Volta a Catalunya

Volta a Catalunya

Race details
Date	March
Region	Catalonia
English name	Tour of Catalonia
Local name(s)	Volta a Catalunya (Catalan)
Discipline	Road
Competition	UCI World Tour
Type	Stage-race
History
First edition	1911 (1911)
Editions	91 (as of 2011)
First winner	Sebastià Masdeu (ESP)
Most wins	Mariano Cañardo (ESP) (7 wins)
Most recent	Michele Scarponi (ITA)

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 only second behind the Vuelta a España in popularity for Spain. 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, the date formerly held by another Catalan stage race, the Setmana Catalana. The first edition was held in January and lasted for three days.

White and green striped jersey.

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 classificated Catalan. There is also a team classification.

The Volta a Catalunya is the third oldest cycling stage race in the world (first time in 1911), only behind the Tour de France (1903) 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, JosepJosep Magdalena (ESP)
1913	ESP !	Martí, JoanJoan Martí (ESP)
1914– 1919	~ !No race
1920	FRA !	Pelletier, JoseJosé Pelletier (FRA)
1921	~ !No race
1922	~ !No race
1923	FRA !	Ville, MauriceMaurice Ville (FRA)
1924	ESP !	Mucio, MiquelMiquel Mucio (ESP)
1925	ESP !	Mucio, MiquelMiquel Mucio (ESP)
1926	FRA !	Fontan, VictorVíctor Fontan (FRA)
1927	FRA !	Fontan, VictorVíctor Fontan (FRA)
1928	ESP !	Canardo, MarianoMariano Cañardo (ESP)
1929	ESP !	Canardo, MarianoMariano Cañardo (ESP)
1930	ESP !	Canardo, MarianoMariano Cañardo (ESP)
1931	ESP !	Cardona, SalvadorSalvador Cardona (ESP)
1932	ESP !	Canardo, MarianoMariano Cañardo (ESP)
1933	ITA !	Bovet, AlfredoAlfredo Bovet (ITA)
1934	ITA !	Rogora, BernardoBernardo Rogora (ITA)
1935	ESP !	Canardo, MarianoMariano Cañardo (ESP)
1936	ESP !	Canardo, MarianoMariano Cañardo (ESP)
1937	~ !No race
1938	~ !No race
1939	ESP !	Canardo, MarianoMariano Cañardo (ESP)
1940	LUX !	Didier, ChristopheChristophe Didier (LUX)
1941	ESP !	Sancho, Antoni AndreuAntoni Andreu Sancho (ESP)
1942	ESP !	Ezquerra, FedericoFédérico Ezquerra (ESP)
1943	ESP !	Berrendero, JulianJulián Berrendero (ESP)
1944	ESP !	Casas, MiguelMiguel Casas (ESP)
1945	ESP !	Ruiz, BernardoBernardo Ruiz (ESP)
1946	ESP !	Berrendero, JulianJulián Berrendero (ESP)
1947	ESP !	Rodriguez, EmilioEmilio Rodríguez (ESP)
1948	ESP !	Rodriguez, EmilioEmilio Rodríguez (ESP)
1949	FRA !	Rol, EmileEmile Rol (FRA)
1950	ESP !	Gelabert, AntoniAntoni Gelabert (ESP)
1951	ITA !	Volpi, PrimoPrimo Volpi (ITA)
1952	ESP !	Poblet, MiguelMiguel Poblet (ESP)
1953	ESP !	Botella, SalvadorSalvador Botella (ESP)
1954	ITA !	Serena, WalterWalter Serena (ITA)
1955	ESP !	Gomez Moral, JoseJosé Gómez-Moral (ESP)
1956	ESP !	Utset, AncietAnciet Utset (ESP)
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 Moral, AntonioAntonio Gómez-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 Pecharroman (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 (ITA)	Liquigas-Cannondale	Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-SunGard) won the 2011 edition but he was disqualified

See also

• Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme
• Vuelta al País Vasco
• Vuelta a España
• UCI ProTour

External links

• www.voltacatalunya.cat Official website (Catalan)