Ireland's Darren Rafferty goes all-out on final Catalunya stage - Video

Darren Rafferty, second from right in pink, in the breakaway on the final stage today in Barcelona at Volta Ciclista a Catalunya (Photo: Luis Angel Gomez-Cor Vos)

Darren Rafferty (EF Education-EasyPost) has gone on the attack during the final day of action at Volta Ciclista a Catalunya (2.UWT). The Irishman was given a free hand to by his team, on tough terrain around Barcelona, to strike out for himself.

And he made the most of that leeway in getting up the road among a very strong group that also included Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates XRG), Liam Slock (Lotto-Intermarché), Einer Rubio (Movistar) and Magnus Cort (Uno-X Mobility), who won stage 2.

They were out front for just over 50km and managed to get their advantage above two minutes. However, while it was the Visma Lease a Bike team of general classification leader, Jonas Vingegaard, leading the race was the breakaway went, that soon changed.

Responsibility fell to Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, still chasing a stage win with Remco Evenepoel, to ensure the breakaway group was kept under control.

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However, after the first 40km section of the course was completed, and the riders entered the hilly Barcelona circuit for seven laps, the breakaway was still out front and riding very strongly.

They stayed together around the circuits, but as the kilometres ticked down, it was clear the bunch was closing in, and going to make the catch. The threat of the breakaway was eventually wiped out with three laps completed and four to go, or about 35km from the finish.

The recapture of that group resulted in a series of counter attacks, including from Evenepoel, who has had a disappointing week in the general classification due to poor climbing.

However, those attacks could not split the bunch, which was trimmed down considerably by the finish, where Bradly Gilmore (NSN Cycling Team) claimed victory.

The winner of stages 1 and 3, Dorian Godon (Ineos Grenadiers), was 2nd, wrapping up victory in the points classification, with Evenepoel placing 3rd on the stage.

Vingegaard also finished in the group sprinting for victory - which numbered fewer than 40 riders - to claim a comfortable win overall. He took the winner's jersey by 1:22 from Lenny Martinez (Bahrain-Victorious), with Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull -Bora-hansgrohe) 3rd at 1:30.

Rafferty paid for his breakaway efforts today, especially in a course with no breathing space given how hilly the Barcelona circuit is and finished in 57th at 2:58. The only other Irishman who started the race, Sam Bennett (Pinarello Q36.5), abandoned on stage 5.

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