The Slovenian wins the exhibition race ahead of Del Toro, Pogacar and Vingegaard
Primož Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) made history as the first winner of the Andorra Cycling Masters, the groundbreaking inaugural event that took place on Sunday. The Slovenian champion scored 55 points across the two races, beating young talent Isaac Del Toro (51 points), compatriot Tadej Pogačar (42) and Denmark's Jonas Vingegaard (36).
The competition, which saw the participation of only four elite riders, was not classified as a UCI event, presenting itself as a completely new format in the cycling landscape, different from both stage races and traditional criteria.
The program was divided into two parts: in the morning, starting at 9:00 a.m., the riders challenged each other in a time trial up the fearsome Coll de la Gallina, a Hors-Catégorie climb that is iconic in Andorra. The 8.23-kilometer route, starting from Bixessarri, featured an elevation gain of over 750 meters. Roglic dominated the race with a time of 25:39, followed by Pogačar at 20 seconds, Del Toro at 2:26, and Vingegaard at 3:45.
The second stage took place at 11:00 a.m. in the center of Andorra la Vella and Escaldes-Engordany, on a 2.14 km urban circuit to be ridden 15 times. Despite several attempts by Pogačar, Del Toro took the stage victory, edging out Roglic, with the World Champion in third place.
"It was an intense battle, especially between Pogačar and Del Toro," Roglic told L'Equipe. "It was challenging, but a real pleasure to race in this company. I really hope to be back next year."
The event will be immortalized in a documentary lasting approximately 50-55 minutes, which will be broadcast on a major international streaming platform.