Pidcock Edges Verona to Win Andorra MoraBanc Clàssica in Tense Sprint

Tom Pidcock claimed victory in the second edition of the UCI 1.1 Andorra MoraBanc Clàssica on Sunday, powering past race creator Carlos Verona in a tense sprint finish at Coll de la Botella in La Massana. The Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team rider, an Andorran resident who sat out the Tour de Suisse after a mild viral infection, completed the 125km course in 3 hours 42 minutes 25 seconds, edging Verona of Lidl-Trek by two seconds. Sepp Kuss of Visma-Lease a Bike took third at 10 seconds back, with Chris Harper fourth on the same time and Ben Tulett fifth, 13 seconds off the lead. The podium featured three long-term Andorran residents.

The climbers' race, conceived by Verona as a Tour de France tune-up ahead of the 4 July start in Barcelona, drew around 140 riders from five UCI WorldTeams—Visma-Lease a Bike, Movistar Team, EF Education-EasyPost, Groupama-FDJ and Lidl-Trek—plus 11 ProTeams and the Andorran national team. Standouts included residents Pidcock, Kuss and Verona, alongside Derek Gee and Julien Bernard (Lidl-Trek), David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ), Einer Rubio (Movistar Team), Ion Izagirre (Cofidis) and Wout Poels (Unibet Rose Rockets). Jonas Vingegaard skipped it for altitude training in Tignes, as did last year's winner Mattias Skjelmose.

Starting neutralised from Plaça del Poble in Andorra la Vella at noon, the route crossed all seven parishes with 3,780-4,034m of elevation gain, tackling Port d'Envalira, Coll d'Ordino, a 3.7km gravel stretch on Camí de Les Pardines, two intermediate sprints and a 14km ascent to the finish. An early 15-rider break featuring Jefferson Cepeda (EF Education-EasyPost) and later Joan Bou shrank over time. Bernard attacked solo after the Comella climb, building a brief lead through central parishes and past La Massana, but a chasing group of six—Pidcock, Kuss, Verona, Harper, Tulett and Simon Carr—rejoined at 5km out. Kuss launched at 2.8-3km to go, only for Pidcock to counter Verona's surge in the final 200-300m.

Pidcock described the win as "not easy at all and very contested," his 14th as a pro after challenging weeks, while crediting his team's efforts. Verona, pleased with second on home roads, said he felt strong on the final climb and went for it at 300m but got outsprinted, adding the event had drawn more crowds and top teams than last year and was here to stay. Kuss, on the podium with his daughter, noted his 3km move fell short against stronger rivals on a "beautiful and entertaining" course with a compelling uphill finish. Andorran Adrià Regada led the nationals in 51st at 12:50 back—the only finisher from a squad including Max Palmitjavila, Miquel Naudi, Enzo Fuentes, Martí Riera and Thomas Salomon. Still buzzing, he called racing pros a dream, crediting crowd support through tough spots like Envalira.

High heat and relentless pace highlighted Andorra's terrain amid road closures from around 11-11:30am to 5pm, halting public buses with phased restarts: Exprés and L1 partially from 1pm, L4 from Pas de la Casa at 3:40-15:40pm, and others by 4:30-4:45pm or 16:30. Two crashes were reported—a motorcyclist hospitalised at Prat Salit roundabout in Santa Coloma, and a cyclist hit by a vehicle on Avinguda Rocafort in Sant Julià de Lòria.

Tourism Minister Jordi Torres praised an "extraordinary day" with the resident podium, agile road management and scenic highlights like Engolasters lake, calling it another step for Andorra as a cycling hub. The event has one more year secured with Andorra Turisme and MoraBanc, though upcoming elections cloud longer-term plans; Torres hopes it continues for years. Live broadcasts from 2pm reached 70 countries via HBO Max, plus France TV, Esport3, ETB and RTVA Play. Side events featured a children's gymkhana at Plaça del Poble, Repte Km MoraBanc spinning challenge and a 10km popular time trial from Erts to Coll de la Botella. Organisers eye a UCI 1.Pro upgrade next.