Carapaz wins Catalunya thriller

26 Mar 2022

Carapaz wins Catalunya thriller

Volta a Catalunya Stage 6: Salou › Cambrils, 168.6km

Richard Carapaz won stage six of Volta a Catalunya with an audacious long-range attack that has moved him to second overall. 

Carapaz out-sprinted Sergio Higuita (Bora Hansgrohe) after the pair had escaped the peloton with a little over 130 kilometres remaining. 

Great work from the Ecuadorian's teammates saw Carlos Rodriguez, Jonathan Castroviejo and Luke Plapp all make a move on the first climb of the day - the category one Coll de Les Llebres - Mussara.
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Plapp was then instrumental in pushing the pace to split the GC group to leave just Carapaz and Higuita infront as he dropped back after the pair established their lead. 

The South American duo combined well to stay clear of the chasing bunch, with their GC rivals unable to bring them to heel. 

The end of the stage saw the duo duel it out with a hard-fought sprint into Cambrils, with the Olympic champion coming out on top to move second overall, just 16 seconds behind Higuita with one stage remaining. 

Unfortunately, Plapp was forced to abandon during the stage after setting up the winning move. 
Richard Carapaz

Richard Carapaz

"We planned this attack beforehand, today was all or nothing."
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Richard Carapaz

"
We knew it could be a difficult stage, first of all because the rainy weather and difficult climbs too. It was a hard terrain but it's my strength. We planned this attack beforehand, today was all or nothing and we did well. 

"It was a good partnership we worked well together. Sergio was interested in moving up GC too, he is ahead of me on GC but we both had a good feeling about today. 

"I think we have to celebrate today and we will see tomorrow. It could maybe be like today, all or nothing."