The race organizers had chosen a 178.6-kilometer route from Sant Feliu de Guixols and back for stage 1 of Volta Ciclista a Catalunya 2025 - the popular race in Catalonian territory. Stage one would be contested in hilly and mountainous terrain. 

The ride would be hilly all day and feature the Category 3 climbs of Coll de Begur and Alt de Santa Pellaia in the first third of the stage. The start and finish town of Sant Feliu de Guixols is located on the Costa Brava coast and offers breathtaking views over the sea. The town is known for its monastery and its cork industry, while being encapsulated by a combination of hills and mountains as well as pine, cork, and oak forests. 

The start list for Volta Ciclista a Catalunya 2025 was impressive and featured prominent riders and race favorites such as Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates), Primoz Roglic (Red Bull – Bora – Hansgrohe), Ben O’Connor (Team Jayco-Alula), Mikel Landa (Soudal-QuickStep), Enric Mas (Movistar Team), Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates), Pavel Sivakov (UAE Team Emirates), Lenny Martinez (Bahrain-Victorious), Egan Bernal (Ineos-Grenadiers), Geraint Thomas (Ineos-Grenadiers), Tao Geoghegan Hart (Team Lidl-Trek) and Richard Carapaz of EF Education-EasyPost.

A breakaway quartet featuring Jan Castellon (Caja Rural – Seguros RGA), Jose Luis Faura (Burgos Burpellet BH), Danny van der Tuuk (Euskaltel-Euskadi), and Nicolas Alustiza (Euskaltel-Euskadi) established itself early in the stage after a fast race start. 

The front group had an advantage of approximately three minutes after thirty-five kilometers of racing. Riders from Alpecin-Deceuninck and Team Picnic-PostNL were leading the chase effort at the front of the main peloton. The weather conditions were poor, and the riders were wearing rain jackets due to heavy rain.

The first bonus sprint of the stage was contested in the small town of La Bisbal d’Emporda, known for its cozy historic town center as well as pottery and ceramics. The bonus sprint was won by Castellon ahead of Faura and Van der Tuuk.

The breakaway optimists maintained a lead of 02:20 minutes when seventy kilometers of the stage had been contested. When seventy kilometers remained, the fast riding by the main peloton in the mountainous coastal terrain had reduced the advantage of the front quartet to just thirty seconds. Riders from Ineos-Grenadiers and UAE Team Emirates were leading the chase on the wet and dangerous descents. 

Van der Tuuk was caught by the peloton when 65 kilometers of the stage remained. The peloton was closing in on the remaining front trio, which now only had a lead of a few seconds. The attackers were caught shortly thereafter.  

Riders from Red Bull – Bora – Hansgrohe moved to the front of the peloton in support of their general classification favorite Primoz Roglic. Other teams moved their GC favorites closer to the front as well. Alpecin-Deceuninck joined the action to protect the interests of its sprinter Kaden Groves.

There were no active attacks when thirty kilometers remained of today’s stage 1. The speed was intense, and it appeared the race finale might culminate in a mass sprint across the finish line in Saint Feliu de Guixols. The roads along the Costa Brava coast were hilly with steep sections, which posed a significant challenge to the riders in the professional cycling peloton.

Geraint Thomas had been dropped from the front peloton group when twenty-one kilometers remained of today’s rainy ride. Hugh Carthy (EF Education-EasyPost) joined him. Perhaps Carthy’s 2025 season would be as disappointing as his 2024 season had been. Thomas, on the other hand, had impressed cycling fans around the world by finishing third in the GC of last year’s Giro d’Italia.

Eight kilometers remained and the riders were closing in on the decisive finale of the stage. Riders from Red Bull – Bora – Hansgrohe were setting a very fast pace on the climb along the coast, but most of the peloton had been dropped at this point as they were unable to keep up. Sepp Kuss had also been dropped from the reduced peloton, which now featured approximately twenty-five riders.

It was now fast downhill until two kilometers from the finish line. Alpecin-Deceuninck were leading the reduced peloton into the finish town to set up their sprinter Kaden Groves.

Tibor del Grosso (Alpecin) attacked and opened a gap to the chasers. Matthew Brennan (Visma – Lease a Bike) succeeded at doing the same. The peloton was chasing hard to catch the two riders before the expected sprint finish.

Brennan was caught, but del Grosso was still in front with a small lead with three hundred meters remaining.

Brennan, however, did not give in. Brennan fired on all engines and caught del Grosso shortly before the finish line. 

Matthew Brennan won stage 1 of Volta a Catalunya 2025 for Team Visma-Lease a Bike ahead of Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck), and Tibor del Grosso (Alpecin-Deceuninck). What an impressive sprint finish and stage win for 22-year-old Brennan of Great Britain. 

“The weather made it quite tricky today,” stage winner Brennan told Roadcycling.com after the stage. “I stayed close to the front on the coastal roads, and I managed to get in position with a few riders around me before the sprint. I just had to go full gas and I’m so happy I ended up this way. I think this is the best we could have done in this race scenario,” Brennan explained.

Stay tuned to Roadcycling.com for complete coverage from Volta Ciclista a Catalunya 2025 and the rest of the professional cycling season.