Barcelona, ​​the origin of the great cycling dream

In cycling, winning a stage in each of the three Grand Tours: the Vuelta, Giro and Tour de France is known as the triple crown. Barcelona has secured another treble with the start of the 2023 Vuelta a España, the start of the 2025 Women's Vuelta and, the highlight, the Grand Départ of the 2026 Tour de France . The Catalan capital has become the starting point for almost everything and today hosts the start of the great battle for the red jersey, a re-enactment of the last Tour's battle between Demi Vollering and Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon), with Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx) as a special witness in her return to competition .

There are 14 months left until the Tour de France kicks off in the Catalan capital, and today's morning stage will serve as a rehearsal. It will also be a team time trial, but curiously, the women won't be riding any sections of the men's route from July 4, 2025 (from the Forum to Montjuïc).

A textbook win-win situation “Barcelona wants to show off the city, and having the Vuelta de Barcelona take place in the center of Barcelona is very important to us,” explains Escartín.

The time trial starts at La Pedrera and returns to Passeig de Gràcia via Carrer Mallorca , after climbing up to the Pedralbes Gardens and descending the Diagonal. "It's very easy to work with the city of Barcelona, ​​both with the City Council's Sports Department and the Guàrdia Urbana," race director Fernando Escartín explains to this newspaper. "We're going to experience a very exciting stage on television (Teledeporte and Eurosport). Barcelona wants to showcase the city, and we're delighted to collaborate with them," he predicts about the spectacle, which is a win-win for both sides. "Having the Vuelta start in the center of Barcelona is very important for us," he confesses.

The race ends on Saturday the 10th in Asturias at the top of the Cotobello mountain pass, in what will be the queen stage of the week-long event. Before that, the Burgos peak of Lagunas de Neila will be the first stage. "Because of the route and Vollering's climbing potential, she's the favorite," Escartín emphasizes. "But we're all thinking about the mountains, and we have two windy stages. In Huesca and Baltanás, on the penultimate day, it could blow," Escartín warns of the role the strongest teams will play.

The favorite The race has two mountain finishes (Lagunas de Neila and Cotobello) and Vollering is defending the 2024 red jersey.

Vollering's FDJ, with Muzic and Labous—three top-10 finishers in the 2024 Tour and top-5 finishes in the 2024 Vuelta—will find a counterpart in Visma (Vos and Ferrand-Prévot), Movistar (Reusser and Lippert), and Lidl-Trek (Markus and Fisher-Black). The organizers are rubbing their hands with the "phenomenal turnout," with only world champion Kopecky and Italians Realini and Longo Borghini missing. Perhaps the only drawback is that local representation is dwindling as the demands increase. There will only be ten Spaniards in the peloton, and the only two Catalans will be Mireia Benito (AG Insurance) and Ariana Gilabert (Eneicat).

At 12:51 p.m., Lotto sets off, the first team to race the 8.1 km at full speed on their goat bikes. It's the beginning of a dream for the cyclists who aspire to the red jersey and for the city, which is gearing up for the Tour.