Presented the women's and men's Volta a Catalunya with participation and routes of the highest level

February 28 ^th 2024 - 20:15 [GMT + 1]

The Volta Ciclista a Catalunya has celebrated this Wednesday February 28 its official presentation 2024, in a historic edition that presented together the 103rd edition of the men's race, which will be held again between March 18 and 24 consolidated in the UCI WorldTour calendar, and the first edition of the women's stage race, which will also bring the best riders in the world to Catalonia between June 7 and 9. Two international level events that represent another step forward for the historic Catalan organization.

The event, which could be followed live on Esport3 channel and was held at the National Institute of Physical Education of Barcelona, was attended by numerous authorities, including the vice president of the Government of the Generalitat de Catalunya, Laura Vilagrà, the president of the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya A. E, Rubèn Peris, the general secretary of Sport and Physical Activity, Anna Caula, deputies, mayors, councilmen and councilwomen, among many others.  

The women's race, the great novelty

The great novelty of this 2024, the first women's edition of the Volta a Catalunya, has unveiled its route by the hand of the sports manager, Patrícia Ortega. The women's race, which will be held between June 7 and 9 with the presence of twenty international teams thanks to its UCI 2.1 international category, will have three stages with opportunities for different types of cyclists. The race will get underway on Friday, June 7 with a first stage of 100.7 kilometers starting and finishing from Manresa, European City of Sport 2024. Its mayor, Marc Aloy, has been presented to tell his bet as a great start of the race.  

The second stage, keeping intact the identity of the Volta, will have the mountain as the protagonist with a route of 95.7 kilometers that will start from La Seu d'Urgell and will overcome two first category passes as the Collada de Toses and La Molina, the mountain station of “Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya”, which will be the first high altitude finish in the history of the race.

Finally, the Volta will close with a third stage of 119.1 kilometers between Molins de Rei and Barcelona, with a hills profile with two scoring ports that will decide the first winner of the race. The capital of Catalonia, present in all the editions of the centenary men's race, could not be missing as the icing on the cake for the premiere of the women's race.

The race also presents a new website www.voltacatalunyafemenina.cat  where you can consult all the details of the route and participation.

Three high altitude finishes and many returns

After the presentation of the two official posters of this edition, work of the illustrator Oriol Roca, it was the turn of the presentation of one of the best kept secrets: the route of the 103rd edition of the men's Volta Ciclista a Catalunya, from March 18 to 24. The president of the Volta, Rubèn Peris, commented on the main characteristics of the event: "It will be a Volta with a stellar participation, and with a demanding and varied route that clearly aims to show the territory to the world. I am convinced that we will experience a great show".  

Seven stages that will bring together the best teams in the world and where the mountains will be, once again the protagonist: as in the previous edition, three high altitude finishes, the resorts of Vallter and Port Ainé and the novelty of Queralt, in Berga, will mark the development of a demanding race that has presented a route with 23 scoring ports, four of them of special category and four of 1st category.

On Monday, March 18, the Volta will continue the path started in the last two years and will open with a first stage of 173.9 kilometers starting and finishing in Sant Feliu de Guíxols, which will have a route of three scoring ports through the Gavarres massif and this year will have the novelty of leaving the port of the city of Empordà, in front of the Yacht Club. Mayor Carles Motas has participated in the event to assess a city bet that will make Sant Feliu de Guíxols the great start of the Volta until 2027.

The second stage will have the first high altitude finish of the edition, with a 186.5 km stage starting from Mataró and finishing at the Vallter resort (special category), the cycling roof of Catalonia, with previous passage through the Coll de Coubet.

One of the first two occasions for the great climbers to leave their mark in the Volta, since the third stage, which will start from Sant Joan de les Abadesses in the return of the municipality of the Ripollès region after 50 years, will finish in another station of Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya as Port Ainé. The Pallars Sobirà station, a special category pass will be the conclusion of a 176.7 km stage that will be a real challenge of another mountain with the ascent to the Port de Toses and the selective Port del Cantó.

The race will continue in the Pallars Sobirà in its fourth stage, which will start from its capital, Sort, in a 169-kilometer stage that will finish in the city of Lleida. The capital of Segrià, the third venue with more presences in the history of the race after Barcelona and Manresa will be the protagonist of a long-awaited return to the Volta, after eleven years of absence, with a profile with a single scoring port that aims to be favorable to a mass finish.

For its part, the fifth stage will join two unprecedented venues in the history of the Volta such as Altafulla and Viladecans The Style Outlets. It will be a stage of 167.3 kilometers from the Costa Daurada to the Baix Llobregat that will pass through hills terrain of the Catalan coast with two 2nd category passes such as the Coll de les Ventoses and the Alt de la Creu d'Aragall, which may provide surprises.

One of the highlights of this Volta will come on Saturday, March 23 with the sixth stage, a long-awaited day in which the Berguedà will show all its cycling and scenic potential. It will be a stage of 154.7 kilometers starting from the city of Berga, which was not part of the route of the Volta since 1959, and arrival at altitude to the sanctuary of Queralt, a first category port that will be premiered in the Catalan race. Along the way, four other mountain passes, including the competition premiere of the dreaded Coll de Pradell (special category), which form an explosive cocktail of high sporting expectations to decide the Volta on its penultimate day.

Finally, the seventh and last stage will once again start and finish in the city of Barcelona. The capital of Catalonia, which has strengthened its commitment to the Volta a Catalunya for four more years, will see a final stage of 145.3 kilometers that will go through the interior of the Baix Llobregat, including the ascent of the Coll de la Creu de l'Ordal, and will return to the city of Barcelona to face the six laps of the final circuit with the difficulty of the Alt del Castell de Montjuïc.

A magical setting in the history of the Volta and international cycling that will offer a sporting and public spectacle of the highest level to close a 103rd edition of the Volta that promises many emotions. With big names such as Tadej Pogačar, Sepp Kuss, Geraint Thomas and Egan Bernal confirmed, the Volta a Catalunya will once again feature the world's best cyclists on Catalan roads, spread over seven stages throughout the Catalan territory.

To highlight its value for its venues, the event was also attended by the Deputy of Sports of the Diputació de Girona, Jordi Masquef, the first vice president for the Costa Daurada brand of the Patronat de Turisme of the Diputació de Tarragona, Eduard Rovira, and the Deputy of Sports of the Diputació de Lleida, Òscar Martínez, along with several cyclists who have introduced the stages, with the presence at the event of the Kern Pharma Team cyclist, Urko Berrade.

David Escudé, president of the Area of Sports and Physical Activity of the Diputació de Barcelona and councilor of Sports of the Barcelona City Council, has valued the presence of the city in both the women's and men's edition of the Volta in the final phase of the presentation.

As usual, the presentation ceremony also served to deliver the Honor Medals of the organization, which this year have received Jordi Altimiras, Volta volunteer since 1982; sports journalist Ramon Besa; the former member of the Board and treasurer of the Volta, Joan Calaf, absent at the event for health reasons; the cyclist, leader and organizer Carles Meléndez and the cyclist Marta Vilajosana, current technical director of the Federació Catalana de Ciclisme.

The event ended with "La Bicicleta" (the Bike), the official song of the Volta a Catalunya 2024 thanks to the iCat Volta contest, performed by its authors Sula and Cookah P.