Volta a Catalunya, 23-29 March 2026

[Red Rick]

Unironically a finish where a late Evenepoel attack could have very well worked.

 

[Danskebjerge]

Hopeless course design.

 

[Ilmaestro99]

One of the more pointless stages in cycling history

 

[Brullnux]

One of the more pointless stages in cycling history

Take that back, no Vernon win is pointless.

 

[QueenStagiaire]

Hopeless course design.

Almost like this wasn‘t the actual course design.

 

[Red Rick]

Pidcock deliberately lost 6 seconds so he can go in the break tomorrow

 

[QueenStagiaire]

Pidcock deliberately lost 6 seconds so he can go in the break tomorrow

I would rate the chances of the break tomorrow at roughly -100%

 

[Brullnux]

Solid 8th place for Dainese, behind noted sprinter Brandon McNulty

 

[Danskebjerge]

Almost like this wasn‘t the actual course design.

It's not like it takes a day to find another solution than a roundabout 140 meters before the finish line.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

The glorified result:

1	Vernon Ethan	NSN Cycling Team	50	50		4:01:03
2	Godon Dorian	INEOS Grenadiers	30	30		,,
3	Pidcock Thomas	Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team	25	18	5″	,,
4	McNulty Brandon	UAE Team Emirates - XRG	20	13		,,
5	Cort Magnus	Uno-X Mobility	15	10		,,
6	González David	Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team	10	7	2″	,,
7	Kockelmann Mathieu	Lotto Intermarché	8	4		,,
8	Dainese Alberto	Soudal Quick-Step	6	3		,,
9	Hobbs Noah	EF Education - EasyPost	3	2		,,
10	Stewart Mark	Modern Adventure Pro Cycling	1	1		,,

Just waiting for confimation of relegating Dainese to 18th...

 

[yaco]

Vernon could not be luckier. He got his two after course designs were altered because of weather.

 

[Unchained]

It should not be open to interpretation, because that just means juries do whatever the *** they want, which is more unfair than not having any rules at all.

Like Evenepoel already claimed a p(l)othole, which was people already checked and disproved. You can just always blame something if you go down.

Or option C..race officials decide that they go with 3k crash rule is observed to their standard.. Crash inside 3 get a same time. You can't have interpretation sometimes and not others. Riders and teams could say, it's not too windy for me, for us, we want to race full advertised distance, we don't think it's dangerous.. We want what we signed up for..

 

[Ilmaestro99]

Dainese is going to come good this summer and start winning. He's adapting to his new team who dont support him.

 

[Lequack]

So was it too windy for the climb?

 

[Red Rick]

I would rate the chances of the break tomorrow at roughly -100%

You never know how the cancellations will go

 

[Red Rick]

So was it too windy for the climb?

I'm gonna quote the Dutch ES commentators

"People weren't standing in sunshine in short pants on top of the climb, so cancelling it was the right call"

 

[Tim Cahill]

Mcnulty getting up there in 4th it's always been his dream to top 10 this Volta a Catalunya

 

[TourOfSardinia]

Does Vernon have a 'tash?

 

[Dazed and Confused]

So Vernon did indeed study the roadbook. Good for him and a solid win.

 

[Danskebjerge]

I'm gonna quote the Dutch ES commentators

"People weren't standing in sunshine in short pants on top of the climb, so cancelling it was the right call"

Ha ha.

When you look at the weather averages of Vallter 2000, you'll have to conclude that the risk of a cancellation in March is very high. So the climb probably shouldn't be included in the race at all considering the present weather protocol and race jury priorities.

 

[Põhja Konn]

Neutering of a big GC stage should always be a last chance saloon, not something that is done a day earlier just in case. Specially if the reason for worry is something as quickly changing and unreliable as the wind. Maybe the wind would have rendered any serious attacks on the mountain futile regardless , but the way the final climb was taken out just reeks of attitude unfitting for professional outdoor sport.

 

[YavorD]

What are the forecasts for tomorrow and Saturday?
The ones that I saw aren't really positive..

 

[Krzysztof_O]

betting on the next two mtf to be cancelled?

Exactly. Remco could've sealed the race yesterday (if not for the crash) but there's still Montjuic stage for him. Vingegaard will have to wait until the next year's edition to have a chance.

 

[QueenStagiaire]

I think the forecast is good enough for Friday and Saturday, tomorrow isn‘t that windy at all and clear skies, they‘ll just need some long sleeves with temperatures below freezing and some wind at the top. Maybe the headwind is annoying but whatever… Saturday evening has some rain and storm coming in but the weather will hold up throughout the afternoon. If they shorten one of those stages, I‘ll send the UCI a strongly worded e-mail. Luckily they‘re not in the mountains on Sunday.

 

[search]

let's hope so, but they are late again with the stage communiqué, which may not be a good sign. It's not like there was much to report today.