El Pla de l’Estany will host an individual time trial in the 100th Edition of the Volta

December 31 ^st 2020 - 10:30

The Volta Ciclista a Catalunya recovers in its 100 edition, that will be held between march 23 and 29, 2020, an individual time trial, which will be in the Pla de l'Estany (Banyoles – Banyoles), with a route of 21,1 km.

The race recovers a discipline that has not been held since 2007 edition. With this ITT the Volta will have a more varied route, which will combine the high mountain - with arrivals at the Vallter 2000 and Port Ainé ski resorts -, the individual time trial and other half-mountain stages and for sprinters.

One of the main changes of this edition is the individual time trial that will have the start and the finish line in Banyoles, and that will also pass through the municipalities of Fontcoberta, Esponellà and Porqueres, all in the territory of the Pla de l’Estany region.

In 2017 the Pla de l'Estany region already lived a time trial, which on that occasion was by teams -with victory of the BMC-, with 41.3 km.

"For many years we wanted to recover an individual time trial and the stage of Pla de l'Estany is ideal for us to see a magnificent spectacle during the centenary edition of the Volta. It will be a very intense time trial, where the best cyclists in the world will give their best ", said the president of the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya, Rubèn Peris.

The mayor of Banyoles, Miquel Noguer, has assured that "we are very excited that Banyoles can collaborate again with the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya, especially in this centenary edition and with an individual time trial."

In fact, apart from the prologues made in Lloret de Mar (2008 - 2009 - 2010), the last time an individual time trial was made in the Volta was in 2007; a 17.1km mountain time trial that took place between Sornàs and Vallnord Arcalís, in Andorra. The Russian Denis Menchov was the winner.

The Volta Ciclista a Catalunya has been linked up to 19 times with Banyoles, with 10 stage departures and 9 arrivals. The first one was in 1927, with a stage between Vic and Banyoles that ended with a victory by Georges Cuvelier. Other renowned cyclists who have imposed on Banyoles have been Álvaro Pino (1987), Erik Zabel (1999) or Alessandro Petacchi (2011), among others.

Photo of the last CRE in el Pla de l'Estany, in 2017