All day Russian rider Sergei Chernetckii worked in a large break with teammates Egor Silin and Eduard Vorgonov. When a split came from the group, Sergei made sure he was in the front and put himself in position to contest the sprint. Sergei defied the odds and challenged for the win, taking his first WorldTour victory.

“I was in the break with Egor and Eduard. On the last climb I was concerned about a split so I made sure to stay in the front. I was watching for attacks and when it split I was in the right place. In the final I wanted to attack earlier but in the last kilometers it was full gas and there was no place to get away. Instead I could only concentrate on the upcoming sprint and today was my day! This is my first WorldTour victory and it is very big for me. I want to say thank you to my team and friends,” said Sergei Chernetckii to the Katusha website.

Taking second and third place were Julian Alaphilippe (Etixx – Quick Step) and Maciej Paterski of CCC Sprandi Polkowice. Richie Porte (Sky) still leads on the classification with one stage still to race.

Sergei Chernetckii, age 24, joined Russian Team Katusha in 2013, coming to the WorldTour ranks from the Continental team ITERA-Katusha. While part of this team, Sergei moved to Tortosa, Spain, where he has trained and resided for three years. Known primarily for his climbing and time trial skills, Sergei Chernetckii’s growing confidence and abilities put him among the sprinters today with a winning move the final result.

“For us it was the last day we could try to show something, so we told the riders to go in the breakaway at any costs. We had to be there. There were 3 of us when the big group first went away, and then when the group split to 13, we had Sergei. I told him to keep an eye on Tejay van Garderen and be sure to stay close to him. He tried earlier to get away so he wouldn’t have to do the sprint, but there were too many attacks to get away. Then when he did his sprint, it was perfect. There was nothing to change about it.

"His win as a Russian rider is very important to this team. It’s a Russian victory and a WorldTour race so it’s important that we have this result at this time. Sergei now understands that he is on a high level and can compete against very strong guys. At the finish everyone was dead so he showed how strong he really is that he could come through for the win,” said team director Dmitry Konyshev.

The Volta a Catalunya concludes on Sunday with the final stage in Barcelona at 126,6 km.