Lopez delivers knock-out blow in Volta a Catalunya
A bold double attack by Miguel Angel López (Astana) during the Volta a Catalunya’s second mountain top stage on Thursday rewarded the Colombian with more than a stage win and an opportunity to salute his soon-to-be-born son as he soloed triumphantly across the finish line. The 25-year-old's lone stage victory has also moved López into the overall lead, with the time bonuses and his margin placing him a solid 14 seconds ahead of Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott).
López also saw off rivals as formidable as Nairo Quintana (Movistar Team) and Egan Bernal (Team Sky), and in a race which is often won by minimal margins, 'Superman' López looks set to fly towards overall victory in Barcelona on Sunday without hitting too much turbulence.
However, after the stage López warned that "the fight will go on right 'til the last day," and pointed out that the stage at Montjuic on Sunday in particular "could be very dangerous".
"For now I only want to enjoy what I achieved today," López said after Thursday's win. "It's true, Friday's stage should be much easier, and in fact all the harder stages are behind us now. But we'll see what happens, things can change right up to the last finish line."
As for his victory at La Molina, Lòpez said that he had deliberately timed his first attack, nine kilometres from the line, to try and surprise the Sky-led peloton. “I went for it when Egan [Bernal] still had one rider left. I had good legs, but when they came up to me, I went for it again.
"I really believed I could do something today, the stage was so tough that I never thought there wouldn't be a big GC change after yesterday’s stalemate," he said.
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