At this point in the Spring the cycling races come thick and fast. There is always a major Classic every weekend, sometimes two or there is an additional midweek Classic as well. And every other week there is yet another major World Tour weeklong stage race. This is the case with this Volta a Catalunya. The Volta a Catalunya is a race of great prestige: just as prestigious as Paris-Nice or Tirreno-Adriatico if not more. I say perhaps more, because the Volta a Catalunya is the third oldest stage race in the world behind only the Tour de France and the Giro d’Italia. Yes, this Volta a Catalunya is older than the now premier Spanish stage race the Vuelta a Espana. Catalunya has had a rough go holding down its position on the calendar: the original edition was astoundingly held in January, from the 1940s through the mid-1990s it was nestled into a comfortable September race slot until the Vuelta was moved from April to late-Summer forcing Catalunya to find new dates. It had been held in June, and May, and now in recent years it has been held regularly in this late-March window. It seems strange to learn of so many calendar changes, surely the third oldest stage race in the world deserves better than that.
Now you know where on the calendar the Volta a Catalunya has come to be situated, but do you know where Catalonia is situated on a map? One can make a whole hobby out of studying the history of the myriad European provincial separatist movements, and one of the chief specimens would be this Catalonia region who has historically not been thrilled with Spanish rule. Catalonia is the province in the far northeast corner of Spain just south of France on the Mediterranean Coast; and its regional capital is the beautiful Barcelona. Now you have the picture in your head, a place where warm weather, coastal roads, and mountains meet: lovely cycling country isn’t it? I tell you a large share of the professional riders shall agree with you too. Since the late 1990s, the Catalan town of Girona has been a mecca for international cyclists. Most non-European professional cyclists will at some point move here to make Girona their European home and base of operations. The area has great excess to any cycling terrain one would wish to train on, many mountain passes, gravel roads, and flat open roads to practice time-trialing or even catch a crosswind or two. And since the first Americans back in the US Postal days made it their European base, it has grown and grown to where a Neopro in their first season can come this foreign land and still have access to an international group of riders who speak all the languages of the peloton. For the Americans, Australians, and Brits there will still be people to converse in English with before the riders learn their Spanish, French, and Italian. And those riders, despite different trade team allegiances, will have a whole group of friends to go on four-to-six-hour training rides with. Yes, should a cycling-tourist visit Girona it shall be a game of Eye Spy to see how many professionals they can see out on the training roads, dining at the cafes, and shopping at the food markets. Thus, keeping in mind this Girona hub, for a large share of the Volta a Catalunya competitors: this race feels like a “Home Game.” They have extra motivation to do well on their terrain. They have a leg up on the competition, because they should know most of these roads better than the others who train here not.
The Volta a Catalunya route each year too is a proper weeklong test. This race does not often attract a premier field of sprinters, because most of the stages involve some sort of hills. To be fair there are usually one or two sprint days, but occasionally they can be foiled and unexpectedly stolen by a supreme breakaway specialist. Additionally there are always a couple stages with some medium mountains almost nailed on to suit a breakaway to win and will also cause a General Classification (GC) battle behind. And of course too there are always two proper high mountain days as well with finishing climbs at some sort of ski resort just wrapping up the end of their season. A Time Trial may or may not appear on the route each year, but what is always dependable is a final hilly city circuit on the final Sunday in Barcelona. That day is always a show, the circuit is brutally hilly and should the GC battle still be within some minute or 90 seconds—which it often is—that last day provides a thrilling final battle. I tell you, Madrid and the Vuelta should take notes on this final Barcelonan Catalunya stage and develop a similar thrilling hilly city finale as well for the end of their Grand Tour.
Now with the large percentage of professionals that live in the area and that proper testing route which truly appears to be a mini-Grand Tour, the Volta a Catalunya for a number of years now has attracted a top GC field of contenders…usually it is vying for the title of best GC field outside of the Grand Tours themselves. It seems this spot on the calendar works scheduling wise for many of the top GC men. Perhaps it is because Paris-Nice a fortnight before is still too cold for some of the fair-weather GC favorites. Perhaps Tirreno too still comes just a week too early for their schedules involving many high altitude training camps. Perhaps many have no desire to wait a fortnight later to race at the extreme Tour of the Basque Country which is truly a special beast of its own. Thus this is a good race for those preparing immediately for the Giro which creeps upon us all faster than expected. Even for the Tour de France hopefuls, as stated this race functions like a mini-Grand Tour and is a good place to race to gage form and see where one stacks up against a plethora of their GC rivals. Thus will all these things in mind, the Volta a Catalunya’s character has been described. And if you have been paying attention you will have heard that I have listed all sorts of pros and little to no cons at all. Though the action is heating up all over Europe, this Volta a Catalunya is yet another not to miss.
Cycling Odysseys 