Evenepoel, Roglic, Carapaz and Yates will try to win a Catalan round with three top finishes
BARCELONA, 19 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The 102nd edition of the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya begins this Monday in Sant Feliu de Guíxols and will end on Sunday the 26th in Barcelona after 1,194 kilometers with three mountain finishes and with a lineup of high-level applicants and without a clear favorite to take the witness of the absent current champion Sergio Higuita.
Without the Colombian, who chooses not to try to revalidate his victory in the last Volta, the champion’s jersey is available to be worn by another. And among the favourites, the current La Vuelta champion, the Belgian Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick Step), the three-time La Vuelta champion Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) and the 2021 Volta winner Adam Yates (UAE) stand out. Team Emirates).
But in such a mountainous tour, with three high finishes and an always demanding final finish at Montjuïc (Barcelona), anything can happen and there are other names to take into account, such as the Spanish Mikel Landa (Bahrain-Victorious), the British Geraint Thomas (INEOS Grenadiers) or Australian Ben O’Connor (AG2R Citroën Team).
In addition, this Volta will be the public presentation in a prestigious stage round of the Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz with the colors of EF Education-EasyPost, his new team after leaving INEOS. And, precisely at INEOS, it is expected to see a good version of the Colombian Egan Bernal, already recovered from his various injuries and operations after being run over in January 2022.
All of them, and some ‘outsiders’ who may come out, will fight on a course with these three mountain stages that add up to an almost unprecedented demand in a race that perhaps for this reason attracts some of the best cyclists in the world.
Unlike previous editions with only two summit finishes, this 2023 edition 102 presents three final ascents; Vallter, La Molina and Lo Port, something that hasn’t happened since 2001. In total there will be 25 scoring ports and, in addition, the explosive finish at the Montjuïc circuit in Barcelona is maintained.
Sant Feliu de Guíxols will be the starting point of the Volta for the second year. The city of Empordà will be the start and finish of a first stage of 164.6 kilometers that can bring surprises, with up to four scoring ports (the Alt dels Àngels, in the 2nd category, is added) and an explosive finish.
The high mountains will arrive soon, in the second stage that will unite Mataró and Vallter on a 165.4-kilometre route. The Coll de Coubet, in the 1st category, will be more demanding before arriving at the ski resort, an entire special category port that has hosted a finish line in the Catalan race six times.
And the second mountain stage will not be long in coming and will take place on the third day, which will have 180.6 kilometers between Olost, an unprecedented start in the centenary history of the race, and La Molina, a classic from the last decade whose ramps have won four final winners of the Volta.
The previous ascents in the Coll de Coubet (1st category) and the Coll de la Creueta (one of the three special category climbs on this year’s route) will help make the final selection in what could be the queen stage of this edition .
The fourth stage will cover 188.2 kilometers between Llívia and Sabadell, in the longest day of this edition and one of the most favorable to a sprint finish. Of course, with the ascent from the start in La Molina (1st category) and the ascents of Collet de Sant Agustí and Coll de Lligabosses (3rd category) in between that will add even more wear on the legs of the peloton.
The fifth stage stands out above the rest, the novelty of the edition. A day of 178.6 kilometers that will show the cycling potential of the four regions of Terres de l’Ebre, starting from Tortosa and a monumental finish at Lo Port. It will be the third summit finish of the edition, in a special category port with the necessary hardness (8.4 kilometers at 8.8 percent of average slope) to be decisive.
The sixth stage will unite Martorell and Molins de Rei, two towns in Baix Llobregat that return to the Volta route after decades of absence in a 177-kilometre journey that will take cyclists through leg-breaking terrain through the center of Catalonia.
Finally, Barcelona will once again be the final judge of the Volta a Catalunya in its seventh and final stage, starting and finishing in the capital of Catalonia on a 142-kilometre route that this year includes the Alt de Begues (2nd category) before to return to the final circuit in Montjuïc, which always offers a competitive show with a special public to close a week of emotions.
A show in which all the teams of the highest category will be, with a Movistar Team that will lead Iván Ramiro Sosa as leader, in addition to the guests Lotto Dstny, Israel-Premier Tech, Burgos-BH, Caja Rural-Seguros RGA , Kern Pharma Team, Euskaltel-Euskadi and Uno-X Pro Cycling Team, from the second category of professional cycling.