Jonas Vingegaard won solo the fifth stage of Volta Ciclista a Catalunya, finishing at Coll de Pal, and took the leader's jersey with a 57-second lead over Felix Gall. Remco Evenepoel, his main rival, finished 1:38 behind the Dane. The 153.1 km stage featured demanding climbs in the Pyrenees.
Jonas Vingegaard of Team Visma/Lease a Bike showed his superiority in the fifth stage of Volta Ciclista a Catalunya, held Friday from La Seu d'Urgell to Coll de Pal, a special-category climb. The Dane, a two-time Tour de France champion, attacked 5.9 km from the finish after catching a breakaway and chase group, crossing the line in 4 hours, 13 minutes and 44 seconds.
Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA GSM) was second at 51 seconds, followed by Lenny Martínez (Bahrain-Victorious) and Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), both at 1:01. Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) lost 1:38 and sits sixth overall.
Vingegaard leads the general classification by 57 seconds over Gall in second and 1:09 over Martínez in third. "I felt very strong in the last kilometers and I'm very happy", Vingegaard said after the stage. "Volta is a great race and I came to win it".
Organizers shortened the finish by 2.2 km due to wind, though it had less impact than the previous day. The stage included Port Colldarnat, Coll de Josa, Coll de Fumanya and Collada Sobirana before Coll de Pal, with ramps up to 14%.
A breakaway featuring Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates), Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) and others was reeled in. Attacks from Mikel Landa and Gall preceded Vingegaard's devastating pace. Crashes involved Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock.
Saturday's final mountain stage ends at Santuario de Queralt, where Vingegaard will aim to solidify his lead before the Montjuïc circuit finale.
