The 2023 Volta Ciclista a Catalunya is a seven-stage road race taking place in Catalonia from Monday, March 20 and concluding with an exciting criterium in Barcelona on Sunday, March 26. The route of the one-week race features challenging mountaintop finishes, such as Vallter 2000, Tortosa and La Molina, where Tour de France and Giro d’Italia favorites will test their form before continuing their preparations for this year’s Grand Tours.

The startlist for Volta Ciclista a Catalunya includes World Champion Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep), Vuelta a Espana winner Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma), Giro d’Italia Champion Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe), Richard Carapaz and Rigoberto Uran from EF Education-EasyPost, Ineos-Grenadiers’ Egan Bernal and Geraint Thomas, and Romain Bardet (Team DSM).

Stage 1 was a 164.6-kilometer roundtrip from the coastal town Sant Feliu de Guixols and back. The trip took the riders into Catalonian country on a route featuring one category 2 and three category 3 climbs.

A group of attackers took off from the main peloton about five kilometers after the start of the stage and a five-man breakaway group had been formed a further five kilometers down the road.

The remains of today’s group of breakaway hopefuls had a 23 second lead on the main peloton with 17.5 kilometers left of the stage. By then, Equipo Kern Pharma’s Pau Miquel had been dropped, so the group featured Rune Herregodts (Intermarche-Circus-Wanty), Alessandro de Marchi (Jayco-Alula), Oscar Onley (Team DSM), and Jetse Bol (Burgos-BH). 

With few kilometers left to race, the front group was reeled in, and a crash occurred in the main peloton that was riding at a fast pace in preparation of the stage final. The crash involved about five riders, and Dario Cataldo (Trek-Segafredo) was taken to hospital via ambulance.

Primoz Roglic won the sprint across the finish line, closely followed by World Champion Remco Evenepoel who almost caught Roglic in the final meters but had to settle for second place. Ide Schelling (Bora-Hansgrohe) completed the podium. The top three finishers also gained valuable bonus seconds. Roglic was awarded a ten second time bonus, Evenepoel six, while Schelling secured four bonus seconds.

Tomorrow’s stage 2 will be a 165.4-kilometer mountainous ride from Mataro to Vallter 2000 Setcases. The final fifteen kilometers of the climb to the finish features sections of up to 12 percent. Look for the General Classification favorites to fly their team colors in the stage.

Stay tuned to Roadcycling.com for additional coverage from Volta Ciclista a Catalunya 2023.