The Volta Ciclista Catalunya got off to an immediate battle between big names. In the opening stage in Sant Feliu, Dorian Godon (Ineos Grenadiers) outsprinted Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull Bora Hansgrohe) and Thomas Pidcock (Pinarello Q36.5). This marks the Frenchman's second victory of the season, having already made his mark at Paris-Nice. A solid performance also came from Italians Simone Gualdi (Lotto Intermarchè) and Andrea Raccagni Noviero (Soudal Quick-Step), who finished in fifth and seventh place respectively.

THE RACE. The Volta Ciclista a Catalunya kicked off today with the opening stage of 172.7 km starting and finishing in Sant Feliu de Guixols. A rolling stage with just two categorized climbs, but the final climb of 1.5 km finished 7.5 km from the finish line. The early part of the race was characterized by an attack from five riders who managed to build up to a 2-minute advantage over the peloton: Baptiste Veistroffer (Lotto Intermarchè), Josh Burnett (Burgos Burpellet BH), Tyler Stites (Modern Aventure Pro Cycling) and brothers Hugo Aznar (Equipo Kern Pharma) and Unai Aznar (Euskaltel Euskadi).

The peloton regrouped 12 km from the finish and immediately Team UAE Emirates XRG took control of the race, looking to neutralize their rivals. In the final kilometers, we saw several general classification contenders move to the front to avoid being caught off guard, with Jonas Vingegaard himself leading the group during the descent to keep the situation under control.

With today's victory, Dorian Godon will start tomorrow's 167.4 km stage from Figueres to Banyoles wearing the leader's jersey, while Simone Gualdi will wear the white jersey for best young rider. Remco Evenepoel, meanwhile, thanks to bonus seconds, already has a 6-second advantage over his direct rivals.

STAGE RESULTS

1 Godon Dorian INEOS Grenadiers 04:01:09

2 Evenepoel Remco Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe + 00

3 Pidcock Tom Pinarello-Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team + 00

4 Silva Thomas XDS Astana Team + 00

5 Gualdi Simone Lotto-Intermarchè + 00

6 Martinez Lenny Bahrain Victorious + 00

7 Raccagni Noviero Andrea Soudal Quick-Step + 00

8 Uhlig Henri Alpecin-Premier Tech + 00

9 Onley Oscar INEOS Grenadiers + 00