While the Classics season begins in earnest over in Belgium, many of the world’s top stage races head over to the Iberian Peninsula for the Volta a Catalunya.
One of the oldest races on the calendar, Volta a Catalunya has long been established as one of the most prestigious stage races of the year, and, as ever, has attracted a quality field of stage racers. It is lacking the peloton’s biggest name of all - defending champion Tadej Pogačar, who switches his focus to those aforementioned Belgian races for the spring. He turned last year’s Volta into a one-man show, obliterating the opposition by a margin of 3:41 and winning four of the seven stages in an ominous sign of what was to come for the rest of the year.
In his absence, the race looks much more open. Here’s who we’ve picked out as the men most likely to inherit his crown.
Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe)
It’s a week-long stage race, so Primož Roglič is inevitably a top favourite for overall victory. His record in races like this is remarkable — of the 15 big seven week-long stage races he’s competed at since the spring of 2018, he’s won ten of them, including here at Volta a Catalunya in 2023. He overcame Remco Evenepoel to win on that occasion, but will face no such elite opposition this time around, with Evenepoel, Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard all absent.
That leaves Roglič as the biggest name, but his only ride of the season so far, at Volta ao Algarve, was uncharacteristically underwhelming, only registering an eighth on GC. Was that a matter of early season cobwebs, which he’s since brushed off? Or, having turned 35 during the winter, is age finally catching up on him? We’ll get a good idea next week in Catalonia.
Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates-XRG)
There hasn’t been a Spanish winner of Volta a Catalunya since Alejandro’s third title here back in 2018, but Juan Ayuso could put that right this year. This race is especially personal as he himself is a Catalan, born in Barcelona where the race culminates, and so again could be given the leadership role ahead of Adam Yates as he did at Tirreno-Adriatico. His overall victory at Tirreno shows he’s in great form, and is the man most likely to challenge Primož Roglič ahead of their anticipated showdown later in the spring at the Giro d’Italia.
Mikel Landa (Soudal—Quick-Step)
Last year Mikel Landa was best of the rest behind the unstoppable Tadej Pogačar — in the absence of the defending champion, can he step up and win this time? The Spaniard is a consistent performer but has struggled to take the front foot in stage races like this, podiuming in seven WorldTour stage races without ever winning one. His form is promising, having finished fourth on the summit finish at Tirreno-Adriatico, and would have finished higher than seventh overall were it not for the individual time trial; he’s better suited to the climber-friendly parcours of Volta a Catalunya, that spares him a time trial to have to negotiate.
Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers)
One of the riders’ whose form is hardest to predict for Volta a Catalunya. On one hand he started the season on fire, and will be showing off his snazzy Colombian national champion’s jersey having won that title in February; on the other, he’s only just returning to racing having fractured his collarbone a week later. His form for the last few years has only very gradually improved since his horror crash of January 2022, but he was good enough this time last year to finish third on GC; and the signs early this year were that he’s improved further since then.
Other GC contenders
A a former overall winner from 2021, Adam Yates merits a mention, though he’s been playing a super-domestique role in recent weeks, and is likely to keep doing so here for UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammate Juan Ayuso; similarly, Ineos Grenadiers also have Geraint Thomas as an alternative option to Bernal, although he has shown any signs of form yet this year.
Neither has Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost), though he’s the kind of rider who can spring a surprise when allowed under the radar, as he did at Volta a Catalunya three years ago to launch a long range move on the penultimate stage for a stage win and second overall. Simon Yates (Visma-Lease a Bike), Enric Mas (Movistar) and Tao Geoghegan Hart (Lidl-Trek) are also still seeking form, though all have the talent to compete for overall victory if they can find it.
By contrast, Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain-Victorious) has already looked great this year having won Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana and placed second at Tour des Alpes-Maritimes, though whether he’ll ride Volta a Catalunya at a similar level will depend upon how he’s record from the crash that forced him out of Paris-Nice. Young talent Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto) is an outside contender having followed up his breakthrough 2024 with some strong results already, as is Felix Gall (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) having appeared to ride himself into form at the end of Paris-Nice.
Stage hunters
In what is a typically mountainous parcours, that features no less than three summit finishes, there aren’t many chances for any non-climbers. There could be as little as one mass sprint, with only stage five looking probable and stage two possible as bunch finishes. With a past record of three stages here, Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceunick) is the front-runner to win these, especially as he has the versatility to survive the climbs. Young Pavel Bittner (Picnic PostNL) has the raw speed to challenge him in a sprint finish, while a stage win last year and top 10 finishes this year at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne show how Marijn van den Berg (EF Education-EasyPost) has the right combination of climbing and sprint to compete here.
The puncheurs could put these sprinters under pressure on the hillier days, and the climbers under pressure on the punchy opening and closing stage. It’s the kind of terrain that Dylan Teuns (Cofidis) historically does well at, as well as Michael Woods (Israel-Premier Tech), even if he doesn’t target the GC. Javier Romo (Movistar) has done well on punchy days this year, while Ethan Hayter is hoping to make a bright start to life on his new team Soudal–Quick-Step.
