The Volta a Catalunya confirms seven UCI ProTeam wild cards for its 101st edition
January 14 th 2022 - 10:00
Barcelona (12-01-2022).- The Volta Ciclista a Catalunya has already defined all the teams that will take the start on its 101st edition, which will be held between 21 and 27 March 2022. In addition to the 18 UCI WorldTeams, the seven wild cards have been confirmed, which will be for the teams Burgos-BH, Caja Rural-Seguros RGA, Equipo Kern Pharma, Euskaltel-Euskadi, the Russian Gazprom-Rusvelo, the French Team Arkéa-Samsic and the Norwegian UNO-X Pro Cycling.
Once this seven invited teams have been confirmed, in addition to the 18 guaranteed UCI WorldTeams, a total of 25 teams will be present at the 101st edition of the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya, which will bring together again the world’s best cyclists on Catalan roads during the last week of March.
Among the seven wild cards we have the Burgos-BH team, which will return to the Volta after being present in the 2018 and 2019 editions. Te team also counts this year with the Catalan Adrià Moreno in its ranks.
For its part, even longer is the trajectory in the continental category of the Navarre team Caja Rural-Seguros RGA. For this 2022, they have signed high-level reinforcements as the one of the experienced Eduard Prades, who joins the young Joel Nicolau making two Catalans riders on their roster.
For the second consecutive year, the young Equipo Kern Pharma, currently the professional team with the most Catalan cyclists, will once again make its mark on the Volta. The team includes such promising riders as Roger Adrià, Kiko Galván, Álex Jaime, Jordi López, Martí Márquez and Pau Miquel.
The Euskaltel-Euskadi team will also be after its presence in the 100th edition. The historic structure of the Fundación Euskadi is once again looking for its place in the elite and is sure to provide a great presence in the race.
The Gazprom-Rusvelo team will also be there for the second consecutive year. The Russian team will accompany the last year as a professional cyclist for Ilnur Zakarin, who will be at the Volta in the final months of his remarkable career, which includes stage wins in the Tour de France (2016), the Giro d'Italia (2015 and 2019) and a GC of the Vuelta a España (third in 2017).
The level will be assured with Team Arkéa-Samsic, which is guaranteed a place as the second best UCI ProTeam in the 2021 world ranking. The team is led by the Colombian Nairo Quintana, the 2016 Volta a Catalunya winner and one of the most decisive stage racers of his generation, with three Tour de France podiums and overall victories in the Giro d'Italia (2014) and the Vuelta a España (2016). The Alpecin-Fenix team, first placed in the UCI ProTeam ranking, in accordance with the organisation of the race, will not take part in the Volta.
Finally, the great novelty will be the invitation of the Norwegian team UNO-X Pro Cycling Team, one of the young structures with more projection of the UCI ProTeam ranks, which counts in its roster with the winner of the last edition of the Tour de l’Avenir, the under 23 edition of the Tour de France, Tobias Halland Johannessen.
With all of them, a great show is expected in the 101st edition of the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya, which will be held between the 21st and 27th of March, fully consolidated in the elite of world cycling as the third oldest stage race in the world after the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia. This year's route starts in Sant Feliu de Guíxols and finishes in Barcelona after seven varied and demanding stages.
