Primož Roglič (Jumbo Visma) and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) went head-to-head in the uphill finale at Volta a Catalunya again today and this time it was the Slovenian who prevailed.
Not only did Roglič win the stage from the world champion, he also gained valuable seconds after Evenepoel's legs gave way in the last few metres before the finish line.
In the end the difference between the two men was just six seconds. But as they have been tied on time at the top of the standings - and are duking it out ahead of their upcoming rivalry at the Giro d'Italia - it was a really significant win for Roglič.
He now leads the race by 10 seconds from Evenepoel, who was 2nd on the stage, with João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) moving up two places to 3rd overall after finishing 3rd today some 1:02 down on Roglič.
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The top three had been together until the upper slopes of the final climb to the line - after 176.6km to Lo Port - but when Roglič and Evenepoel began ramping up the pace in the final kilometre, Almeida was dropped.
Evenepoel went took early in the sprint, making his move with about 400m to go. And while he distanced Roglič a little, the race leader quickly gathered himself and closed up to the world champion's wheel. He then came around Evenepoel in sight of the line with a strong sprint to win as Evenepoel's legs gave up and he lost six seconds to his rival in about 50 metres.
