Yates, Thomas and Porte completed the all-in-one top three
Adam Yates won the Volta a Catalunya ahead of Geraint Thomas in a race dominated by Ineos Grenadiers.
The 28-year-old Briton Yates has led the race since a strong win at the conclusion of the third stage on Vallter 2000.
Ineos completed the top three in the overall standings, with Australian Richie Porte second, 45 seconds behind, and Thomas third, another four seconds.
The last stage on Sunday was won by the Belgian Thomas de Gendt from Lotto-Soudal.
On the 133 km long stage, which took place in bright sunshine around the Catalan capital Barcelona, the group of rivals for the white and green jersey came in one minute and 46 seconds behind De Gendt.
The group consisted of Yates and all of the other major UK competitors – Thomas, Hugh Carthy of EF Education-Nippo (one minute 20 seconds behind) and Yates’ twin brother Simon for Team BikeExchange, another 12 seconds behind Carthy, in ninth place overall.
How did British talent develop?
The week-long stage race around Catalonia – the 100th edition – was the first real indicator of the most important prospects for British cycling for this season.
Yates’ win shows that he is the strongest rider to date after finishing second on the UAE Tour in February.
And his performances were by far the most compelling of the race. They showed the greatest aggression and ingenuity on the climbs as Thomas (34) and Carthy (26) followed his steering wheel and never really showed much in response.
Thomas, who won the Tour de France 2018, is still the main decision to win it for Ineos this year.
Yates will be happy with this form, especially after the severe crash in the United Arab Emirates in which he was bloody and injured.
He is the least distinguished of all the UK’s main competitors, especially when compared to his brother Simon, who has a Vuelta a Espana Grand Tour win and seven Grand Tour stage wins. Adam doesn’t have any major tour stage or racing victories. However, this is his third stage win in as many years after the 2019 CRO Race and last year’s UAE Tour.
While such a dominant performance will please Ineos, the entire team will keep in mind that UAE team Emirates’ youngest Tirreno Adriatico winner Tadej Pogacar is currently considered the best driver in the world.
Ineos couldn’t stop last year’s Tour de France winner Pogacar from winning with Thomas in Italy a few days ago or with Yates in the United Arab Emirates last month.
Four-time Tour winner Chris Froome had a disappointing race by his standards as he continued to seek form after his horrific fall in 2019, leaving him with multiple fractures and a long, ongoing period of rehabilitation.
In some stages, Israel Start-Up Nation’s Froome struggled to keep up with the peloton, but he had an improved performance on Saturday’s 194km sixth stage against Mataro.
Meanwhile, Jumbo-Visma’s Belgian star Wout van Aert won the 247km Gent-Wevelgem one-day classic after overtaking five riders from a breakaway group, including Giacomo Nizzolo from Qhubeka-Assos.
The women’s edition of the race is in progress.
