4th podium finish for Blues in 2018

Catalan climber from Movistar Team quite active into second muy activa en la segunda mitad de la prueba barcelona, termina tras Stephens (CPC) en la primera edición de la carrera femenina de la Volta a Catalunya.

Lorena Llamas defended brilliantly the Movistar Team’s colours at the #reVolta, the first-ever women’s race of the Volta a Catalunya, held on Sunday over a lumpy circuit (3.8km) in the ‘Magic Mountain’ of Montjuïc (Barcelona).

The second half of the race (45 minutes plus one lap) was a tight contest between the 30-year-old Catalan climber and Lauren Stephens (CPC), with lots of marking and attacks which Sopela Women’s Team’s Sofía Rodríguez (3rd) and Sara Martín (4th) tried to join. At the final lap, Llamas unsuccessfully tried to leave the American behind, though Stephens sticked to her wheel and ultimately bested Lorena, whose second-placed result is the fourth podium for the Blues in 2018.

REACTION / Lorena Llamas:

“I kept an eye mostly on Stephens. I know her well and knew that she was going to be one hard to beat, so I kept paying attention to her moves for the whole race. She jumped off the front for a couple of times, I kept her wheel and we started going on some escapes – not serious moves, rather than marking each other. At the final climb to Montjuïc she tried to drop me, I stayed with her, then profited from the toughest slopes to leave her behind, yet the ramps eased off a bit and she bridged back. We just kept taking turns at the front and she bested me at the sprint. In such a finish, it was hard for me to aim at the victory. However, I’m still happy with this second place, with this experience and being able to match her speed, being such a talented competitor.”