30th March – Stage 7: Barcelona – Barcelona
The final day of racing in Catalunya saw the peloton take on a flat start, before several laps of the traditional Montjuic circuit and its short, punchy climbs. With the GC battle still in swing, no break could establish itself out front early on and this continued once onto the circuit. After some good teamwork, Frank van den Broek and Pavel Bittner represented the squad in the reduced peloton as they entered the last 20 kilometres. There, eventual GC winner Roglic made his race winning attack, while things thinned out behind. Van den Broek followed strongly over the ascents and sprinted to 11th place on the day at the line.
Van den Broek said: “It was my first time on this circuit here in Barcelona after I didn’t make it last year because of a crash. I think it suited me really well. We came into the circuit in a really good position; Pat did a strong pull to get me there. We wanted to attack initially but then I saw the GC fight was happening so I just tried to follow the wheels, Roglic was really strong out front. In the end we could come home for a solid result, just outside the top ten. I’m happy with my legs at the end of this week and my form is coming along nicely, so I’m looking forward to the next races coming up.”
