100th Volta Ciclista a Catalunya(2.UWT) - 22nd March - 28th March

[danielovichdk2]

For me it is a key race for Chris Froome and on a subjectice level he has to show me top level for any furher success this season.

I kind of hope he does something but I have big doubts.

Yates is a good pick for overall win

 

[Anderis]

Good to have an ITT in this race.

I'm of the opposite opinion- it was nice to have one one-week race without a TT for variety.

 

[Strawberry_Jams]

Simon Yates taking part, looking to get more race fit...has to be one of the favourites alongside his brother if selected. Be cool to see the brothers attacking each other.

Catalunya, Alps, Giro for Simon.

I made this comment before seeing the Ineos team

 

[Ricco']

Alpecin out of the race due to three positive Covid tests in their staff.

Sad, I was looking forward to see Ben Tulett's performance.

 

[Bonimenier]

Alpecin out of the race due to three positive Covid tests in their staff.

Sad, I was looking forward to see Ben Tulett's performance.

You would almost start to think that they are less professional handling Covid than WT-teams.

 

[yaco]

S.Yates came into TA under-done, though its still a surprise he is riding Catalunya - I suspect that Hamilton will still be the leader but it will be good to play two cards.

 

[Netserk]

I'm of the opposite opinion- it was nice to have one one-week race without a TT for variety.

In the fantasy calender I'm working on for the Race Design Thread, the Volta would be moved back to May and have a MTT as only TT of the race. It's a shame that in a region with many great mountain passes, we see only few of them, and it's mostly a variation over the same MTFs.

And while it likewise can be nice with a stage race without mountains (or selective hills), I think it's more a question of how much (just a prologue or a full length TT) and how (technical, mountainous etc.) than to have or not to have it.

 

[tobydawq]

S.Yates came into TA under-done, though its still a surprise he is riding Catalunya - I suspect that Hamilton will still be the leader but it will be good to play two cards.

I suspect that Yates will be their captain as he is a much better rider than Hamilton and actually has a chabce of winning the race.

 

[tobydawq]

In the fantasy calender I'm working on for the Race Design Thread, the Volta would be moved back to May and have a MTT as only TT of the race. It's a shame that in a region with many great mountain passes, we see only few of them, and it's mostly a variation over the same MTFs.

And while it likewise can be nice with a stage race without mountains (or selective hills), I think it's more a question of how much (just a prologue or a full length TT) and how (technical, mountainous etc.) than to have or not to have it.

Why would it be pushed back to May? It was a very bland race in the start of the ProTour era with winners like Gustavo César and Karpets... Not every change is bad.

 

[Earns1985]

A World tour stage race with high mountains without Pogacar and Roglic.
Good to have a stage race without a clear favourite at least for once in the spring.

 

[Bonimenier]

Ineos with Carapaz, Porte, Thomas and A. Yates to Catalunya. Also Dennis for the ITT. Pretty decent squad.

 

[Netserk]

Why would it be pushed back to May? It was a very bland race in the start of the ProTour era with winners like Gustavo César and Karpets... Not every change is bad.

Because it allows the race to use the region's terrain, and it improves the composition of the Spanish calender. And the 1995 change was quite good , I agree, so I'm not moving it to September. It's not very clear to me that the 15 editions in that spot had a worse list of winners than the 10 editions since. (The weak winners have been more about a poor route and breakaways, and I think it's a bit of an anachronism to categorize 2007 Karpets as weak). And there won't be any ProTour/WorldTour with my calender.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Right, it's time for yet another WorldTour stage race, this time we (or rather the riders) are heading to Spain for the 100th edition of the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya.

Starlist hasn't been finalised yet, but here is a so-far one:

Startlist for Volta Ciclista a Catalunya 2021 (procyclingstats.com)

A name of note is of course the real Chris Harper. While Marc Hirschi returns from wherever he disappeared off to.

Another very important - or maybe not - factor will be the Battle of the Twins! Where he'll see Adam and Simon Yates face up against each other for the first time since turning pro.

Profiles in following posts.

If you want, you can copy the logo from last year's thread, it hasn't changed since last year was supposed to be the 100th edition. That way you can use it as thread icon as well.

100th Volta Ciclista a Catalunya (2.UWT) // 23rd - 29th of March 2020

Assuming this race will gain interest after the Corona related cancelled races, here is the 1st "100th Volta Ciclista a Catalunya" thread! Date: 2020-03-23 - 2020-03-29 Race class: 2.UWT Race category: Men Elite UCI-Tour: UCI Worldtour www.voltacatalunya.cat www.twitter.com/voltacatalunya...

forum.cyclingnews.com

 

[RedheadDane]

I don't do thread-icons.

 

[Escarabajo]

Where is Uran? He should be able to ride by now. His baby is probably about a year old by now!!!!

I would have put Lopez if I am Movistar. I am not sure what the rules are for someone who tests positive for Covid 19. It looks like he will start on April which seems a bit too late for me.
Oh well. Maybe they noticed that starting late for him didn't hurt him, but they have to take into account that he is coming from an injury.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

I don't do thread-icons.

Because it makes finding a thread too easy?

 

[tobydawq]

Where is Uran? He should be able to ride by now. His baby is probably about a year old by now!!!!

I would have put Lopez if I am Movistar. I am not sure what the rules are for someone who tests positive for Covid 19. It looks like he will start on April which seems a bit too late for me.
Oh well. Maybe they noticed that starting late for him didn't hurt him, but they have to take into account that he is coming from an injury.

I don't think he is fit enough.

 

[RedheadDane]

Because it makes finding a thread too easy?

I don't think they make much of a difference in that regard. The main part - the text - remains the same.

 

[tobydawq]

I don't think they make much of a difference in that regard. The main part - the text - remains the same.

It's impossible to find race threads with or without logos.

 

[roundabout]

Volta was in June after the move from September pre PT/WT by the way.

And with the current calendar, I probably wouldn't mind it being moved to September with Setmana Catalana back. But these 2 things are just a pipe dream.

 

[RedheadDane]

It's impossible to find race threads with or without logos.

You just have to, you know... look. Something you have... shown a slight lack of ability to.

 

[lemon cheese cake]

Randomly one of my favourite stage races of the year. Decent route and hopefully the TT will add some extra spice into it, aswell as the standard mtfs and Barcelona stages.

 

[Pinot's goat]

For me it is a key race for Chris Froome and on a subjectice level he has to show me top level for any furher success this season.

I kind of hope he does something but I have big doubts.

Yates is a good pick for overall win

The key for Froome is to show some improvement since UAE tour.

 

[Offline]

Ineos with Carapaz, Porte, Thomas and A. Yates to Catalunya. Also Dennis for the ITT. Pretty decent squad.

When you can't compete in the best division you go for the win in the second.

 

[Bonimenier]

When you can't compete in the best division you go for the win in the second.

Still a worldtour stagerace though.