Volta a Catalunya kicks off with TTT

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A 19.2 kilometre team time trial will kick off the first stage of the 85th Volta a Catalunya, one of...

A 19.2 kilometre team time trial will kick off the first stage of the 85th Volta a Catalunya, one of the oldest Tours on the calendar, and this year part of the UCI ProTour. The week long race runs from Monday, May 16, through Sunday, May 22, and contains a number of very challenging stages. Stages 2 and 3 already feature several Cat. 2 and Cat. 3 climbs, but Stage 4, from Perafort to the Pal ski station in Arinsal (Andorra) is 237.7 km long and finishes with two Cat. 1 climbs, both at over 1850m altitude. There will not be much relief the next day in stage 5, with a 17 km mountain time trial from Sornas to the Ordino ski station at Arcalís. This stage climbs from 1300m to 2220m, with 660m of that in the final 9.3 km.

Stage 6 from Llívia to Pallejà (199 km) starts with the Cat. 1 Collada de Toses (km 27.9), but contains only one other Cat. 2 climb, and that comes with over 80 km to go, which means there could be a fairly large group to contest the finish. The final stage is just 113 km from Pallejà to Barcelona, but is punctuated by three Cat. 3 climbs and another uncategorised one at the start.

Jeff Jones