After a disappointing final season at Vacansoleil, Lieuwe Wetra has returned to form at Astana. Today the strong Dutchman took a very impressive solo win in the wet and hard final stage of the Volta a Catalunya to prove that he may be a very valuable rider for Vincenzo Nibali in the Tour de France.

When Lieuwe Westra won the queen stage and was just seconds away from beating Bradley Wiggins at the 2012 Paris-Nice, expectations for the strong Dutchman started to grow. Suddenly, he was touted as a potential grand tour contender as his excellent time trialing skills and solid climbing legs provided him with the allround talents needed to shine in the biggest races.

Unfortunately, his progress came to a halt in what was a very disappointing 2013 season but Astana continued to believe in his strength. When Vacansoleil folded, the Kazakh team was quick to offer in a contract and he was immediately included in the pre-selection for the team that will support Vincenzo Nibali at the Tour de France.

After a slow start to the season, he started to repay the team for their faith when he took a very impressive solo win in today's final stage of the Volta a Catalunya. In horrendous weather conditions, the strong Dutchman made it into a 13-rider breakaway that included strong riders like Marcos Burghardt and Thomas Voeckler before riding away from all his companions on the brutal finishing circuit that included the steep Montjuic climb.

“We started with 13 guys in the breakaway from the first kilometer, but I knew that some of the weaker riders would not stay with us," he said. "Finally it was four, and when Thomas Voeckler attacked the third time I got to the top of the climb and passed him ready to go for the win.

“I rode my own tempo on the climb and knew to be careful not to fall on the descent, because of the rain. But in the last two laps I could hear on the radio 20 seconds, 30 seconds, then 40 seconds. I knew if I didn’t crash and didn’t have any problems that I could win."

Westra's next targets are the Ardennes classics.