While barely eight days separate the respective finishes of Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico final Sunday and the beginning of the Volta a Catalunya subsequent week, March’s three WorldTour stage races have a really totally different really feel. Paris-Nice and Tirreno are likely to type a part of a plotline main in the direction of Milan-San Remo after which the northern Classics and whereas any Grand Tour candidates collaborating in both stage race can have a big impact on outcomes (i.e. win), when it comes to pure numbers, usually they continue to be in a minority.
Catalunya, however, is the primary main European stage race of the season the place a substantial variety of prime GC names yearly emerge to check their type. This yr alone and nearly with out anyone noticing, for instance, in its lineup, Catalunya manages to boast two Tour de France winners, (Geraint Thomas and Egan Bernal), 4 riders with a Giro d’Italia of their palmarès (Bernal, Primož Roglič, Tao Geoghegan Hart, Nairo Quintana) and 4 who can say the identical in regards to the Vuelta a España (Roglič, Simon Yates, Quintana and Sepp Kuss). Considering neither Tadej Pogačar, a three-time Tour winner and final yr’s Volta champion nor Jonas Vingegaard – set to be the highest favorite in Pogačar’s stead this time spherical however lastly a late withdrawal – are current, that is some achievement.
At a time of yr biking’s important fan favorite is the Classics, why does Catalunya stay so quietly common for the GC racers? For one factor each season, Catalunya provides the peloton the primary collection of incursions of the yr into the Pyrenees, its back-to-back full-blown mountain phases typically ending near 2,000 metres above sea degree. But the race’s wildly various terrain on the whole (though maybe not the sometimes very treacherous climate that may have an effect on Catalunya) is one other key enchantment.
Riders can discover themselves tackling the rolling countryside and coastlines of central and japanese Catalunya to the flatlands and little-known sierras of the south, to not point out the mountains which stalk from one finish to the opposite of Catalunyas’ northern border with France and Andorra. All of that are wonderful type assessments, however yet one more draw is the status of the occasion itself: Catalunya is the second oldest stage race on this planet after the Giro d’Italia and has a protracted record of main names amongst its palmarès, most just lately Pogačar but additionally Indurain, Anquetil and Merckx.
It’s true that in contrast to the Dauphiné or the Tour of the Alps, say, Catalunya continues to be distant sufficient from the key Grand Tours for the peloton to have a barely amorphous really feel. Yet regardless of the one-size-fits-all really feel of the bunch, the Volta a Catalunya unfailingly constitutes a severe take a look at of type for anyone in search of a mid-spring reference level for both May or July.
It’s true that one in every of its two ordinary Pyrenean summits has been eliminated this yr. But the primary key problem of La Molina, a notoriously irregular climb concluding in a ski station stays in place on stage 3, and can immediately see gaps rising amongst the main favourites.
The welcome return of the Cat.1 ascent to Montserrat and its thousand-year-old monastery for the primary time since Laurent Jalabert ripped the race aside there in 1995 on stage 4 will likely be one other main take a look at this March. But for the second yr operating, the Volta will likely be gained for sure and misplaced on the ultra-hard ascent to Queralt, on stage 6, preceded by the standard mixture of the climbs of Pradell (HC) and Isidre (Cat.1).
It’s not simply the riders that give the Volta its enduring enchantment both, there’s the general public as nicely, with Montjuic’s ultimate stage at all times seeing famously large crowds taking to the roadsides. Then on Saturday as nicely, 1000’s of followers from the close by city of Berga – a Catalan biking stronghold much less well-known than the city of Girona, however with a powerful variety of golf equipment and novice riders all the identical – are anticipated to line the ultra-mountainous route, too, previous to the normal showdown circuit race in central Barcelona 24 hours later.
Cyclingnews takes a more in-depth take a look at these chasing victory in Catalunya subsequent week.
Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe)
The outright winner of Catalunya in 2023, curiosity in how Roglič performs within the Volta is certain to be very excessive for a number of causes.
Most importantly, Roglič began his season in a moderately perfunctory trend on the Volta ao Algarve, the place he’d already stated within the winter he was not going to be a GC challenger, and the 35-year-old definitely saved his phrase, trailing his manner anonymously to eighth total.
In the Volta, nonetheless, given it is his solely race earlier than the Giro d’Italia, the seven-day Catalan occasion turns into an important reference level for May, each for Roglič, his workforce and his upcoming rivals within the corsa rosa, and even within the extra distant Tour de France.
Furthermore, historical past suggests {that a} good Roglič in March can simply turn into an ideal Roglič two months later. When Roglič gained in Italy in 2023, he had additionally captured the Volta 5 weeks earlier, in addition to two stage wins, within the course of seeing off the likes of Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep), one other key contender within the Giro that yr.
The bonus second battle proved essential in that yr’s final result – Roglič took 43 to Evenepoel’s 41 – and even when there are extra steep, lengthy ultimate climbs within the 2025 Volta route in comparison with when he conquered the Volta in 2023, the Slovenian veteran has lengthy proved a previous grasp in outsprinting his rivals at summit finishes. As just lately as stage 4 within the Vuelta final yr at Pico Villuercas, for instance, Roglič remained one of the best bar none at that type of high-speed mountaintop battle. And everyone knows who ended up successful that race.
So on paper, at the least, and till confirmed in any other case, Roglič begins the 2025 Volta a Catalunya because the rider to beat.
Richard Carapaz (EF Education-Easy Post)
Barring some transient, probing assaults in Tirreno-Adriatico, there’s been valuable little of word in Richard Carapaz’s season up to now this yr, with an nameless sixteenth place in Milan-Turin on Wednesday his most up-to-date consequence. But like so many different GC stars, the actual assessments of the yr are but to come back, and Catalunya might nicely be the place Carapaz begins to fireplace on at the least a majority of cylinders for the primary time in 2025.
When Carapaz does start to start out making his presence felt, although, he is at all times each a vastly entertaining and really profitable rider- and fairly other than his gorgeous Alpine stage win in final yr’s Tour in addition to the victory within the polka-dot classification, the Volta itself has proof of that in its not so latest previous.
In 2022, Carapaz and fellow South American Sergio Higuita turned in probably the most memorable days of racing in latest Volta historical past, launching a two-rider long-distance ambush on seemingly innocuous rolling terrain on chief Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG). Carapaz took the stage win and second total – his solely Volta podium end thus far – and Higuita the general.
Just as for Roglič, Catalunya will likely be a key testing floor for Carapaz en path to a frightening Giro-Tour double. But whereas for Roglič the Volta is one thing of a voyage at the hours of darkness, given his assaults in Tirreno, it seems that Carapaz is already on an upward curve. Every week’s exhausting racing in Catalunya, a method or one other, will give followers and riders much more proof on that individual query.
Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers)
Had he raced the Volta a Catalunya, Jonas Vingegaard would not have been the one previous Tour de France winner on the comeback path within the race this yr. Following his dangerous crash and fractured collarbone within the Clásica Jaén, Egan Bernal can also be aiming to hit the heights once more within the Volta, and after an ultra-fast restoration from his crash, shedding simply three days’ coaching, he might nicely be in wonderful type.
Encouragingly, previous to his accident in Andalucia, Bernal was already hitting new heights this season following his life-threatening coaching accident early in 2022. In early February, he took his first wins in practically 4 years within the Colombian National Championships street race and time trial, one of the best indication but this season he’s recovering to his pre-2022 situation.
Furthermore, in 2024 Bernal had already handed one other main comeback milestone in, because it occurred, Catalunya. The Volta was the place Bernal clinched his first WorldTour stage racing podium for the reason that 2022 crash, inserting third behind Pogačar and Mikel Landa (Soudal-QuickStep). So for all Bernal is preaching warning and saying that regardless of his numbers being good, it is solely racing that counts, the possibilities of a repeat top-flight efficiency within the Volta are certainly not small.
Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates-XRG)
Fifth in 2022, his sole Volta a Catalunya participation thus far, three years on Juan Ayuso is in a really totally different place. While he stays, at 22, one in every of Spain’s – and biking’s – most sensible up-and-coming racers, Ayuso’s latest collection of wins in Tirreno-Adriatico, Laguiglea and Faun Drome Classic additionally make him probably the most prolifically profitable racer in March and have even [prior to San Remo at least] made him the rider with most UCI factors scored this season.
Ayuso subsequently begins Catalunya trying to take his second WorldTour stage race in three weeks, and the place he’ll be trying to consolidate his rise in stature within the unofficial GC rider rating – though Pogačar stays undisputed chief, we hasten so as to add – inside UAE Team Emirates as nicely. Objective quantity three will likely be to match his type towards another prime Giro d’Italia favourites, together with his teammate and former Catalunya winner Adam Yates.
“Tirreno gave me further confidence for the Giro,” Ayuso stated after changing into the fifth Spanish rider ever to win the race, and the primary since Alberto Contador – additionally, because it occurs, the latest Spanish winner of the Giro d’Italia. But whereas the Volta will probably but be simpler, weather-wise, than the rain-blighted 2025 version of Tirreno, the climbing challenges in Catalunya, in addition to the GC rivals, are far higher. Should Ayuso succeed on residence soil the place he left off in Italy ten days in the past, then, his confidence will arguably be even higher.
Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates-XRG)
For a number of of the highest favourites participating within the Volta a Catalunya, the race stays near unknown territory – Roglič and Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious) have solely raced it twice earlier than, Ayuso as soon as. Adam Yates, however, already has a victory, a second and a fourth place total in his palmarès in Catalunya, and 2025 will likely be his seventh participation. Add in a deep historical past of week-long WorldTour stage racing throughout the board, with 2024 his most constantly profitable season thus far, and Yates could possibly be a formidable contender on this yr’s Volta.
On the draw back, sickness reportedly sidelined Yates in Tirreno-Adriatico, even whereas his teammate Ayuso was hovering to total victory. But Yates’ repeat triumph within the Tour of Oman in February is a promising indication of underlying fine condition, and after a fourth place in Milan-Turin earlier this week behind teammate Isaac Del Toro, he’ll be trying to push the bar quite a bit increased once more within the Volta.
Three summit finishes of accelerating issue akin to these within the Volta are precisely the form of problem he relishes probably the most, too. But the largest challenge – simply as within the Giro – could also be simply how nicely Yates and Ayuso deal with the query of joint GC management.
Simon Yates (Visma-Lease a Bike)
Seven years have come and gone since Simon Yates took his best-ever consequence within the Volta a Catalunya, powering residence solo within the Montjuic Park end on the final day to clinch a stage win and fourth place total. But after transferring to Visma-Lease a Bike over the winter, it’s going to be intriguing to see how Yates fares in a race that appears all however tailored to go well with his strengths.
Yates’ efficiency in Tirreno-Adriatico was not as memorable as in recent times, both, akin to when he took a stage win and the general again in 2020. Yet for all Yates would not have the identical gorgeous monitor report in Catalunya as his brother Adam, identical to Adam he’ll even be wanting to make use of the Volta as a take a look at mattress for his upcoming targets within the Giro d’Italia, and past that the Tour de France.
Furthermore, within the absence of Jonas Vingegaard, the 2020 version of Catalunya might nicely supply extra alternatives for Yates to shine. As but he hasn’t had an opportunity to take a win in his new workforce colors at Visma, however be it a stage victory or one thing larger, the Volta might nicely be the place he units the report straight, seven years on from his lone triumph in Montjuic.
Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike)
Fun reality: even supposing American climber Sepp Kuss lives in neighbouring Andorra, is a vastly common determine amongst biking followers in Catalunya, is aware of most of the Volta climbs just like the again of his hand, and is a world-class mountain specialist, he is by no means carried out nicely in his ‘residence’ race.
Twelfth in 2021 is his greatest consequence thus far within the Volta, and whereas he notched up a fifth place at Port Ainé’s summit end final yr, he ended up slumping to thirteenth total.
The key query for Kuss, simply as it’s for teammate Simon Yates, is how Visma-Lease a Bike now rethink their technique following chief Vingegaard’s latest announcement he will not be beginning. Assuming they only go for stage wins, Kuss would – like Yates – positively be out there, however in the case of which of the 2 enjoys protected rider standing, and if they’ve their eyes on a much bigger prize, quite a bit will rely upon how the 2 climbers fare on the primary summit end of the race at La Molina on stage 3.
Nairo Quintana (Movistar)
When Nairo Quintana made the briefest of mountain assaults on stage 5 of Tirreno-Adriatico, the place as soon as it might have set the complete total battle alight, as an alternative it barely sparked a ripple within the momentum of the race.
However, his assault did function a reminder that in mountainous terrain the place he was as soon as the dominating power – in Tirreno, for instance, he is gained it twice – for the final couple of years, the Colombian has been a shadow of his former GC self. But even when Quintana does solely get barely concerned within the climbing motion throughout this yr’s Volta, it is at all times price remembering the Movistar man is probably the most embellished Volta a Catalunya rider to be participating on this yr’s version, and that he nonetheless retains a greater than notable place within the race’s historical past.
The King of the Mountains in his first ever participation, again when he was driving for Colombia es Pasión in 2011 earlier than he joined Movistar, within the Volta Quintana then proceeded to show in a single top-level efficiency after one other. The total winner in 2016, and second in 2018, Quintana additionally has at least three additional fourth locations on GC in his Catalunya palmares, most just lately in 2022, in addition to victory within the hardest mountain stage in 2013.
This yr, simply as in 2024, he’ll nearly definitely be driving the Volta as a climbing domestique de luxe for Movistar chief Enric Mas, fifth total final yr and a possible outsider for a podium end in 2025. But come what might, Quintana’s achievements in his personal proper within the Volta are price conserving in thoughts, too.
Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious)
Assuming Santiago Buitrago has recovered sufficient from his Paris-Nice crashout and accidents to start out, he might nicely be one of many largest total challengers.
Second within the Tour des Alpes-Maritimes and the winner of the Volta a Valencia this season, the Colombian climber doesn’t have an ideal monitor report in Catalunya. But he has made a notable begin to the 2025 season, and the mixture of a number of summit finishes and no time trial in Catalunya will go well with the 25-year-old mountain specialist all the way down to the bottom.
If Buitrago is a biking historical past fan, he’ll have perhaps observed and brought encouragement from the truth that Colombia has a wonderful monitor report within the Volta, too. Recent winners from his nation embrace Sergio Higuita (2022), Miguel Angel López (2019) and Quintana (2016): might Buitrago turn into Colombia’s fourth Volta champion in lower than ten years?