Jens Voigt (Trek) may be 42 years of age but he is still strong enough to mix up at the WorldTour level. Today he was back in his attacking mode on the penultimate stage of the Volta a Catalunya and even though he failed to come away with the win, he was happy with the outcome.

Nine riders escaped after seven kilometers in the 164-kilometer stage six, and despite the group never taking much more than four minutes lead, they held off the chasing peloton to contest the stage win.

“It was a good group of solid riders, no superstars, just determined guys that shared the work nicely,” said Jens Voigt about his breakaway compatriots. “We had to, because there were several teams chasing - Movistar, Garmin, Giant, and Lampre. We had to all keep plowing ahead to stay out there.”

When it was apparent the breakaway had enough time over the chasing peloton behind to make it to the finish, Jens Voigt was the first to launch a move with eight kilometers remaining. Although he was quickly chased down, he started off a flurry of attacks from the leading group that lasted to the final kilometer. 

“I was pretty sure at 25K to go and we still had almost three minutes that we would make it,” explained Jens Voigt. “At 10k to go we had 1:30 and I knew I had to attack. But I did not want to go on the downhill so around 9k to go I thought I saw a good spot. I was feeling okay, but still not in my best shape. I thought to myself that even though I was feeling tired and limited, nobody else was attacking, so they must be as tired as I am, so let’s give it a go. You don’t want to wait for a sprint. I opened up the attacking, and the poker game: who’s going to chase who?”

It would be a fierce attack just before the flamme rouge that would finally crack the legs of the breakaway, as Stef Clement (Belkin) powered away to a solo win. Three seconds later the remaining riders sprinted in, with Jens Voigt taking fourth place.

“It was almost a sprint as everyone chased everyone down,” continued Voigt. “Then Clement went with 1.5k to go. I think he was the strongest of the group, he had been following some attacks, but never attacked until the end. He saved his one good attack for that moment.

“I am happy with fourth, probably more so for my shape than the result. I am still not the Jens that I can be, but I am working towards that. It’s a sign of life - of reaching my normal shape - so the team can count on me to do the work. Today was confirmation that I am on the right track.”

The top of the overall classification remained unchanged as the rest of the peloton sprinted in together one minute later, including all the GC favorites. Robert Kiserlovski continues to hold onto 10th place, with tomorrow’s final stage a crucial one as it has the ability to make a final shakeup in the overall.

With only four riders Trek Factory Racing will have their work cut out for them tomorrow, but today was a great moral booster, explained director Adriano Baffi.

“The break went straight away and the nine men worked well together but never had more than 4’20”. There were lots of teams pulling in the back. I think everyone tried to attack at least one time from the break, and of course Jens tried, too.  It did not work out as he would have liked, but fourth place is good for him. And good for the team’s morale. With only have four riders in the race, so we did a good job today. Now our focus is on the final day tomorrow, which is not an easy one.”