News

The celebration of the 100th edition of the Volta a Catalunya was scheduled for 2020, but the health crisis of COVID-19 forced the organizers to suspend it. Therefore, it will be in 2021 when the 100 editions are finally reached. Congratulations!

The first Volta was held in 1911, and it is the fourth oldest stage race in the world that is still being held today, only behind the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de Belgique. It is a race with lots of history and prestige, as we are told by a winners list where we find great champions of all times: Miquel Poblet, Eddy Merckx, Jacques Anquetil, Luis Ocaña, Felice Gimondi, Bernard Thévenet, Fancesco Moser, Sean Kelly, Miguel Induráin, Laurent Jalabert, Joaquim Rodríguez and Alejandro Valverde are some of the members of this prestigious list of champions.

Route

The Volta 2021 presents a route similar to that of recent years, but includes a notable novelty: the second stage will be an individual time trial of 21 kilometers. The rest of the days move in the usual profiles, with a predominance of medium and high mountain stages and with few opportunities for sprinters, who may see their options reduced to stages 1 and 6. The last stage will take place in the traditional circuit on the mountain of Montjuic, with Barcelona at its feet, in a terrain that allows last minute movements and guarantees excitement until the last meter.

Favorites

The route of the Volta and its situation on the calendar make it an obligatory stop for some of the best climbers in the international peloton, and for this centenary edition it presents a spectacular startlist.

João Almeida (800) stands out as one of the main favorites, as Deceuninck - QuickStep brings young Andrea Bagioli (400) and James Knox (600) to take care of him. The leader of Jumbo-Visma will presumably be Steven Kruijwijk (600), although we will have to be attentive to what two pure climbers like George Bennet (600) or Sepp Kuss (600) can do, as the route suites them perfectly. For its part, the Movistar Team will try to shine and presents a strong team with three of its main stars: Alejandro Valverde (1000), Enric Mas (1000) and local rider Marc Soler (600).

Other contenders for the final victory are Richard Carapaz (1000), Nairo Quintana (1000), Brandon McNulty (600), Wilco Kelderman (1000), Felix Grossschartner (800), Jay Hindley (600), Michael Woods (600) or Hugh John Carthy (600), although we will have to be attentive to the startlist as there are still teams to confirm their lineups.

Finally, we would like to highlight a couple of men who a priori will not have many options for the general classification but who can shine in stages: Thomas DeGendt (600) is a regular on the Volta a Catalunya and is likely to seek the break on first day as he did in 2019, and Marc Hirschi (600), who will debut in the UAE-Team Emirates colors and is an always attacking rider.