On the 6th of January 1911 34 hardy souls set out from the barrio Sarria in Barcelona to compete in the very first Tour of Catalonia. Only 24 made it to the finish at the Sants Velodrome with Spaniard Sebastia Masdeu becoming the first winner of the locally called the La Volta .
La Volta is the third oldest cycle race on the world tour after the Tour of France and Tour of Italy and today at the seaside town of Calella, just up the coast from Barcelona, is the start of the 92nd edition of this classic race.
Seven days of torture, which has brought the top teams and their stars to our part of the world. Alejandro Valverde, Andy Schleck, Samuel Sanchez and Bradley Wiggins to name a few will be competing for La Volta’s iconic green and white stripped jersey.
It is a stern test for the pro boys, especially the leg on Wednesday, a brutal 210kms with 3 peaks to climb and a 19km uphill slog to the finish at the Port Ainé ski station in the Pyrenees.
In a small homage to La Volta’s first race, but largely due to the 19,000 marathon runners that will be pounding the streets of the Catalan capital this Sunday, the final stage ends where the first race started in Sarria, rather than the more traditional finish at Montjuic.
Now watching men in dayglo Lycra might not normally be your thing, but this is a chance to see the very best pro-cycling has to offer up close and personal. So before you head down to the port for a paella next Sunday, pop up to Sarria and cheer them over the line, one things for sure, wheel be watchin’.
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