Mataró will once again host a stage start of the Volta in 2023
October 13 th 2022 - 10:55
On 21st March 2023, Mataró will be the starting city for the second stage of the 102nd edition of the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya. After a year’s absence, Mataró will once again vibrate with the best cycling in the world.
It will be the sixteenth time that Mataró will experience the presence of the Volta as a start or finish city. The first one was in 1943, with a finish where Julián Berrendero won, and the last one in the 100th edition, in 2021, with the great victory of the three times world champion Peter Sagan in a sprint, in a massive finish in the Camí de la Geganta.
On this occasion, in 2023, the stage start, which already took place during the period 2014 to 2019, will be brought back, allowing a great interaction with the cyclists and the local public, in a city that has always enjoyed a large presence of fans and lovers of high-level cycling.
"Mataró is a city with a great cycling tradition, a hobby that continues today in the streets and on mountain trails, as well as in renovated facilities such as the Municipal Velodrome. It is a joy and a challenge to support a sporting and promotional event for the city such as the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya", said the Mayor of Mataró, David Bote.
"It is a pleasure to be able to return to Mataró with the Volta. In the centenary edition we experienced a spectacular finish with Sagan's victory, and now we will enjoy a stage start again. The citizens of Mataró always respond and I am sure that it will be a success with the public. The best riders in the world have, once again, an appointment with Mataró", said the president of the Volta Catalunya, Rubèn Peris.
In the city of Mataró, in addition to Berrendero and Sagan, renowned riders such as Vicente Iturat (1995) and the legendary Luis Ocaña (1970), who beat in a time trial, have won. More recently, Alejandro Valverde has also been a protagonist, as he has won up to three stages in which the start has left from Mataró (Olot, 2015; La Molina, 2017; Valls, 2018).
The Volta, which in its last edition attracted more than 11 million unique viewers through Eurosport and could be followed in 190 countries and on five continents, will once again stop in the capital of Maresme, in an edition, the 102nd, practically defined with the announcement of the start and finish of the race, with the aim of offering an attractive and demanding race for the world's leading figures.
The 102nd edition of the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya will be held from 20 to 26 March 2023, with the participation of the 18 best teams in the world, the UCI WorldTeams, and 7 invited teams from the UCI ProTeams category. The last winner of the race was the Colombian Sergio Higuita (Bora-Hansgrohe), followed on the podium by the Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz (INEOS) and the Portuguese Joao Almeida (UAE Team).
Fotografia: Peter Sagan s'imposa a Mataró a l'edició 100 de la cursa