A first class Volta

Alejandro Valverde starts this Monday in Calella one of the races with the most history and tradition on the international calendar: the Volta a Catalunya. The competition celebrates its centennial edition with an spectacular participation, including many of the best names on the world scene.

Valverde has three wins in the general classification of the race (2009, 2017 and 2018) in addition to nine stages. He is therefore one of the great historical names of the Volta, since only Mariano Cañardo (7) collected more wins than those of the Murcian, who is equaled with Miguel Indurain.

After a year of absence due to COVID, the Volta returns with seven days of cycling. The ITT on Tuesday in Banyoles (18 kilometers) and the mountain finishes on Wednesday and Thursday in Vallter 2000 and Port Ainé stand out. However, all the stages present interesting routes, such as the climbing to Montserrat on Friday about 30 kilometers from the end in Manresa or the well-known Montjuic circuit of the last stage, where the general classification has changed more than once.

Movistar has prepared a well-balanced squad to to face great rivales such as Carapaz, Porte, Almeida, Quintana, Carthy or the Yates brothers, who for the first time will compete against each other in different teams. Enric Mas, Marc Soler, Antonio Pedrero, Sergio Samitier, Dario Cataldo and Carlos Verona will start with Bala in his second stage-race of the campaign.

Photo: Movistar Team / Photo Gómez Sport