87th Volta a Catalunya parcours

The Volta a Catalunya organizer has announced the parcours of its 2007 race. For the 87th edition, held from May 21 to 27, the "Volta" will take travel outside of Catalunya to visit Andorra for two stages.

Thursday, May 24, will be the queen stage; taking the peloton to the ski resort of Vallnord-Arinsal. For the first time the race will tackle the Alt del Port, followed by the Sierra del Cadi, Port del Solsones, Port del Compte, la Comella and la Massana, before finishing on the Vallnord-Arinsal. The climb tops out at 1,950 metres, with an average gradient of 9%.

Friday, May 25, a mountain time trial will be held to Arcalís. It will be the same parcours that were used in 2005 when Iñigo Cuesta won for Saunier Duval-Prodir.

Of note is the clashing of two ProTour events; the Volta a Catalunya will be contested while in Italy the Giro is being raced. This has been the case for the last two years (2005 and 2006), causing teams to be spread thin.