The 22-year-old Italian jumped several places on the overall standings of the World Tour race.
Thursday should have been a big day at the Volta a Catalunya, the day of the first summit finish on Vallter, the perfect place for the general classification contenders to show their intentions and gain time. Unfortunately for the much-anticipated battle, the wind gusts reaching 90km/h determined the organisers to shorten the stage to just 151 kilometers and move the finish to Camprodon – the hometown of the famous composer Isaac Albeniz.
As a result, instead of having the climbers take center stage, the parcours favoured the sprinters, who got their fourth opportunity in a row at this edition. Alberto Dainese got involved in the fight for a good result again, and the 27-year-old Italian finished in eighth place as Ethan Vernon (NSN Cycling Team) took the victory.
It was the second top-ten of the week for Dainese, who two days ago concluded fifth in Banyoles. Thanks to one bonus second he picked up at the day’s intermediate sprint, his teammate and countryman Andrea Raccagni moved up five places on the general classification, where he sits sixth going into the race’s first mountain stage.
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