Volta a Catalunya 2026: The outstanding issues from Vingegaard, Evenepoel, Almeida...
March 11 th 2026 - 12:30 [GMT + 1]
The Volta a Catalunya, which will celebrate its 105th edition between 23 and 29 March, expects an historic participation in its battle for victory between the great climbers and general classification specialists of their generation. Two-time Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard (Team Visma-Lease a Bike), who intends to make his debut in the Catalan race after a crash prevented him from doing so last season, leads the fight to succeed Slovenians Primož Roglič (champion in 2025 and 2023) and Tadej Pogačar (2024), along with riders who already know what it's like to climb onto the podium of the Catalan race, such as Belgian star Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), and other top-class debutants such as Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5).
Everything points to Jonas Vingegaard (Team Visma-Lease a Bike), two-time winner of the Tour de France and champion of the last edition of the Vuelta a España, being at the start of the Volta a Catalunya for the first time in 2026, seeking to settle his outstanding debt with a race that, throughout its hundred-year history, has always crowned the best stage riders of their generation. The Dane, who had announced his debut in the Catalan race last season but had to withdraw due to a crash in Paris-Nice, has just started his season in the same French race on his way to his two major goals, the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France.
Uno de sus grandes rivales en julio y que también tiene la Volta a Catalunya en su calendario es Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), múltiple campeón mundial y olímpico y ganador de la Vuelta a España 2022. El astro belga, que empezó el año dominando en Mallorca y en la Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana, tiene una deuda pendiente con la Volta a Catalunya, que asaltó el 2023 como vigente campeón del mundo y en la que fue gran protagonista sin conseguir el premio final, siendo superado por tan solo 6 segundos por Primož Roglič en la clasificación general después de ganar dos etapas en La Molina y Barcelona.
One of his biggest rivals in July, who also has the Volta a Catalunya on his calendar, is Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), multiple World and Olympic champion and winner of the 2022 Vuelta a España. The Belgian star, who started the year dominating in Mallorca and in the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana, has a score to settle with the Volta a Catalunya, where he raced in 2023 as the reigning world champion and was a major player without winning the final prize, being beaten by just 6 seconds by Primož Roglič in the general classification after winning two stages in La Molina and Barcelona.
Other cyclists who know what it's like to climb onto the final podium in Barcelona have also included the Volta in their calendar. These are riders of the calibre of Colombian Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers), winner of the Tour de France and Giro d'Italia, Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost), Olympic champion and winner of the Giro d'Italia, and Balearic Enric Mas (Movistar Team), who came third in the last edition, Mikel Landa (Soudal Quick-Step), who came second in 2024, and Catalan Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), who came third in 2017 and is one of the active cyclists with the most appearances (10) in his home race.
Bernal, who has competed in Catalunya five times, finished third in 2019 and 2024, the latter being a special result that marked one of his first major achievements after the serious injury that nearly ended his career. In addition, in his debut year, 2018, a crash on the Montjuïc circuit forced him to abandon the race when he was second overall. Carapaz has also competed five times, finishing second in the 2022 edition behind Colombian Sergio Higuita, with whom he was the protagonist of a memorable breakaway that turned the race around on the Costa Daurada. The Ecuadorian, who won that stage, has not let up despite his veteran status, as demonstrated by his third place in the last edition of the Giro d'Italia.
To further expand the list of contenders for this Volta, we must also add stellar debuts such as that of Britain's Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5), a world-class mountain biker and Classics rider who, after finishing third in the last edition of the Vuelta a España, has targeted the Volta a Catalunya as a key test in the high mountains ahead of his assault on the Tour de France, where he already won a stage in 2022.
The Volta also features in the calendar of the third-place finisher in the latest edition of the Tour de France, Germany's Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), a top-level domestique for Evenepoel, along with other Grand Tour winners such as veteran Nairo Quintana (Movistar Team), winner of the Volta a Catalunya in 2016, American Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike), Australian Jai Hindley (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and Briton Tao Geoghegan Hart (Lidl-Trek), as well as other prominent names in last year's Grand Tours such as Briton Oscar Onley (Ineos Grenadiers), Felix Gall from Austria, Matthew Riccitello (Decathlon CMA GGM Team) from the United States and Derek Gee-West (Lidl-Trek) from Canada. An endless list of truly impressive names that promise a historic 2026 edition of the Volta a Catalunya.
