Volta Ciclista a Catalunya 2023

From March 20 to 26, a new edition of one of the oldest cycling races in the world, the Volta a Catalunya, took place. In this edition, the 102nd (to put it in context, the Tour de France this year will celebrate the 110th edition), the province of Girona had 4 stages: the middle mountain stage in Sant Feliu de Guíxols, the two stages with final up at the mountain stations of La Molina and Vallter and the last downhill that took the pilot towards Sabadell. Both the mountain passes and the coastal roads, two of the training places for professional cyclists established in Girona and for bicycle lovers in general, witnessed the fierce fight between Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick Step). In the end, the Slovenian rider of the Jumbo-Visma team managed to win by just 6 seconds and added to his extensive record one of the last remaining UCI World Tour stage events to win. Next, we will talk about the 3 stages that take place in Girona:

For the second consecutive edition, the Volta a Catalunya began with departure and arrival in this coastal town of the Baix Empordà. The stage, of 164.6 kilometres, covered the mythical ports of the area of the Gavarres massif, such as the Santa Pellaia hill, the Ángeles hill or the Ganga hill. A leg-breaking and unpredictable route where Primoz Roglic asserted his explosiveness and took the first stage ahead of Remco Evenepoel and the Dutchman Ide Schelling (Bora-Hansgrohe).

The stage has started with the escape formed by Jetse Bol (Burgos-BH), Alessandro De Marchi (Team Jayco-Alula), Hurre Herregodts (Intermarxé-Circus-Wanty), Pau Miquel (Team Ken Pharma) and Oscar Onley (Team DSM). This group has been advancing throughout the stage and the mountain passes (Bol has been the leader of the mountain) until the Jumbo-Visma team has started to tighten to be able to look for the stage victory in a final which benefited the characteristics of its leader Roglic, who came in a great state of form after winning the Tirrena-Adriatic with three stage victories.

If the first stage began with strong emotions, the second in Girona did not let up and the Roglic-Evenepoel duel was repeated. Starting in Mataró, the first high mountain stage had its breakaway again, formed by Simon Carr (EF Education-Easypost), Simone Petilli (Intermarxé-Circus-Wanty), Xabier Mikel Azparren (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Ewan Costiou (Team Arkea-Samsic), Christopher Juul-Jensen (Team Jayco Alula), Vadim Pronskiy (Astana Qazaqstan Team) and Francisco Galván (Team Kern Pharma). This group of runners was up to 2 minutes ahead of the pilot at the foot of the final port of Vallter. But the strong pace imposed by the Bahrain Victorious team has closed the gap and eliminated illustrious riders such as Egan Bernal (Ineos Greandiers) and Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost).

After neutralizing the group and various breakaway attempts that set the group on fire, Evenepoel led a group with Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo) and Primoz Roglic who contested the final victory. In the end, Ciccone sneaked into the fight between the two big favorites and took the win. Thanks to the bonuses, Roglic remains the leader with a margin of 6 seconds over Evenepoel and Ciccone himself.

In one of the toughest starts of the Tour of Catalonia of all editions, on the third day the mountain station of La Molina was reached again at 1,680 meters. He repeated the Coll de Coubet (first category stage) from the previous stage, joined by the Coll de la Creueta (special category stage) and the explosive finish in La Molina.

The escape of the day was of a high climbing level, with Richard Carapaz as one of the outstanding runners. After the port of Coll de la Creueta, the team of the world champion Evenepoel has started to set a very strong pace that has made a great selection in the group. With 4.5 kilometres to go, Evenepoel launched an attack that only leader Roglic could follow. Third stage and third duel between the top favourites: more excitement impossible. In a final acceleration, Evenepoel won the stage and tied Roglic in the overall position.

After the trot of the 3 initial stages, the longest stage of this edition of the Volta a Catalunya arrived. What a priori could seem like a transitional stage has begun with constant attacks in search of the escape of the day. In the end, with 4 kilometres to go, the rider neutralized the group and the Alpecin-Deceuninck team launched their specialist Kaden Groves, who took the stage win over Bryan Coquard (Cofidis). This is the second consecutive victory in the Volta a Catalunya after the one he achieved last year in Perpignan.

After the Roglic-Evenepoel truce in stage 4, hostilities between the two leaders of the Tour have returned to the fifth stage. With 3 stages to go and with maximum equality on the clock, the stage has reached the initial ramps of Lo Port with the highly selected group. At 4.5 kilometres Evenepoel launched the first attack to which only Roglic and Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates) could respond. Soler's teammate, Joao Almeida, reached two kilometres, but they could not avoid a new duel between the two leaders. In the end, in a frantic last kilometre, Primoz Roglic prevailed and managed to take 6 seconds off Remco Evenepoel who, with the 4 second bonus, established the difference between the two at 10 seconds.

The Volta a Catalunya entered the final stretch, and this was noticeable during the stage. The constant attacks meant that the breakaway was not formed until kilometre 100. In between, Roglic and Evenepoel went to their own, disputing bonuses to extend or shorten the difference between the two. In the end it was Roglic who managed to add another second to his lead. In the end, the end of the stage was reached in a small group in which the Australian Kaden Groves repeated his victory in the sprint.

The final stage of the Tour of Catalonia promised excitement until the end, and it did not disappoint. With about 30 kilometres to go, Evenepoel attacked to reduce the 10-second gap to Roglic. In the end, Evenepoel took the second stage victory of this edition of the Tour of Catalonia, but Rogliz defended himself strongly and kept the first position overall.

After a few days of top-level cycling, excitement and a high-profile duel between Primoz Roglic and Remco Evenepoel, the Tour of Catalonia concludes an edition that leaves us very much looking forward to this cycling season and eager to see the route of the 2024 edition. In the meantime, we can enjoy the beautiful roads and landscapes on our bikes.