Today’s stage finish is on the Montjuïc hill in Barcelona. Like yesterday’s stage, like the Volta a Catalunya’s final day and like plenty more. If you wanted to find the one location that has hosted the greatest variety of top level pro races it has to be here.
Today’s stage start in Tarragona deserves a mention. It is a beach resort but has plenty of charm with a history that dates back thousands of years. The giant Roman amphitheatre is part of this. It also has a port that ships many SEAT cars assembled on the edge of Barcelona. So far, so trivial but it’s also been the host of the Volta a Tarragona, a stage race that dates back to 1908, older than the Volta a Catalunya which began in 1911 making it the fourth oldest surviving stage race after the Tour, Giro and Tour of Belgium.
The Volta a Tarragona became the junior event to the Volta a Catalunya as it was later reserved for amateurs. Past winners include Jose Manuel Fuente, Pedro Delgado… and Denis Menchov. But for a long time the amateur version of the Volta a Catalunya was also the Volta a Lleida, a different race but held on the same roads and among some shared characteristics also won by Menchov once.
Montjuic is a hill in Barcelona with parks, museums and also several Olympic facilities from the 1992 Olympic games. It was here that the road race finished in 1992, the last games when the road races were reserved for amateurs.
Montjuic is the used for the final stage of the Volta a Catalunya. This World Tour race gets to finish in the regional capital and uses a finishing circuit that often supplies good racing and can see the overall classification overturned thanks to the hilly course.
The Vuelta a España has visited too, the last time was 2023 on the second stage which was won by Andreas Kron in particular circumstances, the wet conditions saw the race neutralised for GC with 9km to go as the circuit is tricky with bends that can be awkward given the speeds involved coming off the hill. So not everyone raced the stage to the end.
Montjuic also used to have its own race, the Escalada a Montjuic. The first edition was won by Federico Bahamontes when it was held in March. It then became a late season race with a format of laps of Montjuic in the morning and then a brief time trial in the afternoon. Eddy Merckx won in 1972. As part of the UCI calendar it was for a while the season-ending event but the final edition was run in 2007.
The Tour de France visits this weekend but it’s not the first time. In 1957 Jacques Anquetil won a time trial stage around Montjuic, he’d won two road stages by then but this was his first TT triumph. For the anecdote he’d end his career at the Escalada a Montjuic.
The world championships have happened here twice too, 1973 and 1984 with pro men’s wins for Felice Gimondi and Claude Criquielion.
Some places have the triple claim of having a home grand tour, the worlds and a local race. Think of Varese in Italy with the Giro, Worlds and Tre Valle Varesine. Gap in France has had the Tour, Worlds and both the Dauphiné and Paris-Nice.
Montjuic tops this: Tour, Vuelta, Volta, the Olympics, the Worlds and long home to a dedicated local race. Is there any other place that has hosted as many high level men’s races?