Luka Mezgec proved that Giant-Shimano have more riders than just Marcel Kittel and John Degenkolb who are capable of winning bunch sprints at WorldTour level when he beat Leigh Howard in today's first stage of the Volta a Catalunya. With more mountainous terrain coming up, the Slovenian is hopeful of defending the jersey in tomorrow's flat stage.

 

Luka Mezgec has won the opening stage of the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya just days after taking his first win of the season at the Handzame Classic.

 

Mezgec finished off a superb display of controlling by Team Giant-Shimano, as they set pace throughout the day behind the day’s breakaway and then brought Luka to the fore at the finish to sprint for the win.

 

This is Mezgec’s first WorldTour victory since winning a stage of the Tour of Beijing at the end of last season, and it has been a target for him since the start of the season.

 

The team spent most of the day at the head of the peloton, be it controlling the pace behind the day’s escapees, or winding up the pace late on to deter any attacks and keep Mezgec in position.

 

Tom Peterson and Cheng Ji spent well over 130km riding on the front and making sure that the break didn’t get too far ahead. After the race came back together late on, the team took to the head of the bunch to set the finish up and Luka unleashed his sprint from around 300m out.

Despite being passed, Mezgec clawed his way back through, holding his speed and taking a fine win which sees him take the lead in the general classification.

 

Coach, Addy Engels was impressed with how the team rode today.

 

“At the start a break of two got away and no one wanted to take up the chase. The gap reached eight minutes and we were a bit afraid that nobody would ride so we started pacing the peloton and controlling their advantage. We didn’t go full gas and soon enough other teams got nervous and joined the chase.

 

“At the end the guys got Mezgec into a good position and he did a really impressive sprint, going from quite far out. This was the main goal from the outset, to win a stage and to succeed with this on the first day is perfect. Tomorrow we will have the jersey to defend but it is a similar stage to today so we could see another bunch sprint. It depends how controlled the race is but we will see.”

 

Mezgec managed to tell us how it went after his podium duties:

 

“It was a hard day today and I suffered a but on the climbs but the guys kept me going and supported me well.

 

“With 3km to go Warren Barguil brought me into position and then after that Georg Preidler took me right to the front with 1km to race. I lost a few places and had to go from far out to get through. Someone tried to box me in against the barriers but I was able to come through and get it at the end.

 

“Last week’s win was great for the confidence and together with good legs and a great team that makes the difference. We will try to defend the jersey tomorrow but after that the race will become very difficult.”

 

You can read our preview of stage two here and follow our live coverage at 15.15 CET on CyclingQuotes.com/live.