Team News: Yates Brothers for Volta Ciclista a Catalunya

Adam and Simon Yates head a strong Mitchelton-SCOTT team in the seven day stage race, the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya

Team News: Yates Brothers for Volta Ciclista a Catalunya

Mitchelton-SCOTT bring a strong team of climbers to Volta Ciclista a Catalunya next week including both Adam and Simon Yates plus Colombia Esteban Chaves. Dual South African champion Daryl Impey returns to racing in Catalunya, giving the team an option for the potential sprint stages, as the Tour Down Under winner looks to build on his early season form after a small break from racing.

Getty Images

The squad heads in to the seven-day race with an open plan, knowing a lot can change during this busy early season racing period and uncertain Spring weather. 2019 signings New Zealander Dion Smith, Swiss rider Michael Albasini and Ethiopian Tsgabu Grmay add valuable strength and support to the squad to tackle the diverse stages on offer.

Mitchelton-SCOTT Team:

Michael Albasini – (SWI, 38)
Esteban Chaves – (COL, 29)
Tsgabu Grmay – (ETH 27)
Daryl Impey – (RSA, 34)
Dion Smith – (NZ 25)
Adam Yates – (GB, 26)
Simon Yates – (GB, 26)

The Course

The race follows a similar route to the previous editions with two opening stages more suited to the sprinters before heading straight to the mountains for the third stage and fourth stage, finishing above 2000metres altitude, in the ski resorts of Vallter 2000 and then La Molina.

The fifth stage is a day of respite for the climbers with another flat potential sprint day, before two tough hilly stages to conclude the race and sort out the final general classification.

… continued after advert

The Past

The team has tasted success in the race before with an overall victory and stage wins over the years. Back in 2012 Michael Albasini claimed the overall race victory, in 2017 Daryl Impey won a stage and last year Simon Yates took victory on the final stage, a hilly circuit in Barcelona before finishing in fourth place overall.

Adam Yates: “We are sending a super strong team to Catalunya and there’s not TT which is convenient. We didn’t come away with the overall win in Tirreno recently, but we took a stage win and held the leader’s jersey for almost the whole race, so it bodes well for the team and the team’s confidence in me before Catalunya. It looks like a super hard race and we have some good climbers coming to the race. The stage to Vallter 2000, this climb isn’t too far from Andorra, so a lot of guys know this climb and know how hard it is, I have done it in the past in 2014 I think, the first year I did Catalunya so it is a super hard climb and a stage that can be crucial. Simon has shown he is going well in Paris-Nice, obviously winning the TT there, and we have a good strong team so we will have strength in numbers and hopefully we can do something.”

Volta Ciclista a Catalunya Race Details:

Monday, 25th Mar: Stage 1, Calella to Calella, 164km
Tuesday, 26th Mar: Stage 2, Mataro to Sant Feliu de Guixols, 176km
Wednesday, 27th Mar: Stage 3, Sant Feliu de Guixols to Vallter 200, 179km
Thursday, 28h Mar: Stage 4, Llanars to La Molina, 150km
Friday, 29th Mar: Stage 5, Puigcerda to Sant Cugat del Valles, 188km
Saturday, 30th Mar: Stage 6, Valls to Vila-Seca, 174km
Sunday, 31st Mar: Stage 7, Barcelona Montjuic to Barcelona Montjuic, 143km