'I'm very upset' - Volta a Catalunya organiser dismayed by riders' last-minute change of heart over altered stage 6 route

2025 Volta a Catalunya stage 6: the riders during the neutralised lap
2025 Volta a Catalunya stage 6: the riders during the neutralised lap (Image credit: Getty Images)

Volta a Catalunya organiser Ruben Peris launched a scathing attack on the peloton for going back on their collective word over how much of the radically altered route of stage 6 they were actually prepared to race.

In a series of changes due to very bad weather, stage 6  of the Volta first saw the hardest ascent, the Hors Categorie Col de Pradell removed from the route and a shift to Plan B of just racing the other climbs featuring in the stage.

But then as the high winds continued to blast the race, all the scheduled climbs for stage 6 were cancelled, too. The stage was rapidly revamped on Saturday morning to Plan C:  two circuits of a 70-kilometre lap, starting and finishing in the town of Berga.

Alasdair Fotheringham

Alasdair Fotheringham has been reporting on cycling since 1991. He has covered every Tour de France since 1992 bar one, as well as numerous other bike races of all shapes and sizes, ranging from the Olympic Games in 2008 to the now sadly defunct Subida a Urkiola hill climb in Spain. As well as working for Cyclingnews, he has also written for The IndependentThe GuardianProCycling, The Express and Reuters.

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