First held in 1911, the Volta a Catalunya is the fourth oldest stage race on the calendar, pre-dating the Vuelta a España. It takes place between the Milan-San Remo and Gent-Wevelgem Classics for seven stages of typically mountainous terrain around Catalonia before the finish in Barcelona. This year it takes place from 23rd-29th March and begins in Sant Feliu de Guíxols once again.
The 2025 Volta a Catalunya was won by Primož Roglič ahead of Juan Ayuso. Roglič will be at Itzulia Basque Country instead this year as will Ayuso – recovery from his Paris-Nice crash permitting. Jonas Vingegaard, Remco Evenepoel and Joao Almeida are the headline GC names on the start list this year, provided Evenepoel doesn’t get stuck in Tenerife, in which case sole leadership of Red Bull will face on his German teammate Florian Lipowitz.
Volta a Catalunya 2026 key information
- Date: 23rd-29th March 2026
- Start: Sant Feliu de Guíxols
- Finish: Barcelona
- Stages: Seven
- Live TV coverage: TNT Sports, HBO Max, NBC, FloBikes, SBS, Eurosport, TV2, RTVE, TVC, Claro Sports, Supersport, Abu Dhabi Sports, Caracol/RCN, JSports
- 2025 winner: Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe)
Volta a Catalunya 2026 route
Catalonia is simultaneously one of the world’s most popular cycling destinations and an underrated race location. The 2026 edition once again begins on the coast at Sant Feliu de Guíxols (where it has begun since 2022), just 30km from the cycling mecca of Girona. Despite the first three stages being labelled flat, the peloton has to contend with Category 1 climbs on two of these days and pack their climbing legs throughout the race.
The summit finishes come thick and fast. Stage 4 features a summit finish on Vallter before Stage 5 is relentless towards another of the kind on the Coll de Pal. The penultimate stage showcases Queralt as the end location while Stage 7 again brings the same finishing circuit cresting the climb to Montjuïc castle, which will be used in the 2026 Tour de France Grand Départ.
Volta a Catalunya 2026 stage-by-stage preview
Stage 1: Monday 23rd March, Sant Feliu de Guíxols – Sant Feliu de Guíxols, 172.7km
There’s a reason why the Volta a Catalunya is always one of the most entertaining week-long stage races. It’s hard from the very start. The organisation has labelled this a ‘flat’ day and we love them for it. Stage 1 sees a Category 1 climb just 50km into the day as the peloton then follows the same 40km to the finale as last year, when Visma-Lease a Bike’s Matthew Brennan won the dramatic uphill finish.
Stage 2: Tuesday 24th March, Figueres – Banyoles, 167.4km
Another ‘flat’ stage at the Volta a Catalunya, a day backended with lumps and bumps before a short ascent up to the finish line in Banyoles.
Stage 3: Wednesday 25th March, Costa Daurada (Mont-roig del Camp) – Costa Daurada (Vila-seca), 159.4km
Things get brutal from the flag drop as Stage 3 serves up a Category 1-2 double punch with the Alt de la Mussara and Coll de Capafons just after the first 20km. After a constantly rolling day, the final 30km is perhaps the flattest part of the race before a finish just east of where things started.
Stage 4: Thursday 26th March, Mataró – Vallter, 173km
Stage 4 begins on the coast just north of Barcelona. It’s a trip upwards towards the mountains for the first summit finish of the race on Vallter. The climb is 22km in length with an average gradient of 5.4%. Tadej Pogačar won the Mataró to Vallter stage in 2024 with its finish on the same climb.
Stage 5: Friday 27th March, La Seu d’Urgell – Coll de Pal, 155.3km
Stage 5 is quite the undulating day as the peloton ascends over three Category 1 climbs before the main event comes at the end of the stage in the form of the Coll de Pal, a climb Demi Vollering won atop in the last edition of the women’s race.
Stage 6: Saturday 28th March, Berga – Queralt, 159km
The GC contenders will be to the fore on the latter half of this stage, with three big climbs including another summit finish up the 7.6km climb to the Santuari de Queralt. That final ascent has an average of 5.5% but the second half is much steeper than the first, hitting a max of 11%. It’s a carbon copy from 2024, where Pogačar broke away on the penultimate climb for an almost 30km solo attack.
Stage 7: Sunday 29th March, Barcelona – Barcelona, 95.1km
The final and shortest stage is 95km. The Alt del Castell de Montjuïc, aka the climb up to Montjuïc Castle in Barcelona, is only 2km with an average gradient of 4.8% but the six ascents will no doubt act as springboards for attacks. It was here last year that Pogačar took win number four of the race and it always delivers drama.
Volta a Catalunya 2026 favourites
The Volta a Catalunya is often used as a warm-up race for riders going to the Giro d’Italia, so the headline battle with be between Jonas Vingegaard and João Almeida. Looking to challenge them will be the likes of Remco Evenepoel, Florian Lipowitz and Tom Pidcock alongside a whole host of decent climbers in Oscar Onley, Felix Gall and Derek Gee-West.
- ★★★★★: Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike)
- ★★★★: João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates XRG), Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe)
- ★★★: Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Oscar Onley (Ineos Grenadiers), Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM)
- ★★: Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5 Pro Cycling), Dani Martínez (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain-Victorious), Matthew Riccitello (Decathlon-CMA CGM)
- ★: Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost), Derek Gee-West (Lidl-Trek), Ben O’Connor (Jayco-AlUla), Enric Mas (Movistar), Mikel Landa (Soudal-QuickStep)
Full start list TBC and Evenepoel may be unable to make the start as he’s stuck on Tenerife at the time of writing.
How to watch the Volta a Catalunya 2026
The Volta a Catalunya is being shown on TNT Sports in the UK and Ireland, but will be impacted by the move of cycling coverage from Discovery+ to HBO Max on Thursday 26th March. Stages 1-3 will be on Discovery+ as from Stage 4 onwards, it’s Discovery+/HBO Max.
Elsewhere in Europe, Eurosport will still provide live images. NBC will provide coverage in the United States as will FloBikes in Canada, SBS in Australia, TV2 in Denmark and Norway plus RTVE in Spain and TVC in Catalonia.
Worldwide coverage extends to Claro Sports in several Latin American territories, Supersport in Sub-Saharan Africa and Eurosports Asia in the Southeast Asia, Abu Dhabi Sports in the Middle East and North Africa, Caracol/RCN in Colombia and JSports in Japan.
If the Volta a Catalunya isn’t being broadcast in your country, or you are travelling abroad, a VPN will allow you to hide your device’s location to access content that is normally geo-blocked.
Volta a Catalunya 2026 UK TV times
Stage 1, Monday 23rd March
- Discovery+: 14:15-16:15
- TNT Sports 1: 14:15-16:15
Stage 2, Tuesday 24th March
- Discovery+: 14:15-16:15
- TNT Sports 1: 14:15-16:15
Stage 3, Wednesday 25th March
- Discovery+: 14:45-16:45
- TNT Sports 1: 14:45-16:45
Stage 4, Thursday 26th March
- HBO Max: 14:15-16:15
- TNT Sports 1: 14:15-16:15
Stage 5, Friday 27th March
- HBO Max: 13:15-15:00
- TNT Sports 1: 13:15-15:00
Stage 6, Saturday 28th March
- HBO Max: 14:15-16:15
- TNT Sports 4: 14:15-16:15
Stage 7, Sunday 29th March
- HBO Max: 11:15-13:15
- TNT Sports 3: 11:15-13:15
Stages 1-6 GMT and Stage 7 BST, broadcast times subject to change.
Volta a Catalunya 2026 start list
Volta a Catalunya previous winners
2025: Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe)
2024: Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates)
2023: Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma)
2022: Sergio Higuita (Bora-Hansgrohe)
2021: Adam Yates (Ineos Grenadiers)
2020: No race
2019: Miguel Ángel López (Astana)
2018: Alejandro Valverde (Movistar)
2017: Alejandro Valverde (Movistar)
2016: Nairo Quintana (Movistar)
2015: Richie Porte (Team Sky)
2014: Joaquim Rodríguez (Team Katusha)
2013: Dan Martin (Garmin-Sharp)
2012: Michael Albasini (GreenEDGE)
2011: Michele Scarponi (Lampre-ISD)
2010: Joaquim Rodríguez (Team Katusha)
First winner: Sebastià Masdeu (1911)
Most wins: Mariano Cañardo (7)