The oldest one-week race in the WorldTour
The Volta Ciclista a Catalunya was first held in 1911, making it the oldest one-week race in the current UCI WorldTour. We are talking about an event with lots of history who can boast a list of winners that contains stars from all eras: Mariano Cañardo, Miquel Poblet, Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Luis Ocaña, Bernard Thévenet, Francesco Moser, Sean Kelly, Miguel Indurain, Claudio Chiappucci, Laurent Jalabert, Joaquim Rodríguez and Alejandro Valverde (800) are some of the most outstanding.
Route
The first two stages are mostly flat and can end in some kind of sprint, but they have a catch, as they run through the Empordà, a territory near the coast famous because the wind usually blows strongly, allowing the formation of echelons. After these initial stages, the mountain arrives, also in a block of two consecutive stages. Both days accumulate more than 3,000 meters of elevation gain each and have similar profiles, with top mountain arrivals at La Molina (12 km at 4.4%) (stage 3) and Boi Taüll (16.6 km at 5.7%) (stage 4). Stage 5 is the clearest option for a bunch sprint, as stage 6 can brake 30 km from the finish line, when Coll de la Teixeta is passed (2.9 km at 5.3%). From there, the profile is descending to the finish line in Cambrils. Finally, the seventh and final stage remains true to tradition, with 6 laps on the local circuit in Barcelona that includes the climb to Alt del Castell de Montjuic (2.4 km at 4.7%). This final stage has been exciting in the past and could be decisive for the general classification.
Favorites
Among the favorites for the general classification we have to highlight the men of Ineos Grenadiers, who last year took all three podium positions with Adam Yates (1000), Richie Porte (800) and Geraint Thomas (600). Thomas will not be on the race this year, but the team brings Yates and Porte, accompanied on this occasion by Olympic champion Richard Carapaz (1000) and the young talent of the team Carlos Rodríguez (200). Adam's brother, Simon Yates (800), put Roglič under pressure at Paris-Nice and is another big favorite, along with João Almeida (1200). Alejandro Valverde (800), Nairo Quintana (600), Jay Hindley (600), Guillaume Martin (800), Juan Ayuso (200) or Michael Woods (800) .
For the flat stages, the start list does not feature many names. At the moment, Phil Bauhaus (600), Sonny Colbrelli (1000) and Hugo Hofstetter (400) seem the fastest men, although the list is not definitive and more sprinters may be added.