Thomas de Gendt describes the charm of Volta a Catalunya: "Even Evenepoel said it was one of the hardest week-long stage races he'd ever done"

The 'Breakaway King' Thomas de Gendt won five stages in Volta a Catalunya during his active career - more than in any other race. Maybe it was fate, maybe just the unique parcours that always favour adventurers such as the Belgian. In any case De Gendt looks forward to another exciting edition while the final stage will serve as a test with view to the 2026 Tour de France.

"You can't help noticing that the Volta a Catalunya always brings together a lot of riders with a lot of very different goals. Even within the GC group, there are not just those looking to do well in the Giro d'Italia, but riders focussed on the Tour de France, too. Then of course there are those aiming at the Ardennes Classics," De Gendt looks into the charm of Volta a Catalunya in his Cyclingnews blog.

As a much as the race is respected within the cycling circles, Catalunya didn't always get the recognition it deserves in Benelux with all the cobbled Classics colliding with the Spanish stage race: "It's true that Catalunya sometimes used to get a bit lost in the Belgian media, with all the Classics going on at the same time. But in 2024 with Pogačar and in 2023 when Roglic and Evenepoel were there, suddenly that changed," De Gendt notes.

"Back when I was winning stages (2013-2021, ed.), the Belgians were really quiet about it, they only thought it was just a small Spanish race," he explains. "Then when Evenepoel took part, suddenly it was getting a lot of analysis in the media and they realised Catalunya had real mountain stages with 4,000 or 5,000 metres of climbing, sometimes snowing at the top, and was very hard to win. Even Evenepoel said it was one of the hardest week-long stage races he'd ever done."

The 2026 Tour de France will take off with a timetrial in Barcelona, followed by a stage centered around the Montjuic climb on Saturday. De Gendt triumphed there twice and he's certain the atmosphere will truly honor the Grand Départ. "With the crowds on the Montjuic climbs, it's always really nice for the riders to race, too, while the spectators can both see the riders five or six times and see everybody suffering, too. So I think for the public, Montjuic is the best Volta stage to watch."