Climbers gather in Catalonia
The Volta Ciclista a Catalunya is one of the favorite races for climbers in the entire UCI World Tour calendar, as it usually features several mountain stages. While sprinters and classics riders are focused on one-day races in Belgium, France, and Italy, Grand Tour contenders are gradually building up their form in week-long races such as Volta Ciclista a Catalunya, Itzulia Basque Country, or Tour of the Alps. Additionally, many WorldTour riders are based in Girona and take advantage of the convenience of racing close to home.
The route
The 2023 Volta consists of 7 stages, with a predominance of medium and high mountain stages and only one opportunity for pure sprinters. The race starts with a stage that accumulates over 2000 meters of positive elevation and ends with a final ramp in Sant Feliu de Guíxols, where Michael Mathews (1000) won last year. In the second and third stages, the race returns to the two traditional Pyrenean mountaintop finishes of recent years, Vallter (15.1 km at 6.7%) and la Molina (12.2 km at 4.4%). The fourth day is clearly downhill and the best opportunity for the few sprinters present on the start list, while the fifth, with the finish at the Mirador del Portell (8.4 km at 8.8%), is again terrain for climbers. The penultimate stage is considered flat on the road book but adds 2500 meters of positive slope and is perhaps the best opportunity for the day's breakaway to succeed. Finally, the race ends on Sunday on the traditional Montjuïc circuit in Barcelona, where the six climbs up the Alt del Castell (2.7 km at 4.7%) will decide the positions in the final general classification.
The favorites
As we were saying, the race attracts many top-level climbers, given that the race route favors them. Remco Evenepoel (1200), Primož Roglič (1200), João Almeida (1200), Richard Carapaz (1000), Adam Yates (1000), Egan Bernal (1000), Geraint Thomas (1000), Romain Bardet (800), Giulio Ciccone (600), Mikel Landa (600), Rigoberto Urán (600), Sepp Kuss (600), Ethan Hayter (1200), Jack Haig (600), and Michael Woods (600) are some of the most prominent names on the start list.
Photo: Volta Ciclista a Catalunya