Evenepoel predicts Giro "battle" with Roglič after shots fired at Catalunya

*Remco Evenepoel tried again today in Catalunya but was controlled in the finale by race leader Primož Roglič*

Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) was clearly eager to try and get one over on rival Primož Roglič (Jumbo Visma) at Volta a Catalunya today but was marked and contained by the Slovenian during a later attack.

So far in the seven-stage race, Roglič has held the leader's jersey since winning the opener and has two stage wins on the board, with Evenepoel claiming a single victory, on stage 3. And while this race, though it is a World Tour event, is not a major goal for either rider, it is crucial in the context of their upcoming Giro d'Italia.

Roglič has the edged - and a 10-second lead overall - on Evenepoel ahead of tomorrow's final stage in Barcelona. However, the world champion says he is not yet at his best as he works towards the Giro, where he expects a "battle" with Roglič. He explained to he has Roglič to work with him after they got clear on the final climb today.

Evenepoel instigated the move, with 27km to go, and said he was hoping to try for the stage victory, but Roglič told him team orders were that he was not to work. It meant while they built a gap of 30 seconds - and caught and dropped Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates) - they were caught before the final intermediate sprint with 8km to go.

And despite Evenepoel having done the work in the two-man breakaway, he contest the sprint and won it, gaining a one-second time bonus. The finish, into Molins de Rei, came down to a bunch sprint won by Kaden Groves (Team Jayco AlUla).

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"We had a plan to go from the base of the climb full gas but in the end, another team did it to control for the sprint, so I decided to wait for the last kilometre and do an attack like I did in Liège, just over the top of the climb and the descent full gas," Evenepoel said after the stage.

"In the end, I had the wrong guy with me... I mean he's the strongest of the race so probably if he works with me, we go to the finish line together because we had 30 seconds arriving in the valley. But I think his team decided to not ride and save the jersey, which I completely understand.

"But it's just a pity because it would've been nice to try and go for the stage win. I even told him that I just wanted to try and go for the stage, even if would be second I'd be happy. But of course, if you get team orders you have to follow them. It's not that I'm angry or something; that's just bike racing."

Evenepoel added while he would try again tomorrow on the hard circuit in Barcelona, it would be very hard to take the overall victory from Roglič. But he said he was happy the way his form was shaping up before the Giro and believed there was still room for improvement.

"I came from altitude – I need to feel how the legs are, I want to race, I want to improve towards the Giro," he said. "I feel that I'm still not at 100 per cent I'm just in good shape. But I feel like there are small details like weight etc that can still improve my shape.

"But I think that what we are showing together is that we are very equal in level and that it'll be a very nice battle during the Giro if we keep this shape. But of course, some other guys will also improve. It's actually very nice to race against my idol because I really look up to him. It's just very nice to race with a superstar like Primož."