Sastre, Pereiro and Piepoli in Escalada a Montjuic

Carlos Sastre (CSC) (Image credit: Luc Claessen)

by Antonio J. Salmerón

The 43th edition of the Escalada a Montjuic, in Barcelona (Spain), will be take place this Sunday, October 15th. Unlike the usual finish at the Montjuic Castle, the race will now in front of the North entrance of the Olympic Stadium. This decision has been taken by Barcelona city council and the race organization, the Esport Ciclista Barcelona, in order to hold the finish closer to the start area.

The road race will consist of five laps of a 25 kilometer circuit, including the 8.6 kilometer ascent of the Montjuic The second stage is a time trial on the Montjuic ascent. 25 professionals will take part in the race, but absent in this year's edition will be the winner of the two last editions, Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi). Sanchez will miss the event due to the celebration that UCI has prepared for Sunday to mark the finish of the Pro Tour. However, Oscar Pereiro (Caisse d'Espargne-Illes Balears), second in this year's Tour of France, Carlos Sastre (Team CSC), the third in the Tour, and Saunier Duval-Prodir's climber, Leonardo Piepoli will take part in the Escalada a Montjuic.

Laura Weislo has been with Cyclingnews since 2006 after making a switch from a career in science. As Managing Editor, she coordinates coverage for North American events and global news. As former elite-level road racer who dabbled in cyclo-cross and track, Laura has a passion for all three disciplines. When not working she likes to go camping and explore lesser traveled roads, paths and gravel tracks. Laura specialises in covering doping, anti-doping, UCI governance and performing data analysis.