La Volta 2025 will run through the ‘Terres de l'Ebre’ with a stage starting in Paüls and finishing in Amposta.
November 14 th 2024 - 14:00 [GMT + 1]
The municipality of Paüls will make its debut in the Catalan cycling race by hosting a stage start and Amposta will return as a stage finish, the last one in 1983.
The Volta Ciclista a Catalunya will have a stage that will run entirely through the regions of the ‘Terres de l'Ebre’, in the route of its 104th edition. The municipality of Paüls, located in the heart of the Natural Park of Els Ports, will be the starting point of one of the stages of the race between the 24th and the 30th of March, which will finish in the town of Amposta, one of the most iconic places of the ‘Delta de l’ Ebre'. Terres de l'Ebre will be the centre of attention in one of the stages of the 104th edition of the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya.
On the other hand, the Volta worked with the Patronat de Turisme de la Diputació de Tarragona with the aim of organising a stage on the Costa Daurada that will cover both inland and coastal areas in the 2026 edition. On this occasion, the four counties that make up the Terres de l'Ebre: Baix Ebre, Montsià, Terra Alta and Ribera d'Ebre will be the setting for one of the stages of the Volta 2025. Paüls (Baix Ebre) will host for the first time a start of the race while the capital of Montsià, Amposta, will be the final point of the stage.
With just over 550 inhabitants, this municipality is located on a hill, at the foot of the castle. The municipality of Paüls has been defined as an amphitheatre surrounded by mountains. The streets are stepped, narrow and steep due to the unevenness of the terrain. The municipality has a typically mountainous orography (in fact, it is the only high mountain village in the region) and represents one of the gateways to the Els Ports Natural Park.
Covering an area of more than 35,000 hectares in Catalan territory, it is a steep and abrupt limestone massif that is presented as a wild natural space, with lush forests and a multitude of hiking trails. The highest peak of the Els Ports Massif is the Caro, 1.441 metres high, which allows us to enjoy fantastic views of both the Park and the Delta de l'Ebre, and which has been the scene of 4 finishes of the Volta, the last of them in 2023 with the victory of the Slovenian Primoz Roglic.
For its part, Amposta will host a stage of the Volta for the 17th time in its history. Up to nine times it has hosted the start of one of the stages, two of them being the great starting point of the race. The first of these dates to 1926, while the last time it was present was in 1983, in a stage starting in Salou and finishing in the capital of Montsià, which was won by the Belgian cyclist Frank Hoste, a rider who has several victories in both the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia. Other winners have been the Italian Cipriano Chemello (1969), the Navarrese Jesús Loroño (1951) or the Frenchman Simon Tequi (1926), among others.
The Ebre Delta is the most important aquatic habitat in Catalonia and one of the most important in the western Mediterranean, with an area of 320km2. The Delta is characterised by its unique physical, geographical and natural features. Very particular scenery of great natural beauty that we will be able to enjoy with the passage of the Volta next March.
Thus, the stage of the Volta in Terres de l'Ebre will join the Natural Park of Els Ports and the Natural Park of Delta de l'Ebre in a route that promises to be spectacular and pass through the four regions of the territory. Likewise, the organisers of the Volta a Catalunya and the authorities of the Patronat de Turisme de la Diputació de Tarragona have shown their desire for the 2026 edition to have a stage in the Camp de Tarragona and the Costa Daurada, a territory that includes the counties of Tarragonès, Baix Penedès, Baix Camp, Alt Camp, Priorat and Conca de Barberà.
Enric Adell, mayor of Paüls showed the satisfaction of the municipality to be part for the first time of a historic event like the Volta; ‘We are very happy to make history in Paüls, hosting the start of a stage of the Volta Catalunya, an international cycling event. After hosting prestigious mountain races, this new challenge reaffirms the potential of our town and the territory of Terres de l'Ebre as a reference in cycle tourism. This objective makes us look to the future with enthusiasm and confidence to continue growing’.
For his part, the mayor of Amposta, Adam Tomàs, stressed the importance of the passage of a race like the Volta through the capital of Montsià; ‘That an event of the projection of the Volta Ciclista Catalunya stops in Amposta, in the arrival of a stage, with all that this entails in terms of promotion of the city, is a great opportunity. Amposta is a sports city par excellence that also has the seal of Sports Tourism, and we know that having events of this social and economic impact help us to be even more visible. It only remains for me to thank the Volta team for their confidence in us for having chosen us as the finish of the stage’.
Rubén Peris, general director of the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya highlighted the importance of the agreement, which will give prominence to the southern regions; ‘We are very happy that Terres de l'Ebre will once again be the protagonist of a stage in the next edition. The unique landscapes of the area will undoubtedly provide us with a cycling day that will leave us with pictures of great natural beauty, apart from the fact that it could be a decisive stage on a sporting level’, he said.
Indeed, one of the most epic and exciting stages in recent years in the Volta is the one held in 2022 between Salou and Cambrils. A mid-mountain stage and almost 170km along the Costa Daurada, where the Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz and the Colombian Sergio Higuita starred in a breakaway to remember, which turned the classification of the race upside down. A day where the rain made an appearance, making it even more epic in a stage that crossed roads of the Costa Daurada in Prades, Coll de la Teixeta, Capafonts or La Mussara.
The arrival of a UCI World Tour event such as the Volta, which moves a large infrastructure and a human presence of hundreds of people between organisation, teams, riders, national and international press, etc... will allow the images of Terres de l'Ebre to travel around the world, thanks to the television broadcasting of the Catalan event in 190 countries all over the world.
