Nairo Quintana and Sergio Higuita, the best Colombians in the Vuelta a Catalunya, will have the option of fighting first place in the overall standings on March 24, with three mountain passes for the title favorites to spark.
The route, between Seu d'Urgell and the Boí Taüll ski resort, will be 166.7 km. Especially the last third of the stage is the most attractive one, since it has two first-class ports, one of them at the finish line. It is precisely the Boí Taüll, at 2,015 meters above sea level, where beetles can dazzle, given how accustomed they are to training at that height.
Nairo, who in 2022 has shown a physical condition that was not seen years ago, will surely bet on the queen stage of the Catalan round to get closer to his third title this season. The first was the Tour de la Provence and the second was the Alpes-Maritimes Tour. In addition, in Paris Nice, along with strong rivals such as Primoz Roglic, he took fifth place.
Because of his experience, as well as the way he dances on the pedals, it is possible that Nairo will attack Ben O'Connor in the last port to snatch the lead, after all the advantage that he has is not so great. Between the Australian and the coffee grower (third in the overall standings), there is only 12 seconds ahead.
Sergio Andrés Higuit will also have the opportunity to stand out, who, wearing the Bora-Hansgrohe shirt, has already won a stage victory in a World Tour race, in the Vuelta al Algarve, in which in the last few meters he beat his compatriot, Daniel Felipe Martínez.
The Monste r, reigning national road champion, is fourth in the Vuelta a Catalunya, 12 seconds behind Ben O'Connor, like Nairo. And one of his strengths is the explosiveness in the finals of the stage, where he can outperform the boyacense, if they arrive in the group of favorites.
It is worth remembering that the last Colombian to win the Vuelta a Catalunya was Miguel Ángel López, in the 2019 edition, with Astana Premier-Tech, to which he returned after a season to oblivion with the Movistar Team, after ignoring the requests of his superiors, he retired from the Vuelta a España.
Overall ranking of the Vuelta a Catalunya 2022:
1. Ben O'Connor (from AG2R-Citroën) - 12:44:20
2. Juan Ayuso (ESP/UAE Emirates) at 0:10 seconds.
3. Nairo Quintana (Col/Arkéa-Samsic) at 0:12 seconds.
4. Sergio Higuita (Col/Bora-Hansgrohe) at 0:16 seconds.
5. Giulio Ciccone (ITA/Trek-Segafredo) at 0:16 seconds.
6. Tobias Halland Johannessen (Nor/One-X Pro Cycling) at 0:16
7. Wouter Poels (NED/Bahrain-Victorious) a 0:16 segundos.
8. Guillaume Martin (FRA/Cofidis) at 0:16 seconds.
9. João Almeida (POR/UAE Emirates) at 0:16 seconds.
10. Steven Kruijswijk (NED/Jumbo-Visma) a 0:19 segundos.
11. Sam Oomen (NED/Jumbo-Visma) a 0:19 segundos.
12. Ilan Van Wilder (CALL/Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl) a 0:19 segundos.
13. Richard Carapaz (ECU/Ineos Grenadiers) a 0:19 segundos.
14. Henri Vandenabeele (Bel/DSM) at 0:19 seconds.
15. Torstein Traen (Nor/One-X Pro Cycling) at 0:19 seconds.
16. Alejandro Valverde (ESP/Movistar) at 0:19 seconds.
17. Dylan Teuns (BEL/Bahrain-Victorious) a 0:19 segundos.
18. George Bennett (NZL/UAE Emirates) a 0:19 segundos.
19. Carlos Verona (ESP/Movistar) at 0:19 seconds.
20. Esteban Chaves (COL/EF-EasyPost) a 0:25 segundos.
25. Ivan Ramiro Sosa (COL/Movistar) at 0:52 seconds.
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