Volta a Catalunya, 23-29 March 2026

[Gigs_98]

Cycling historians are still trying to figure out how these early season stage races exist even though it is apparently impossible to race half the stages in spring conditions.

If I was trying to argue that global warming didn't exist, bringing up the question how these races were able to take place in the 60s would be my go to argument.

 

[AmRacer]

is the GC going to be up for grabs as well, or can we expect any mountain stages to take place?

Someone on Twitter went to explore the scene of today's crash, by the way, and was unable to locate any potholes. There was a small crack though.

https://twitter.com/x/status/2036864776198852767

View: https://x.com/sergi_lopezegea/status/2036864776198852767

I knew Remco was hard, but...

 

[AmRacer]

If I was trying to argue that global warming didn't exist, bringing up the question how these races were able to take place in the 60s would be my go to argument.

They didn't have weather protocols back then, didn't they?

 

[QueenStagiaire]

If I was trying to argue that global warming didn't exist, bringing up the question how these races were able to take place in the 60s would be my go to argument.

It would be a dumb argument for Catalunya which was in September back then, but it‘s still a bit weird that these races are even in these calendar spots.

 

[search]

Final 10k tomorrow will be the same as in the shortened stage 2018. Top 5 back then already attacked before though.

Volta Ciclista a Catalunya 2018 Stage 3 results

Volta Ciclista a Catalunya 2018 Stage 3 from Sant Cugat to Camprodón was won by Thomas De Gendt before Simon Yates and Thibaut Pinot. Thomas De Gendt was leading the general classification.

www.procyclingstats.com

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CngWlZhQ8Aw

 

[Salvarani]

I knew Remco was hard, but...

He must have flattened the ground. It is the only explanation.

 

[tobydawq]

I don't know who has fallen into a deeper psychosis between remco and mark soler. But they both need help.

Does remco even know what race he's doing. Does he know there are 3 MTFs in a row starting tomorrow?

Anytime anyone that you don't like does anything on a bike, it's a sign of sheer stupidity. Anytime anyone you like does anything on a bike, it's absolute heroism.

It's getting freaking tiring, man.

 

[Netserk]

Anytime anyone that you don't like does anything on a bike, it's a sign of sheer stupidity. Anytime anyone you like does anything on a bike, it's absolute heroism.

It's getting freaking tiring, man.

okay , sure . granted

but this was indeed not the smartest riding , no ?

 

[tobydawq]

okay , sure . granted

but this was indeed not the smartest riding , no ?

It was certainly stupid to crash in that situation, but I think it's very difficult to say without having seen the sprint. If Remco would just have been blown out of the water by Vingegaard, sure, it would probably not have been smart to tow him to the line but he probably doesn't think he has a chance for GC after what happened at the UAE Tour and with the field here so it was a nice chance for a stage win, and I have a feeling he would have still had a chance in the sprint.

 

[AmRacer]

okay , sure . granted

but this was indeed not the smartest riding , no ?

For GC, no it wasn't.
For the stage, yeah why not

 

[Netserk]

It was certainly stupid to crash in that situation, but I think it's very difficult to say without having seen the sprint. If Remco would just have been blown out of the water by Vingegaard, sure, it would probably not have been smart to tow him to the line but he probably doesn't think he has a chance for GC after what happened at the UAE Tour and with the field here so it was a nice chance for a stage win, and I have a feeling he would have still had a chance in the sprint.

yeah if remco thought that and he is here to chase stage wins , then it was fine

 

[Lequack]

The (in)famous mou chimes in on the Remco crash, says it was caused by fish.

 

[tobydawq]

yeah if remco thought that and he is here to chase stage wins , then it was fine

I don't know if he thought this, but I also don't think his attack would hamper him much for tomorrow in any case.

 

[Brullnux]

is the GC going to be up for grabs as well, or can we expect any mountain stages to take place?

Someone on Twitter went to explore the scene of today's crash, by the way, and was unable to locate any potholes. There was a small crack though.

https://twitter.com/x/status/2036864776198852767

View: https://x.com/sergi_lopezegea/status/2036864776198852767

I do see how if you're going at 55kmh and effectively no hands this can make you fall, but that is very firmly in 'sporting incident' category. That's just life

 

[Samamba]

this should be the new finish (on from the intermediate sprint), based on that communique. They went for another road further down in town, but didn't add any major difficulties. The weather in Camprodon looks nice and sunny as well, although a bit chilly (7°C).

Volta Catalunya 2026 Stage 4 New Finish

Volta Catalunya 2026 Stage 4 New Finish - 14.5 km, +232 m. Bike ride in Sant Joan de les Abadesses, Cataluña

ridewithgps.com

So roundabout 400m from the finish? Someone warn Remco.

 

[Ilmaestro99]

Anytime anyone that you don't like does anything on a bike, it's a sign of sheer stupidity. Anytime anyone you like does anything on a bike, it's absolute heroism.

It's getting freaking tiring, man.

Sounds like you're descriping the perfect fan to be honest.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

It would be a dumb argument for Catalunya which was in September back then, but it‘s still a bit weird that these races are even in these calendar spots.

Catalunya moved to May/June after the Vuelta switch from April to September, but as we moved into the 2000s, it was seeing dwindling fields, especially post-Puerto with the deaths of many strong Spanish teams at the second tier, and falling into the same trap that Romandie fell into at the time, due to a lot of the big name contenders of the time also being Ardennes contenders (Valverde, Sánchez, di Luca, Purito, Evans, Cunego, Schleck brothers) so if they weren't doing the Giro they were usually taking that period of the calendar off. The move to the end of March came in around 2010 if I remember rightly, to try to take advantage of a nice Spanish pre-Ardennes mini-season, connecting the early-season races like Andalucía and Murcia (at that point still a stage race) to Itzulia and Castilla y León as pre-Ardennes warmups. Castilla y León at the time was still drawing some pretty strong fields (see that year's edition with Contador, Soler, Antón and Mosquera battling in the mountains) and it gave the race an injection of interest, but at the expense of putting it at the mercy of the weather.

It's also why we've seen a lot of editions that stick to low and medium mountains and coastal areas, and they've generally had more luck with mountain stages at major ski resorts where the roads are kept clearer (La Molina, the Andorra resorts) or lower altitude ones in the south of the province (Mont Carò / Lo Port most notably), and they do tend to stick to fairly major areas that are likely to be able to be kept in good condition, which has limited innovation - that is improving in recent years and in all honesty this is the best route for the race I can remember seeing, but it comes at the price of potentially being affected by the weather.

At least here there should be enough by way of decisive racing that it won't be like that ridiculous edition where the only MTF got annulled, a break got given rope on stage 1 and then the péloton came in together the whole rest of the way with GC positions settled on countback and seeing stage racers sprinting (and just to add insult to injury, Michael Albasini won) to move up and down the GC...

 

[gavia88]

Catalunya moved to May/June after the Vuelta switch from April to September, but as we moved into the 2000s, it was seeing dwindling fields, especially post-Puerto with the deaths of many strong Spanish teams at the second tier, and falling into the same trap that Romandie fell into at the time, due to a lot of the big name contenders of the time also being Ardennes contenders (Valverde, Sánchez, di Luca, Purito, Evans, Cunego, Schleck brothers) so if they weren't doing the Giro they were usually taking that period of the calendar off. The move to the end of March came in around 2010 if I remember rightly, to try to take advantage of a nice Spanish pre-Ardennes mini-season, connecting the early-season races like Andalucía and Murcia (at that point still a stage race) to Itzulia and Castilla y León as pre-Ardennes warmups. Castilla y León at the time was still drawing some pretty strong fields (see that year's edition with Contador, Soler, Antón and Mosquera battling in the mountains) and it gave the race an injection of interest, but at the expense of putting it at the mercy of the weather.

It's also why we've seen a lot of editions that stick to low and medium mountains and coastal areas, and they've generally had more luck with mountain stages at major ski resorts where the roads are kept clearer (La Molina, the Andorra resorts) or lower altitude ones in the south of the province (Mont Carò / Lo Port most notably), and they do tend to stick to fairly major areas that are likely to be able to be kept in good condition, which has limited innovation - that is improving in recent years and in all honesty this is the best route for the race I can remember seeing, but it comes at the price of potentially being affected by the weather.

At least here there should be enough by way of decisive racing that it won't be like that ridiculous edition where the only MTF got annulled, a break got given rope on stage 1 and then the péloton came in together the whole rest of the way with GC positions settled on countback and seeing stage racers sprinting (and just to add insult to injury, Michael Albasini won) to move up and down the GC...

well, back in the days, there was another Catalonian race with some big status, the Setamana Catalana. Is Catalunya not just on that spot now?

 

[Samamba]

Is La Molina also in danger for cancellation?

 

[Libertine Seguros]

well, back in the days, there was another Catalonian race with some big status, the Setamana Catalana. Is Catalunya not just on that spot now?

Sort of. The Setmana used to move around March and early April.

But it was also a largely medium mountain race until the mid-80s and also only ever had Andorra for its main mountain stages until the mid-late 90s when it was already ailing.

These are some typical mountain stages from the Setmana's history:

 

[QueenStagiaire]

Is La Molina also in danger for cancellation?

Should be less windy as the wind will lessen slightly especially during Friday afternoon from the west and La Molina isn‘t really on the main mountain ridge of the Pyrenees so a tiny bit more sheltered. But I have only looked at one very basic forecast. I doubt riders would have been blown off the mountain tomorrow either…

 

[AlpRaid]

Crashed all by himself.

lol. So did Rog in 2024 TDF.

And that was a freakin’ mountain stage. So made NO SENSE.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

lol. So did Rog in 2024 TDF.

And that was a freakin’ mountain stage. So made NO SENSE.

There were no KoM points at the finish, so as far as the rules were concerned, it was not.

 

[Brullnux]

Apparently Vallter is cancelled tomorrow due to too strong winds.

Stage will end in Camprodon at the foot of the climb.

Right decision. It's morally Just to give Remco time to recover from his efforts today.

 

[Sandisfan]

Writing this from an earlier page of this Race thread because here in California when I go to Replay for The third stage on Peacock it hasn't shown up yet and it's 640 pm pacific coast time. I am hoping someone will respond without spoilers to let me know if the stage went on a usual. I will see it on the notification icon and if there was something going on like weather or ? whatever.