Port Ainé, stage ending in Volta a Catalunya 2020

Elevation profile for Port Ainé

It has been unveiled the route of Volta a Catalunya professional cycling race for 2020.

It is a very special edition as it is the 100th edition of the oldest cycling race in Spain.
3/23 Calella-Calella
3/24 TT Banyoles (Girona)
3/25 Canal Olimpic-Vallter 2000
3/26 Ripoll-Port Ainé
3/27 La Pobla de Segur-Manresa
3/28 Tarragona-Mataró
3/29 Barcelona-Barcelona

There will be 2 mountain stage endings. First one will be in Vallter 2000 (a classic finish, included several times in Volta a Catalunya route), and the second one is at Port Ainé.

Port Ainé has been included three times in the route of Volta a Catalunya. But only twice the race arrived to the top of the climb... How can that be? In 2012 the route included the climbs to Port del Cantó and Port Ainé as stage ending. Nevertheless, the weather was extremely cold with snow vat the mountains and the climb to Port Ainé was cancelled (Stage winner Brajkovič described the stage and its conditions as the "hardest day of his life"). See details here.

The second time that the Volta arrived to Port Ainé was in 2016 edition, and the winner was Thomas de Gendt.See whole stage video here:

 

And the third time was in 2013 edition with Dan Martin winning at the top of the climb.

The climb itself is a long climb in the Pyrenees, and the bottom is located very close to a village called Rialp. The elevation profile showed in the article is a little shorter than it is nowadays, as the road gets to 2000 mts.

A true monster climb with almost 20 km of climbing, with over 6% average gradient!
Here we have the Strava segment for the climb:

Volta a Catalunya 2019 professional cycling race

Overall map

From March 25th to March 31st will take place de 99th edition of Volta a Catalunya professional cycling race

Volta a Catalunya was first disputed on 1911, which makes this race the second oldest race in Spain (first is Volta a Tarragona, which now is not a professional race)

The route has plenty of attractions. Every day there is something interesting in the route, being on the sportive side, being on the touristic sid.

And what about the participation? Some of the best cyclists in the world are expected to attend: Alejandro Valverde (world champion), Chris Froome (4 times Tour de France winner), Romain Bardet, Thibaut Pinot (Giro di Lombardia winner), etc.

Stage 1 Calella Calella, 164 km getting to our beloved Montseny mountains. The climbs to Coll Formic and Santa fe del Montseny will be the highlights of the stage.

Stage 1 Calella Calella through montseny mountains

Stage 2 Mataró-Sant Feliu de Guixols, 179 km Sant Feliu de Guixols is one of the nicest towns in Costa Brava. Guaranteed breathtaking views during the stage!

Nice stage by the coast!

Stage 3 Sant Feliu de Guixols-Vallter 2000. 179 km with a very demanding final climb to Vallter 2000, and a couple of previous first category climbs. This could be one of the key stages, and teams should be ready for some cold in the Pyrenees, late March!

Stage 3 Sant Feliu de Guixols Vallter 2000, in the Pyrenees!

Stage 4 Llanars-La Molina, 150 km. Another stage in the Pyrenees including one of our favourite climbs in all the Pyrenees: Coll de la Creueta, amazing landscapes! Arrival to La Molina, already included several times in the Volta route.

Still another stage in the Pyrenees

Stage 5 Puigcerdà Sant Cugat del Valles 180 km. Stage descending from the Pyrenees to Sant Cugat, very close to Barcelona. Collada de Toses will be climbed outside Puigcerdà, at the beginning of the stage.

Arrival to Sant Cugat del Valles, close to Barcelona

Stage 6 Valls Vilaseca 174 km. Arrival to the famous Costa daurada, paradise for cyclists, including towns as Cambrils and Salou.

Stage in south part of Catalonia

Stage 7 Barcelona Barcelona 143 km. Final stage arriving to Barcelona including the steep (but short) climb to Montjuic 8 times! Spectacular ending at the city center.

Arrival to Montjuic, in Barcelona

More information and details here:
http://www.voltacatalunya.cat/ca/home/

Volta a Catalunya 2018 edition

Map of 2018 Volta a Catalunya

Next week will take place the main professional cycling race in Catalonia: Volta a Catalunya.
More information and details here:
http://www.voltacatalunya.cat/ca/home/

Volta a Catalunya is one of the first races in the season with the main riders participating. This year we will have Valverde, Quintana and the recent winner of Paris Nice Marc Soler in Movistar team, Daniel Martin, Rigoberto Uran, Fabio Aru, Sergio Henao, David de la Cruz, Van Garderen, Kruiswijk, Thibaut Pinot, Warren Barguil, etc.

The route is demanding, including several very important climbs as Vallter 200 and La Creueta. Stage 3, finishing at Vallter 2000 is, no doubt the queen stage. Following stage ending at La Molina includes also some very long and steep climb, as La Creueta.

Stage 1 Calella-Calella (medium mountain)

Stage 2 Mataró-Valls (medium mountain)

Stage 3 Sant Cugat del Vallès-Vallter 2000 (high mountain)

Stage 4 Llanars La Molina (high mountain)

Stage 5 Llivia-Viella (high mountain)

Stage 6 Viella-Torrefarrera (medium mountain)

Stage 7: Barcelona Barcelona (medium mountain)

La Molina ski station, again in the Volta a Catalunya 2017 route

Purito Rodríguez, winner in 2014 (Picture by Sergi Ros de Mora)

La Molina, one of the most famous Ski stations in Catalonia, will be in 2017 (for the 4^th time in a row) stage ending in Volta a Catalunya Pro race. It will be on 2017 March 22^nd.

So far, La Molina was included in 2014(winner Purito Rodríguez), 2015 (winner Tejay Van Garderen) and 2016(winner Daniel Martin).

Stage arriving to La Molina in 2014 edition

Curiously, just in 2014 edition, the winner at La Molina (Purito Rodríguez) was also the winner of final GC. In 2015, Tejay Van Garderen was not even in top ten, and winner was australian Richie Porte. In 2016, Dan Martin was 3rd, after Nairo Quintana (winner) and Alberto Contador. Anyway, any cyclist fighting for GC shouldn't be far from the lead in 2017...

Stage arriving to La Molina in 2015 edition

Stage arriving to La Molina in 2016 edition

As you can see in joined profiles, usually stage finishing at La Molina is the queen stage of Volta a Catalunya. Being located in Barcelona province, between Barcelona or Girona area and La Cerdanya region. It is not specially steep (see profile below), but it usually comes after several first category climbs, as Collada de Toses, La Creueta or Coll de Coubet.

Profile of La Molina from Das (Cerdanya)