The keenly anticipated toughest mountain stage of the 2025 Volta a Catalunya has been shorn of all its classified climbs at short notice due to high winds, with the race being substituted by a 73-kilometre leg through central Catalunya.
The original stage 6 was planned to be a virtual carbon copy of last year's key day in the mountains, starting in the city of Berga, continuing over the Hors Categorie Col de Pradell and ending on the summit finish of Queralt.
However, high winds in the area began to play havoc with the organisers' scheduled stage on Friday, initially forcing the removal of the Pradell and effectively reducing the stage to 110 kilometres and the final ascent.
Further changes on Saturday morning, however, as winds continued to blast through the region saw the race start in Berga, as planned, early in the afternoon. The first idea was for two laps of a 73-kilometre circuit with a flat finish after 146 kilometres.
The stage started in Berga, as planned, but after the neutralised section, riders continued to stay behind the organiser's car before organisers decided that the first circuit will be neutral to allow the organisers to assess the conditions. If they determine the race can go on safely, the riders will compete over the second lap with a finish in the centre of Berga.
During the first lap, the organisation announced the stage would end in Berga without a second circuit.
Riders expressed considerable confusion and uncertainty about the changes of plan, with rumours flying around at the start as directors gathered with race organisers and UCI commissaires to try to decide on a clear plan of action in rapidly changing circumstances.
"I actually have no idea what's going on this morning," race leader Juan Ayuso (UAE-Team Emirates XRG told CyclingPro.net at the start. "We've had so many different versions, so many things happening in the last hour, I still don't know what's going to happen.
"Last night they said we're doing Pradell, it was still a hard stage, but this morning when we were coming here, everything started happening, and we started from doing a hard stage to what seems like it's going to be a sprinter's stage, so I have no idea.
"I would have loved to do the initial plan, the normal hard stage, but I understand. The weather here is absolutely crazy and when we get out of town where there's no cover, it's going to be even worse. So if it's a decision made for our health or security, it's totally understandable."
Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), currently running second overall behind Ayuso, said, "We were all looking forward to having big mountains and a hard stage, but I mean, safety first. At the end I just want to be safe with the guys out on the road."
"We just have to wait," Ben O'Connor (Jayco-AIUIa), running 13th at 1:33, told Cyclingnews at the start. "Obviously you have some sort of imput as a team, but it's going to get worse, the further we go into the mountains so it'll be interesting to see what they can do, because there's a lot of debris on the road."
"I'd love to race, don't get me wrong, but I also don't want to race if there's crap all over the road, twigs and branches and stuff. We were driving here and a branch fell off a tree and hit the side of the bus."
"You have to be aware because it's not like it's normal to be this windy here. You just have to figure out what can be done. It'll be disappointing if it doesn't happen, but at the moment we're still racing."
The removal of all the climbs of the toughest stage of the Volta a Catalunya inevitably heightens the focus on stage 7, where Ayuso - assuming there are no changes after stage 6 - will defend a one-second lead in a circuit through Montjuïc Park. This, in turn, was also reduced in length earlier this month, while retaining its traditional series of final hilly laps, because of a football match in the same part of Barcelona later in the day.
"A lot depends on what happens during the day," Ayuso said at the stage 6 start, "They're saying we can start, but maybe then we have to neutralize because if gets too dangerous then we'll have to stop. If we race then we'll have to be up there and fight for the bonus seconds. But let's first get through today, because right now I'm a bit confused."
As for Roglič regarding stage 7 and how the stage could come down to a final battle in Montjuïc, the 2023 Volta a Catalunya winner said that was not uppermost in his mind. As he put it, "I don't care much, first today we see if we can race or not and then we'll see about tomorrow."
