Nick Schulz takes a thrilling win on the opening stage of the Tour of Catalunya, with Pogacar arriving too late

The first stage of the 2024 Tour of Catalunya, with a finish in Sant Feliu de Guíxols, was won by Nick Schulz. In the town of Sant Feliu de Guíxols, all eyes were on Tadej Pogacar, but the Australian from Israel-Premier Tech managed to surprise everyone with a late exit. Rookie Pogacar started his race a little late and finished second.

Today was the first stage of the Tour of Catalunya on the programme. The 174km long trek to and from Sant Feliu de Guíxols achieved an elevation gain of 2677m and three categorized climbs. The top of the final climb was twenty kilometers from the finish. Alt de Sant Grau is 8.1 km long and has an average gradient of 4%. Can the fast guys hit the route on this climb today? Or should we take into account Tadej Pogacar's powerful first strike?

Leading group of five
The early breakaway emerged after the first climb of the day – Alt de la Ganga – and consisted of five riders. Simone Petelli (Intermarché-Wanty), Kenny Elissonde (Cofidis), Alex Baudin (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Ådne Holter (Uno-X Mobility) and Mikel Bizkarra (Euskaltel-Euskadi) joined forces and received the blessing of the peloton. After 25 kilometers, the lead of the five leaders had increased to three minutes.

This immediately turned out to be the maximum advantage for Betelli, Elsund, Bodin, Holter and Bezcarra. Pogacar's men decided to place themselves at the head of the group to keep the separatists in line. The UAE managed to keep the lead within limits so we had to wait for the inevitable regrouping. Pizzcarra was the first to be caught, and just thirty kilometers from the finish, Betelli, Ålesund, Bowden and Holter were also involved.

Bonnie again for Bernal and Pogacar
The escapees were arrested before reaching the last climb of the day, the Alt de Sant Grau. Just before this climb we saw a sprint for extra seconds. The extra three seconds turned out to be Egan Bernal's, after good preparation work by the INEOS Grenadiers. Pogacar was second and thus also took two seconds. However, the spoils had not yet arrived for Pogacar: the Slovenian also had his sights set on victory on the stage.

On the non-steep Alt de Sant Grau sides, speed is set by Emirates and Visma | He rented a bike, but this did not immediately lead to serious relief. The lower climbers and faster guys had to go overboard – it went too fast for Brian Coquard – but the classification riders kept their powder dry. A few hundred meters from the summit, Marc Soler decided to set off, and the Spanish climber – with leader Pogacar at the wheel – was the first to begin the descent.

Photo: Cor Foss

The United Arab Emirates continues its decline
It turned out to be a deliberate plan by the United Arab Emirates. The formation decided to speed up the descent and managed to pull the thin peloton into a strip. However, things did not move quickly enough for Maury Vansevenant. The Belgian climber from Soudal Quick-Step chose to attack in the final kilometers of descent, but was quickly caught again by the UAE. The formation did not ease its pace in the next flat kilometres, on the way to the sprint at Sant Feliu de Guíxols.

The riders raced at high speed until the last kilometer in a grueling sprint. But before entering the final kilometre, we saw one last surprise attack from Nick Schulz. The Australian from Israel-Premier Tech made a good breakthrough, also because the big guys did not want to pull chestnuts from the fire for each other. This ultimately broke Pogacar's morale. The Slovenian pressed hard, but arrived too late to catch up with Schultz.

Schultz surprises everything and everyone
The margin at the end was small, but it was enough for Schultz to raise his hands in the air. For the 29-year-old, this is his third professional win in his career. Today – after the hard work of his teammates – Pogacar had to settle for second place. Stephen Williams completed the Israel-Premi Tech party by crossing the line in third place.

Schulz feels Pogacar coming – Photo: Cor Vos

The last kilometer witnessed a collision involving several riders, with Egan Bernal being the most famous victim. It is still unclear how the Colombian will perform from INEOS Grenadiers, who seems to be approaching his old form again this year.