2024 Volta a Catalunya Stage 1 Live Coverage
Welcome to our live coverage of Stage 1 of the 2024 Volta a Catalunya! Our live profile and commentary are below, followed by a preview of the technical aspects of the route.
Course Preview
The Volta a Catalunya begins for the third year in a row with a race with start and finish in Sant Feliu de Guíxols. The race 173.9 kilometres long and takes in an elevation gain of 2,272 metres, while the home straight runs slightly uphill.
The route of the Sant Feliu de Guíxols stage is not the same as in the last two years, but the DNA remains unaltered. Which makes sense, as the finale is too good to neglect.
The riders tackle four climbs – Alt de Romanyà (6 kilometres at 4.7%), Alt de la Ganga (3.6 kilometres at 4.4%), Alt dels Angels (4.8 kilometres at 6.5%), Alt de San Grau (8 kilometres at 4%) – before returning to Sant Feliu de Guíxols. Following a technical section with lots of twists and turns and some short uphill drags, the 1 kilometre long home straight runs uphill at approximately 2%.
The finale was also used in 2019. That year, and also in 2022, Michael Matthews took the spoils, while the race came down to a sprint of big guns in the last edition. Primoz Roglic opened his sprint early and Remco Evenepoel closed rapidly in the final metres, but lacked the final punch to go for the win. So the Slovene took the first leader’s jersey, which he kept the entire week.
The first three riders on the line gain time bonuses of 10, 6 and 4 seconds, while the intermediate sprints come with 3, 2 and 1 seconds.
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