The Volta a Catalunya will finish in Montserrat 30 years later, coinciding with the millennium of the Monastery
October 17 th 2024 - 11:00 [GMT + 2]
The stage finish has the support of Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya, which manages the Montserrat rack railway and the Montserrat Funicular.
Montserrat will host a stage finish of the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya 2025, for the third time in its history, after the 1995 and 1960 editions. Coinciding with the celebration of the thousandth anniversary of the founding of the Monastery of Montserrat, the Volta will experience one of the most spectacular and emblematic stage finishes of the race. The agreement has been possible thanks, among others, to the support of Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya and the Abadia de Montserrat.
The mountain of Montserrat, one of the most representative landscapes of our territory, will be one of the highlights of the next edition of the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya. The emblematic mountain will become a stage finish that promises to leave us breathtaking views and that, thanks to the arrival of the rack railway, will allow fans to enjoy first-hand a day of cycling at the highest level.
When we talk about Montserrat we are talking about much more than a mountain, as we must add its spiritual dimension, its significance in popular religiosity, its cultural dynamism and the symbolism it has for a country. The mountain, the sanctuary, the monastery, the choir, make Montserrat one of the most beloved collective references in Catalonia and one of the most internationally recognised.
It is precisely in 2025 that the thousandth anniversary of the founding of the Monastery will be celebrated, ten centuries of history during which there have been moments of war and peace, of darkness and splendour, ten centuries that are now being celebrated with different religious, cultural, sporting and popular activities that will conclude on 8 December 2025. Fifteen months of activities open to all those who wish to participate, in which we will be able to experience a top-level cycling stage as a sporting highlight. This will be the third time that a stage of the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya has finished in this unique setting.
The last time, in 1995, a stage started in Manlleu and finished in the Monastery of Montserrat. The winner was the French cyclist Laurent Jalabert, one of the most charismatic riders of the 1990s. The first of these dates to 1960, in a time trial that linked Monistrol de Montserrat with the Monastery and was won by the Mallorcan Antonio Karmany, one of the best climbers of the time.
Carles Ruiz, president of FGC, highlights the uninterrupted participation of Ferrocarrils with La Volta since 2013, which reaffirms the company's commitment to the promotion of competitive sport in any of its modalities and disciplines, as well as its commitment to the territory and to all those important events that promote and boost the country, such as La Volta. ‘The race is a privileged showcase to showcase our environment, and we are especially proud to collaborate with them precisely in a year in which the Millenary of the founding of the Montserrat monastery is being celebrated’, explains Ruiz.
P. Bernat Juliol, Commissioner of the Millenary, highlights the link between competitive sport and the Millenary motto, which represents the Benedictine virtues of Christianity; ora, lege, labora, rege te ipsum in communitate. Cyclists, as elite sportsmen and women, live in first person the need for self-management, to work hard, to be constant, to get up every time they have a fall in favour of a milestone, a goal, which is inaccessible without a good team behind them. This is the Montserrat recipe for a full life and this recipe is practised by a competitive cyclist every day of his life.
Rubèn Peris, general director of the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya enthusiastically celebrated the return of the Volta to such an emblematic place as Montserrat; ‘For the organisation of the Volta, beyond the symbolism that the mountain represents, this is an important logistical challenge, as we are talking about a UCI World Tour event that moves a human network of 800 people and numerous organisational vehicles, team buses, etc.... What is clear to us is that the images that will be left behind will travel around the world and will be remembered for their beauty and spectacularity’.
Thanks to the arrival by public transport of the Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya's rack railway, it is expected to be a stage with a large following of fans, as they will be able to access it easily. A journey of less than 15 minutes to the foot of the Sanctuary, which will surely offer us an arrival to remember where we will be able to see the best cyclists in the world.
Six months away from the celebration of the race that will take place between 24 and 30 March 2025, the Volta reveals one of the finishing venues. A high voltage finish of which we will soon be revealing more details, as well as other cities and towns that will make up the final route of the 104th edition of the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya.
