Volta a Catalunya 2024

Seven climbing-heavy days of racing offer a big test for the GC contenders, as Tadej Pogačar makes stage racing debut

Jump to:

Volta Catalunya

Dates 18 Mar - 24 Mar
Race Length 1,179 kms
Race Category Elite Men

Published: 13 March 2024

Volta a Catalunya 2024 overview

The Volta a Catalunya begins on Monday, 18 March in the heart of Catalonia, Spain. The seven-day stage race is Spain’s oldest and carries with it a long legacy of stage racing and a consistently challenging parcours which reaffirms its place on the calendar as one of the top one-week stage races of the year. In 2023, the race saw a memorable battle between Primož Roglič and Remco Evenepoel who fought tooth and nail on each stage before Roglič came out on top to take the overall win by a mere six seconds.

Compared to the other major one-week stage races which function like compact Grand Tours, the Volta a Catalunya goes its own way, with no time trials, and hilly parcours on every stage. The race has also made a habit of taking on some of the highest roads that you’ll see outside of the Grand Tours, this year featuring summit finishes at 2,146m on stage 2 and 1,966mon stage 3. Between those huge climbs, the rolling terrain of the ‘sprinters’ days’ and the final circuit around Barcelona, the Volta a Catalunya is seven must-watch days of racing between some of the top GC contenders.

This year's race has attracted a number of Grand Tour hopefuls, including Tadej Pogačar, Sepp Kuss, Geraint Thomas, Tao Geoghegan Hart and Egan Bernal.

Volta a Catalunya 2024 key information

When is the Volta a Catalunya 2024? The 2024 Volta a Catalunya starts on Monday, 18 March and will finish a week later on Sunday, 24 March.

Where does the Volta a Catalunya 2024 take place? As the name suggests, the Volta a Catalunya takes place around the autonomous region of Catalonia in northeast Spain, finishing in the regional capital of Barcelona.

Who won the Volta a Catalunya in 2023? The 2023 race was won by Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma), six seconds ahead of Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step).

When did Volta a Catalunya start? The Volta a Catalunya began in 1911 and has run for 103 editions, with the only gaps in the editions coming during WWI, the Spanish Revolution and the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.

Who won the first Volta a Catalunya? Sebastián Masdeu won the first edition of the Volta a Catalunya in 1911.

Who has the most wins at the Volta a Catalunya? Mariano Cañardo has the most wins of the Volta a Catalunya with seven victories in the 1920s and 1930s.

Volta a Catalunya 2024 route: lots of climbing packed into seven stages

Volta a Catalunya 2024 route map

The Volta a Catalunya this year has pivoted even more towards climbing than in years past with a full slate of hilly stages. In total, there are 19,870m of climbing averaging out to 2,838 metres of climbing per stage, including three summit finishes, two of which are over 1,900m.

The hills start immediately with a rowdy affair for the sprinters and puncheurs on stage 1 with four categorised climbs including the Alto de Sant Grau (8km, 4%) topping out with 20km left to race. After the climb, it will be a gripping race to the finish as the terrain continues to pitch up and down throughout the last 20km.

On stage 2 the race for the GC begins in earnest with the first of the three summit finishes on the climb to Vallter 2000 (12.9km, 7.3%), a popular inclusion in the race. Last year it also featured on stage 2, won by Giulio Ciccone. While the climb is not terribly steep, this is the first European race to reach high altitude and so will be a crucial test for the likes of Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers), Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike), Enric Mas (Movistar) and Simon Yates (Jayco AlUla) who will be making his European debut in Catalunya.

Stage 3 follows with another summit finish to Port Ainé and another trip to high altitude with the finish coming at 1,966m. If Vallter doesn’t provide an early selection, stage 3 will likely cause the time gaps to grow as the 3,958 cumulative metres of climbing should create the conditions for big attacks from the GC riders.

The next two stages are the days that are likely to be geared towards the few sprinters who sign up for the mountainous race, however breakaways are always possible as each of these stages have significant climbing in the first half of the day’s racing.

Stage 6 is where the big shake-up looks set to come to fruition with a short summit finish coming after a mammoth day of climbing. The race will tackle five categorised climbs in the 154km stage, including the Coll de Pradell (14.6km, 7.1%) coming in the middle of the day, before the final climb up to Queralt (6km, 7.2%) will sort out the GC order heading into the final stage.

Whilst stage 7 has many of the hallmarks of the last stage of a stage race, the city circuit it ends with makes for some demanding racing rather than a processional sprint finish. The lap around Barcelona takes on the climb up to the Castell de Montjuic (2.5km, 4.8%) with the last 800m averaging 10.8%. After five laps, the Montjuic climbs become decisive with the opportunity for a GC upset possible even up until the final lap.

Which teams are racing the Volta a Catalunya 2024?

As a WorldTour race, the Volta a Catalunya will have all 18 WorldTeams on its start line, plus seven Continental teams for a total of 25 teams of seven riders.

WorldTour teams

Alpecin-Deceuninck
Arkéa-B&B Hotels
Astana-Qazaqstan
Bahrain-Victorious
Bora-Hansgrohe
Cofidis
Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale
dsm-firmenich PostNL
EF Education-EasyPost
Groupama-FDJ
Ineos Grenadiers
Intermarché-Wanty
Jayco AlUla
Lidl-Trek
Movistar
Soudal Quick-Step
UAE Team Emirates
Visma-Lease a Bike

ProTour teams

Israel-Premier Tech
Lotto Dstny
Uno-X Mobility
Euskaltel Euskadi
Burgos-BH
Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
Equipo Kern Pharma

What happened at the 2023 Volta a Catalunya?

The 2023 Volta a Catalunya was a barnstorming edition as Primož Roglič and Remco Evenepoel fought tooth and nail for the overall victory. Roglič came out on top in the end, despite Evenepoel launching countless attacks on the final stage around Barcelona and claiming the final stage.

Beyond the battle between Roglič and Evenepoel, who both won two stages each, Kaden Groves had a strong race, winning two of the sprint stages. Giulio Ciccone was the other rider who took some success from the week with a surprising sprint win against Roglič and Evenepoel on Vallter 2000.

Volta a Catalunya history

With a history of well over 100 years, the Volta a Catalunya has an illustrious honour roll. Not only have the great Spanish cyclists like Luis Ocaña, Miguel Induráin, Alejandro Valverde and Joaquim Rodríguez triumphed, but so too have the international stars of cycling like Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Felice Gimondi, Freddy Maertens, Sean Kelly and Laurent Jalabert. With that legacy, the Volta a Catalunya continues to be one of the most competitive one week stage races on the calendar.

Explore more about the Volta a Catalunya by clicking on the tabs above.