The seventh and final stage of the 95th Volta a Catalunya played out on Sunday with Team Katusha’s Sergei Chernetckii right in the mix for the finale. After yesterday’s win, Chernetckii put himself in the middle of the action once again, this time sprinting for third place.

"You cannot imagine how happy I am with this third place. Only world class sprinters Valverde and Coquard were faster so I cannot complain. Honestly, a better placing would have been impossible. I did a perfect downhill and corner work before the sprint and also my sprint was perfectly timed. The other two were just a little bit faster. My cycling past on the track is delivering. It looks like I am getting better and better in the sprint. I have to say also that during the race I felt good, even better than yesterday. I was always in the front and hoped for a sprint. I knew I had to focus on Valverde, which is what I did," said Sergei Chernetckii.

Stage 7 brought 126,6 kms in Barcelona. The stage included 8 ascents through Montjuic Park on a circuit. Alejandro Valverde of Movistar was able to outsprint Bryan Coquard (Europcar) and Chernetckii in third. The effort from Valverde moved him into second overall at 4-seconds behind race winner Richie Porte. The podium was completed by Domenico Pozzovivo (AG2R La Mondiale). Giampaolo Caruso became the best Katusha’s performer with 14th place.

"We wanted to make the last stage hard with Trofimov and Caruso so that we would finish with just a small group. In the end only 31 riders were left with a super Chernetckii. In general I can only be happy with our Volta a Catalunya. We came here without a leader after Rodriguez' sickness. We had to change plans over and over again. Our first alternative for “Purito” was Alberto Losada, but he also got sick. Then we had to go for stage wins and Chernetckii accomplished that. Thanks to his stage win, our Volta became a success. It was especially nice for the team since a Russian rider won for the Russian team. For me it was nice as it all happened in the region where I grew up but I have to say that I get the biggest satisfaction from this race with the attitude from our riders. All of them had seven days full of positive feelings and we rode as a real team. Team Katusha can only be happy," said team directorXavi Florencio.

Sergei Chernetckii now takes some rest and training. His next goals will be Romandy and the Giro d'Italia.