The Volta Ciclista and Catalunya the first level registrants list will be shown again this year. How many runners were called to fly high in this year’s Catalan round, below we have a group of ten of them.
1
Remco Evenepoel
Current world champion Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick Step) leads a stellar participation that will make the Volta a Catalunya the world epicenter of cycling between the next 20 and 26 March. The Belgian star, only 23 years old, is a priori the favorite and he already knows that he will go to the Catalan round with the aim of winning it. So far, he has competed in two more seven-day races: La Vuelta a San Juan Internacional in Argentina, taken as a warm-up, and the UAE Tour where, in addition to winning four stages, he won the youth . classification and the general.
2
Roglic is a cousin
The triple winner of the Tour of Spain Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) is a priori the great rival of Remco Evenepoel to win the Volta 2023. In addition, both have some points in their favor, as they are both in the next Giro d’Italia their main goal of the season and two started the season by storm: Evenepoel in the UAE Tour and Roglic in the Tirreno Adriatico, where they won two stages, the general and the mountain and points classifications. ‘Rogla’ returns to Volta after participating in the 2016 edition.
3
Egan Bernal
The participation of Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) means the presence of the winner of the Tour de France in the Catalan round, although it remains to be seen when the Colombian cyclist will be in shape. Recovering from a serious accident last year in his native Colombia that nearly cost him his life, Bernal made his debut at the Vuelta a San Juan Internacional in Argentina which he had to abandon due to knee problems that delayed his return to road to Volta . Egan was third in 2019, but he also experienced the sport’s cruelest face with a heavy crash in 2018 at Montjuïc when he tried to wrest the race victory from Alejandro Valverde.
4
Geraint Thomas
Geraint Thomas’s performance in Volta is unknown. The Welshman, third in the Catalan round in the 2021 edition, will play in his fourth Volta after 2021, 2017 and 2016, he has yet to show his cards this year. He had just competed in five stages of the Santos Tour Down Under last January, where he devoted himself to racking up quality kilometers. He makes his debut this year in Europe in the Volta and his quality is unquestionable, also defending himself well in the mountains, with a special role this year in the Volta.
5
Richard Carapaz
After being a great star in the last edition, where he was second, 16 seconds behind the Colombian Sergio Higuita, the Olympic champion Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) will once again be one of the great attractions of the race, which accompanied by a powerful team with names like Rigoberto Urán and Esteban Chaves. Something similar to Geraint Thomas is happening to the one from El Carmelo, but to a greater extent, because so far he has only competed for two days. On February 12, the Ecuadorian time trial champion was proclaimed and a month later he rode in search of accumulated sensations in Milan-Turin, won by Dutchman Arvid De Kleijn, who finished 77th.
6
Jai Hindley
The Volta is privileged to also have the winner of the 2023 Giro d’Italia this year, the Australian Jai Hindley (Bora-hansgrohe), who in the absence of the defending champion, his teammate Sergio Higuita, will wear the number 1 The Perth runner arrived shot, because he has accumulated 3,220 kilometers in his legs to date, distributed between Australia, Portugal, France and Italy, although not shining in a special way, beyond being four in the second stage of the Volta al Algarve, his best partial result to date. Hindley showed in the 2022 Giro that he has more than enough quality in his legs and why he cannot find his best version again on the Catalan asphalt.
7
João Almeida
Third in the 2022 Volta, Joao Almeida could be a great asset to UAE Team Emirates in the Volta. The Portuguese from Calas a Rainha will be playing in his third Catalan round where he always competes at a high level. In 2021 he finished 7th overall, won the team time trial with his squad and took the youth classification. And last year he finished third overall, won the Vilanova i la Geltrú stage and even led the race. This year he raced for a total of 15 days. He finished second in the Tirreno-Adriatico won by Primoz Roglic and has yet to raise his arms to victory this year, which he will try to achieve in the Volta.
8
adam yates
Adam Yates is one of the riders with the most presence in the Volta. He did not race last year, but he won in 2021, an edition in which he swept, also winning four of the seven stages, after being 2nd in 2019. 2018 did not finish, he was fourth in 2017 and made his debut in 2014. He went to the Catalan round after 14 days of competition, where he won the queen stage of the UAE Tour, a race in which he was third, and where he was in a great level with the Tirreno-Adriatico. His worst enemy may be in his own team, UAE Team Emirates, who have few options to compete in general. The road decides and the profile of the stages suits him.
9
Ben O’Connor
Winner of last year’s La Molina stage, he finished sixth overall, Australian Ben O’Connor can aim to play a great role in the Catalan round, which he also competed in 2019, 2018 and 2017. 8th in The 2022 Vuelta, the Australian from Subiaco will compete in his third one-week race in Catalonia, after the Santos Tour Doun Under and the Tirreno-Adriatico, and will try to achieve a new victory in his record: the latter, mentioned in Cerdanya’s ski season.
10
Michael Landa
Mikel Landa (Bahrain Victorious), who has not participated in the Catalan race since the 2017 edition, will be looking to round off a good start to the season in the Volta after competing in the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana (7th overall), in the Vuelta a Andalusia (2nd) and in Tirreno-Adriatico (7th). 3rd in the 2022 Giro d’Italia, the rider from Alava will once again find the path to victory, which he has not traveled since the dominance he used in the 2017 Vuelta a Burgos, where he took the overall after winning four of five stages.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Robert Maynard, and I am a passionate journalist with experience in sports writing. For the last few years, I have been writing for Today Times Live. My main focus has been on sports-related stories and features. With my strong background in journalism and extensive knowledge of the industry, I am able to provide readers with well-crafted pieces that are both informative and engaging.
