael Woods (Canada/Cannondale) +2:27
174) Svein Tuft (Canada/Orica-Scott) +7:45

2017 Volta a Catalunya GC
1) Tejay Van Garderen (USA/BMC) 13:29:00
2) Sammy Sanchez (Spain/BMC) +0:41
3) Geraint Thomas (Great Britain/Sky) +0:44
38) Michael Woods (Canada/Cannondale) +6:00
160) Svein Tuft (Canada/Orica-Scott) +37:27