Volta a Catalunya

Volta a Catalunya
Race details

Date	March
Region	Catalonia, Spain
English name	Tour of Catalonia
Local name(s)	Volta a Catalunya (Catalan)
Discipline	Road
Competition	UCI World Tour
Type	Stage race
Organiser	"Volta" Ciclista a Catalunya Associació Esportiva (Unió Esportiva de Sants)
Race director	Rubèn Peris
History
First edition	1911 (1911)
Editions	95 (as of 2015)
First winner	Sebastià Masdeu (ESP)
Most wins	Mariano Cañardo (ESP) (7 wins)
Most recent	Richie Porte (AUS)

The Volta a Catalunya is a popular road bicycle race held annually in Catalonia, Spain. It is a part of the UCI World Tour programme, ranking second behind the Vuelta a España in popularity for Spain.

History

Due to its place in the riding calendar (after the Giro d'Italia), it was long viewed as an important Tour de France preparation race for cyclists. After the inauguration of the ProTour, the race moved to May, making it an alternative for the Giro. This didn't prove to be a successful change, and for the 2010 season, the race organisation announced a move to late March,^[1] the date formerly held by another Catalan stage race, the Setmana Catalana. The race was held over seven stages in 2015. The first edition was held in January and lasted for three days.^[2]

The overall winner receives a white and green striped jersey. It is one of 28 races that make up the UCI World Ranking calendar. There are also three other classifications. The winner of the points classification (sprints) wears a white jersey, a red jersey the winner of the mountain classification and the jersey of the Catalonia national cycling team is for the best classified Catalan. There is also a team classification.

The Volta a Catalunya is the fourth-oldest cycling stage race in the world (first time in 1911), only behind the Tour de France (1903), Tour of Belgium (1908) and the Giro d'Italia (1909). Only the amateur and sub-23 Volta a Tarragona (1908) is older than the Volta a Catalunya in Catalonia and the Iberian Peninsula.

Past winners

		Rider	Team
1911	ESP !	Masdeu, SebastiaSebastià Masdeu (ESP)
1912	ESP !	Magdalena, JosépJosép Magdalena (ESP)
1913	ESP !	Martí, JuanJuan Martí (ESP)
1914– 1919	~ !No race
1920	FRA !	Pelletier, JoseJosé Pelletier (FRA)
1921	~ !No race
1922	~ !No race
1923	FRA !	Ville, MauriceMaurice Ville (FRA)	Automoto-Hutchinson
1924	ESP !	Mucio, MiquelMiquel Mucio (ESP)	U.D. Sans
1925	ESP !	Mucio, MiquelMiquel Mucio (ESP)	U.D. Sans
1926	FRA !	Fontan, VictorVíctor Fontan (FRA)	individual
1927	FRA !	Fontan, VictorVíctor Fontan (FRA)	individual
1928	ESP !	Canardo, MarianoMariano Cañardo (ESP)	Elvish-Wolber
1929	ESP !	Canardo, MarianoMariano Cañardo (ESP)	F.C. Barcelona
1930	ESP !	Canardo, MarianoMariano Cañardo (ESP)	Styl
1931	ESP !	Cardona, SalvadorSalvador Cardona (ESP)	individual
1932	ESP !	Canardo, MarianoMariano Cañardo (ESP)	individual
1933	ITA !	Bovet, AlfredoAlfredo Bovet (ITA)	Bianchi
1934	ITA !	Rogora, BernardoBernardo Rogora (ITA)	Gloria
1935	ESP !	Canardo, MarianoMariano Cañardo (ESP)	Orbea
1936	ESP !	Canardo, MarianoMariano Cañardo (ESP)	Colin-Wolber
1937	~ !No race
1938	~ !No race
1939	ESP !	Canardo, MarianoMariano Cañardo (ESP)	individual
1940	LUX !	Didier, ChristopheChristophe Didier (LUX)	Alcyon-Dunlop
1941	ESP !	Sancho, Antonio AndrésAntonio Andrés Sancho (ESP)	individual
1942	ESP !	Ezquerra, FedericoFédérico Ezquerra (ESP)	individual
1943	ESP !	Berrendero, JulianJulián Berrendero (ESP)	F.C. Barcelona
1944	ESP !	Casas, MiguelMiguel Casas (ESP)	individual
1945	ESP !	Ruiz, BernardoBernardo Ruiz (ESP)	individual
1946	ESP !	Berrendero, JulianJulián Berrendero (ESP)	Chiclès-Tabay
1947	ESP !	Rodriguez, EmilioEmilio Rodríguez (ESP)	U.D. Sans-Alas Color-Minaco
1948	ESP !	Rodriguez, EmilioEmilio Rodríguez (ESP)	U.D. Sans-Alas Color
1949	FRA !	Rol, EmileEmile Rol (FRA)	La Perle-Hutchinson
1950	ESP !	Gelabert, AntonioAntonio Gelabert (ESP)	individual
1951	ITA !	Volpi, PrimoPrimo Volpi (ITA)	Arbos-Talbot
1952	ESP !	Poblet, MiguelMiguel Poblet (ESP)	Canals & Nubiola
1953	ESP !	Botella, SalvadorSalvador Botella (ESP)	individual
1954	ITA !	Serena, WalterWalter Serena (ITA)	Bottecchia-Ursus
1955	ESP !	Gomez del Moral, JoseJosé Gómez del Moral (ESP)	Minaco
1956	ESP !	Utset, AnicetoAniceto Utset (ESP)	Mobylette-Coabania
1957	ESP !	Lorono, JesusJesús Loroño (ESP)
1958	BEL !	Van Genechten, RichardRichard Van Genechten (BEL)
1959	ESP !	Botella, SalvadorSalvador Botella (ESP)
1960	ESP !	Poblet, MiguelMiguel Poblet (ESP)
1961	FRA !	Duez, HenriHenri Duez (FRA)
1962	ESP !	Karmany, AntonioAntonio Karmany (ESP)
1963	FRA !	Novales, JosephJoseph Novales (FRA)
1964	FRA !	Carrara, JosephJoseph Carrara (FRA)
1965	ESP !	Gomez del Moral, AntonioAntonio Gómez del Moral (ESP)
1966	NED !	Den Hartog, ArieArie Den Hartog (NED)
1967	FRA !	Anquetil, JacquesJacques Anquetil (FRA)
1968	BEL !	Merckx, EddyEddy Merckx (BEL)
1969	ESP !	Diaz, MarianoMariano Díaz (ESP)
1970	ITA !	Bitossi, FrancoFranco Bitossi (ITA)
1971	ESP !	Ocana, LuisLuis Ocaña (ESP)
1972	ITA !	Gimondi, FeliceFelice Gimondi (ITA)
1973	ESP !	Perurena, DomingoDomingo Perurena (ESP)
1974	FRA !	Thevenet, BernardBernard Thévenet (FRA)
1975	ITA !	Bertoglio, FaustoFausto Bertoglio (ITA)
1976	ESP !	Martinez, EnriqueEnrique Martínez (ESP)
1977	BEL !	Maertens, FreddyFreddy Maertens (BEL)
1978	ITA !	Moser, FrancescoFrancesco Moser (ITA)
1979	ESP !	Belda, VicenteVicente Belda (ESP)
1980	ESP !	Lejarreta, MarinoMarino Lejarreta (ESP)	Teka
1981	ESP !	Ruperez, FaustinoFaustino Ruperez (ESP)	Zor
1982	ESP !	Fernandez, AlbertoAlberto Fernández (ESP)	Teka
1983	ESP !	Recio, JosepJosep Recio (ESP)	Kelme
1984	IRL !	Kelly, SeanSean Kelly (IRL)	Skil-Sem
1985	GBR !	Millar, RobertRobert Millar (GBR)	Peugeot
1986	IRL !	Kelly, SeanSean Kelly (IRL)	KAS
1987	ESP !	Pino, AlvaroÁlvaro Pino (ESP)	BH
1988	ESP !	Indurain, MiguelMiguel Indurain (ESP)	Reynolds
1989	ESP !	Lejarreta, MarinoMarino Lejarreta (ESP)	Caja Rural
1990	ESP !	Cubino, LaudelinoLaudelino Cubino (ESP)	BH
1991	ESP !	Indurain, MiguelMiguel Indurain (ESP)	Banesto
1992	ESP !	Indurain, MiguelMiguel Indurain (ESP)	Banesto
1993	COL !	Mejia, AlvaroÁlvaro Mejía (COL)	Motorola
1994	ITA !	Chiappucci, ClaudioClaudio Chiappucci (ITA)	Carrera Jeans-Tassoni
1995	FRA !	Jalabert, LaurentLaurent Jalabert (FRA)	ONCE
1996	SUI !	Zulle, AlexAlex Zülle (SUI)	ONCE
1997	ESP !	Escartin, FernandoFernando Escartín (ESP)	Kelme-Costa Blanca
1998	COL !	Buenahora, HernanHernan Buenahora (COL)	Vitalicio Seguros
1999	ESP !	Beltran, ManuelManuel Beltrán (ESP)	Banesto
2000	ESP !	Jimenez, Jose MariaJosé Maria Jimenez (ESP)	Banesto
2001	ESP !	Beloki, JosebaJoseba Beloki (ESP)	ONCE-Eroski
2002	ESP !	Heras, RobertoRoberto Heras (ESP)	US Postal
2003	ESP !	Pecharroman, Jose AntonioJosé Antonio Pecharromán (ESP)	Costa de Almería-Paternina
2004	ESP !	Martin Perdiguero, Miguel AngelMiguel Ángel Martín Perdiguero (ESP)	Phonak
2005	UKR !	Popovych, YaroslavYaroslav Popovych (UKR)	Discovery Channel
2006	ESP !	Canaga, DavidDavid Cañada (ESP)	Saunier Duval-Prodir
2007	RUS !	Karpets, VladimirVladimir Karpets (RUS)	Caisse d'Epargne
2008	ESP !	Cesar, GustavoGustavo César (ESP)	Karpin-Galicia
2009	ESP !	Valverde, AlejandroAlejandro Valverde (ESP)	Caisse d'Epargne
2010	ESP !	Rodríguez, JoaquimJoaquim Rodríguez (ESP)	Team Katusha
2011	ITA !	Scarponi, MicheleMichele Scarponi^{[Note 1]} (ITA)	Lampre-ISD
2012	SUI !	Albasini, MichaelMichael Albasini (SUI)	GreenEDGE
2013	IRL !	Martin, DanielDaniel Martin (IRL)	Garmin-Sharp
2014	ESP !	Rodríguez, JoaquimJoaquim Rodríguez (ESP)	Team Katusha
2015	AUS !	Porte, RichieRichie Porte (AUS)	Team Sky

Notes

↑ Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-SunGard) won the 2011 edition but was later disqualified.^[3]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Volta a Catalunya.

Official website (Catalan)
Palmares at Cycling Archives

UCI World Tour

Seasons	2009 Ranking 2010 Ranking Merged with the UCI ProTour 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Active races	Tour Down Under Paris–Nice Tirreno–Adriatico Milan – San Remo Volta a Catalunya E3 Harelbeke Gent–Wevelgem Tour of Flanders Tour of the Basque Country Paris–Roubaix Amstel Gold Race La Flèche Wallonne Liège–Bastogne–Liège Tour de Romandie Giro d'Italia Critérium du Dauphiné Tour de Suisse Tour de France Clásica de San Sebastián Tour de Pologne Eneco Tour Vuelta a España Vattenfall Cyclassics GP Ouest-France GP de Québec GP de Montréal TTT at the World Championships Giro di Lombardia

Defunct races	Tour of Beijing

UCI ProTour

Seasons	2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Merged into the UCI World Tour

Races	Tour Down Under Tour of Flanders Tour of the Basque Country Gent–Wevelgem Amstel Gold Race Tour de Romandie Volta a Catalunya Critérium du Dauphiné Tour de Suisse Clásica de San Sebastián Eneco Tour GP Ouest-France Deutschland Tour Vattenfall Cyclassics Tour de Pologne Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal

Volta a Catalunya

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