News

Analysis written by Sergio Yustos (@sergioyustos_) and fantasy tips by Cédric Molina (@ilcapoced)

ROUTE ANALYSIS

Date	Day	Stage	KM
23/03	Monday	Stage 1 | Sant Feliu de Guíxols - Sant Feliu de Guíxols	172.7
24/03	Tuesday	Stage 2 | Figueres - Banyoles	167.4
25/03	Wednesday	Stage 3 | Mont-roig del Camp - Vila-seca	159.4
26/03	Thursday	Stage 4 | Mataró - Vallter	173
27/03	Friday	Stage 5 | La Seu d'Urgell - La Molina / Coll de Pal	155.3
28/03	Saturday	Stage 6 | Berga - Queralt	158.2
29/03	Sunday	Stage 7 | Barcelona - Barcelona	95.1

STAGE 1 - Finish for puncheurs/sprinters

• Schedule: 13:00 - 17:00 CET

Mostly flat route, ideal to open the Volta. The final sprint in Sant Feliu de Guixols is usually quite agonizing and demanding, giving a chance to more complete riders than the pure sprinters themselves. In fact, sprinters do have a shot, but it’s more natural to think of this finish as a perfect day for puncheurs.

STAGE 2 - Sprinters’ finish

• Schedule: 13:10 - 17:00 CET

Stage suited to sprinters, although the run-in drags slightly uphill and can make the sprint tougher. The Alt del Purgatori (1.3 km at 7.2%) is the only categorized climb of the day, far from the finish. The last 30 km feature a series of kickers that can whittle down the group and make things difficult for the purest sprinters.

STAGE 3 - Sprinters/breakaway

• Schedule: 13:40 - 17:20 CET

A day for sprinters, but with a very demanding first half that opens the door to the breakaway. The passes over the Alt de la Mussara (10.4 km at 6.0%) and the Coll de Capafonts (4 km at 4.7%) make the start much harder. The final part is more favourable, after going over the Coll Roig (5.7 km at 4.4%) before the flat run-in to the finish.

STAGE 4 - GC riders

• Schedule: 12:45 - 16:55 CET

A clear stage for climbers with an uphill finish at Vallter 2000 (11.2 km at 7.2%). Before that, it’s a long, wearing route, but it shouldn’t cause any major splits before the final climb. First real test on a demanding high-altitude finish, ideal for the first moves and time gaps between the GC favourites.

STAGE 5 - GC riders

• Schedule: 11:40 - 16:00 CET

Climbers’ finish at La Molina/Coll de Pall (18.4 km at 6.6%), a long climb for creating gaps. A very hard day with Port de Collidamat (15.4 km at 4.8%) and, above all, the passages over Coll de Fumanya (5.5 km at 8.9%) and Collada Sobirana (7.6 km at 6.7%) as the key points before the finale. The passage over Fumanya could really split the race before the final section; it might even be a good moment to see some moves.

STAGE 6 - GC riders/breakaway

• Schedule: 12:50 - 17:00 CET

Without doubt the queen stage of this Volta. The Coll de Pradell (15.1 km at 6.8%) allows the race to be blown apart with relative ease, followed by demanding terrain all the way to the finish, going over the Collada de Sant Isidre (5.0 km at 8.7%) and tackling the beautiful ascent to the Santuari de Queralt (5.9 km at 7.5%). The Volta will almost certainly be decided on this stage.

STAGE 7 - Breakaway/GC riders

• Schedule: 11:50 - 14:00 CET

Classic finish in Barcelona. The seven laps over the Alt de Montjuic (2.7 km at 4.6%) will allow the breakaway to fight for the stage while we see moves in the peloton. It’s usually an interesting stage to follow.

THE WEATHER

A good week is expected and, unless there are major changes, wind and rain should only threaten at specific moments, with pleasant temperatures and sunshine as the dominant factors.

GC FAVOURITES

The level is extremely high in this Volta a Catalunya: a stellar startlist and a week packed with tough stages. There is one clear favourite on paper, Jonas Vingegaard, but plenty of contenders who can at least spice up the race. That said, if we see the version of Jonas we saw in Nice, it will be hard to challenge him for the overall win.

Among the main rivals we find Remco Evenepoel (coming from a failed training camp on Teide due to the weather), Tom Pidcock (whose recent effort in Milano-Sanremo may take its toll), Florian Lipowitz (I have some doubts about him, but the route suits him; that said, he’ll be riding in support of Remco) and João Almeida (who has a decent opportunity ahead of him to show that he can be close to Jonas).

Beyond these names, the chances of fighting for the win shrink even more, and riders like Oscar Onley, Cian Uijtdebroeks, Felix Gall, Mikel Landa, Lenny Martínez, Giulio Ciccone, Richard Carapaz, Matthew Riccitello, Carlos Rodríguez and Santiago Buitrago come into play, with Buitrago perhaps the one I trust the most from this group to be up there. They are riders who can be in the mix and dream of the podium, but it’s true that the victory seems limited to one rider and a few others who, on top form, can take the fight to him.

Lastly, we shouldn’t forget riders like Jay Vine, Mattias Skjelmose, Georg Steinhauser, Marc Soler, Brandon McNulty, Lorenzo Fortunato, Valentin Paret-Peintre, Léo Bisiaux or Jakob Omrzel, but my two picks to be ahead of this group will be Filippo Zana and José Manuel Díaz. The Italian has started the season very well and, after a short rest following Strade Bianche, he again has a good chance to show himself here. I don’t think the team will fully sacrifice itself specifically for him, Landa or Paret-Peintre; for his part, the rider from Jaén comes from winning the Clàssica Terres de l'Ebre, and that can give him a big morale boost to fight for a strong result here.

CANDIDATES FOR STAGE WINS

We’ll have to keep an eye on the fast men on the one hand and the puncheurs on the other, who, aside from the first day, can also shine from breakaways.

Among the fast men, Ethan Vernon may stand out the most for a week like this, together with other riders such as Dorian Godon, Alberto Dainese or Sam Bennett, who, since his comeback, has not yet really shown himself at a high level. I also wouldn’t lose sight of riders like Noah Hobbs, Henri Uhlig, Riley Pickrell, Matej Gočar or Mathieu Kockelmann; it’s true that the level is not so high that you can ignore riders like these on the days suited to them.

On the other hand, among the puncheurs, I would specifically highlight riders like Guillermo Thomas Silva, Magnus Cort, Brady Gilmore, Felix Engelhardt, Simone Gualdi, Anton Charmig and Andrea Raccagni Noviero. It’s true that here we must also consider the GC riders and sprinters like Dorian Godon, for whom the first stage is also ideal.

---

IL CAPO CED’S RECOMMENDATIONS TO BE A CAPO IN FANTASY

💥 Il capo’s stat.

With a 🥈 or 🥉 in the GC, João Almeida would equal Alberto Contador and Josep Serra as the 5th rider to stand on the podium the most times without ever winning: 3 times.
Ahead of him would then only be Pedro Delgado and Francesco Masip, who made it onto the GC podium 4 times but could never win.

🌟 Capos to watch.
1200; Jonas Vingegaard
1000; Tom Pidcock, Carlos Rodríguez
800; Giulio Ciccone, Lenny Martínez
600; Dorian Godon, Ethan Vernon
400; Valentin Paret-Peintre, Cian Uijtdebroeks
200; Andreas Leknessund, Brady Gilmore

📂 ‘Ideal 9’ (best possible team)
📌 Riders costing 200 coins
2025: 2
2024: 5
2023: 4
2022: 4
2021: 1
2019: 3

📌 Riders with 10-%
2025: 3
2024: 2
2023: 1
2022: 2
2021: 6
2019: 4

📂 Importance of picking the 1st in the young riders’ classification
2025: Juan Ayuso (2nd most Fantasy points)
2024: Lenny Martínez (4th)
2023: Remco Evenepoel (2nd)
2022: Sergio Higuita (1st)
2021: João Almeida (3rd)
2019: Miguel Ángel López (1st)

📂 Fantasy Top-10 (riders with the most points)
📌 Riders costing 200 coins
2025: 2
2024: 5
2023: 1
2022: 4
2021: 1
2019: 0

📌 Riders with 10-%
2025: 4
2024: 2
2023: 2
2022: 2
2021: 6
2019: 5