MADRID, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Jonas Vingegaard of Visma-Lease a Bike capped a dominant week by securing overall victory at the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya on Sunday, continuing his winning start to the 2026 cycling season.
The two-time Tour de France champion added the Catalan race to his Paris-Nice triumph earlier this month, underlining his form ahead of May's Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France later in the summer.
Vingegaard finished with an overall lead of 1 minute, 22 seconds over Lenny Martinez of Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, with Florian Lipowitz of Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe a further eight seconds back in third after the traditional 95-kilometer final stage in Barcelona, which featured seven laps of the Montjuic circuit.
The Dane effectively sealed victory with commanding rides in the high mountains on stages five and six, leaving little doubt over the final outcome barring incident on the closing day.
The final stage offered a different kind of test, favoring punchy climbers, and Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel was among the most aggressive riders on the short, steep slopes of Montjuic, easing some of the burden on teammate Lipowitz in his bid to secure a podium finish.
A series of late attacks animated the closing kilometers as riders chased the stage win, which was ultimately taken by Australia's Brady Gilmore of NSN Cycling Team, co-owned by former Spain international footballer Andres Iniesta.
Gilmore edged Dorian Godon of INEOS Grenadiers, who had already claimed two stage victories and the points classification, while Evenepoel finished third on the day. ■
