The queen stage of the Volta a Catalunya has had a very special name. Marianne Vos (Team Visma-Lease en Bike), the great attraction of this premiere of the women's stage test of the Catalan race, has added a spectacular victory to the arrival at La Molina that places her as the outstanding leader of the general classification before of the closing of the race this Sunday in Barcelona. The Dutchwoman, triple world champion, has demonstrated her versatility by beating the great climbers of the race and is about to become the first winner in the history of the Volta a Catalunya.
The second stage of this 1a Volta a Catalunya had a high mountain route of 95.7 kilometers starting in La Seu d'Urgell and ascending to two 1st category passes: Collada de Toses and the mountain station of La Molina , arrival of this special day that was expected to be decisive in defining the final winner of the test.
Once again, the fight for the escape has been intense in the first stages of the stage, first with a solo attempt by Laia Bosch (Massi-Baix Ter), the most combative cyclist of this day, and then with a group of 12 cyclists which had dangerous names like that of the Danish Cecilie Uttrup-Ludwig (FDJ-SUEZ). However, the team of leader Ally Wollaston, the AG Insurance-Soudal Team, despite the loss of its great contender Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio in the general classification due to a fall, wanted to control the race in the ascent to the Collada de Toses.
In the end, the group of favorites has arrived compactly at the foot of the final climb in La Molina, where this time the great role has been for the Visma-Lease en Bike team. With continuous attacks that the young promise Fem van Empel has started and Maud Oudeman has taken over, the Dutch team has selected the group until Marianne Vos herself, number 1 of this Volta a Catalunya, has attacked at 7 kilometers of the arrival and has left alone on her way to her 254th triumph as a professional cyclist, a record that makes her considered by many the best cyclist in history.
Vos reached the finish line 51 seconds ahead of her teammate Riejanne Markus, who initially seemed like her team's best option in the general standings after being second in the Women's Vuelta, and 56 seconds ahead of Norway's Katrine Aalerud (UNO-X Mobility), winner of the reVolta in 2021. A true exhibition in the queen stage of this Volta Catalunya that makes the legendary figure of Marianne Vos even greater and leaves her as the great favorite for the final victory with the third remaining stage this Sunday, which will link Molins de Rei and Barcelona on a route of 86.6 kilometers.
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