Vallter i La Molina/Coll de Pal posaran l’alçada a una Volta 2026 exigent
October 30 th 2025 - 11:00 [GMT + 1]
- The Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat ski resorts will host two of the three high-altitude finals in the next edition of the competition.
- The La Molina ski resort will be the star of the women's mountain stage of the competition next June.
The Volta Ciclista a Catalunya, which will take place between 23 and 29 March 2026, has revealed the high-altitude finishes, a hallmark of the race, for the next edition of the event. Vallter and La Molina/Coll de Pal will be two of the stage finishes which, together with the already announced Queralt, maintain the UCI World Tour event as one of the most prestigious on the international calendar, due to the toughness of the high mountains and the mountain finishes.
The 2026 Volta a Catalunya is revealing some details of what the next edition of the Catalan race will be like. The 105th edition is expected to be one of the toughest in its history, with three high-altitude finishes, a hallmark of the Catalan race in recent years. The two finishes at mountain stations of Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya (FGC) ensure that the Volta will not only be a very attractive setting, but also a great spectacle where the world's best climbers will have to measure their strength. Vallter has already seen Volta finishes in recent years since its debut in 1986.
A debut that was won by cyclist Juan Fernández and which has since seen seven other winners, some as notable as Nairo Quintana (2013), Tejay Van Garderen (2014), Adam Yates (2019 and 2021), Giulio Ciccone (2023) and world champion Tadej Pogacar (on the last visit in 2024).
Next March, Vallter will host a stage finish for the ninth time. The special category mountain pass, which reaches 2,135 metres, and its more than 11 kilometers of ascent from Setcases, with an average gradient of 7.6%, are signposted throughout the climb, guaranteeing excitement and spectacle for the stage with a mountain finish. As for Coll de Pal, one of the most demanding mountain passes in Catalonia, it will feature in the Catalan World Tour race for the third time in its history.
The Berguedà mountain pass will be one of the major new features of the next edition, as the men's Volta race has not visited it for more than 45 years. It was in two consecutive years, 1978 and 1979, when the race was part of the route, with victory going to Basque rider Francisco Galdós, one of the great riders of the 1970s with two podium finishes in the Giro d'Italia and one in the Vuelta a España, who won the Volta stage between Ribes de Freser and Coll de Pal in 1978. A year later, victory went to Sabadell rider Ricardo Zuñiga, who won the stage starting from La Pobla de Segur. Just a few months ago, Coll de Pal was the star of the women's stage of the Volta, in a stage that started in Bagà and ended in La Molina/Coll de Pal, which was won by European champion Demi Vollering in a tough climb that provided us with a great spectacle.
Belonging to the municipality of Bagà, the pass is located on the border between the regions of Berguedà and Cerdanya. It is a special category (HC) mountain pass with a distance of 20 kilometers, 1,284 meters of elevation gain and an average gradient of 6.6%. It is also located at an altitude of over 2,000 metres and has gradients of up to 12% - 13%. These characteristics will test the world's best cyclists, and consistency will be decisive in determining the outcome of the stage, as from kilometers 3 onwards there will be no kilometers with gradients of less than 5%. Thanks to its location, which offers us several different sections, from an opaque, wooded slope to open sections exposed to the air that will provide us with splendid views of the area,a unique stage is expected. The difficulty of the mountain pass will certainly be a key factor for cyclists in terms of the overall classification of the race.
La Molina, high finish for the women's race
While the 2nd edition of the women's Volta Ciclista a Catalunya took us to Coll de Pal for the mountain stage, next June the ski resort of La Molina will take centre stage. Between 19 and 21 June, the world's best female cyclists will gather in our region to tackle three stages, one of which will be a mountain finish, which has now been confirmed as La Molina. This finish is already familiar to the Volta Female, as it was in the first edition of the race that the cyclists tackled a second stage starting from La Seu d'Urgell and finishing at the FGC ski resort. It was an unforgettable stage that made all the difference in the overall classification and was won by Dutch rider Marianne Vos, in a tough climb that was decisive in crowning her as the first winner of the Volta stage race. On this occasion, we already know what the high point will be next June in the third edition of the race, which should confirm the starting points for the second and third stages of the race.
Carles Ruiz, president of Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya, said, ‘Every year, FGC supports the Volta by offering mountain stations with stunning landscapes and surroundings for the most exciting stage finishes.’ ‘At Ferrocarrils, we support competitive sports, both in summer and winter, with the aim of deseasonalising activities in mountain resorts, highlighting our ability to organize major sporting events, as well as the region's capacity to host them.’
Rubén Peris, The president of the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya expressed his satisfaction with FGC's confidence in the century-old race: "The collaboration with FGC represents a commitment that guarantees spectators great cycling days. The confirmation of two stages ending at high altitude in the entity's mountain passes, such as Vallter and La Molina/Coll de Pal, is a guarantee of spectacle for the 2026 Volta a Catalunya. Without a doubt, these mountain finishes make all the difference and consolidate the event as a benchmark race in international cycling, as well as offering us some exceptional views of the region. We are also grateful for FGC's commitment to the women's Volta, which will return for the third consecutive year with a mountain finish at an FGC ski resort, in this case La Molina."
The 105th edition of the Volta will once again be one of the great mountain challenges on the 2026 UCI World Tour calendar. With the confirmation of the presence of the two mountain stations of Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya on the route, riders will have to overcome up to three mountain finishes in a 7-stage race that has earned international prestige on its own merits.
