The Volta a Catalunya organisers have cooked up a brutal course for 2026, with three mountain top finishes to rest top climbers like Jonas Vingegaard, Remco Evenepoel, João Almeida and Enric Mas with over 20,000 metres of climbing during the week-long race.
The course follows some familiar roads, starting with circuits around Sant Feliu de Guíxols for the sixth year in a row, and concluding with Barcelona circuits and its repeated ascents of the Alt de Montjuïc that has been a fixture of the race for more than a decade.
Start | Sant Feliu de Guíxols | March 23, 2026 |
Finish | Barcelona | March 29, 2026 |
Distance | 1,081.1km | Row 2 - Cell 2 |
Stage 1: Sant Feliu de Guíxols-Sant Feliu de Guíxols, 172.7 km
On Monday, March 23, the Volta a Catalunya starts at the Guíxols Arena with 172.7-kilometres before the finish Sant Feliu de Guíxols.
The stage includes the category 3 Alt de Romanyà just after the start and first category Alt de Sant Hilari mid-race for a total of 2,129 metres of climbing, but with a mostly flat final half of the stage, it will be a day for the sprinters.
- Alt de Romanyà (cat. 3) km. 8
- Intermediate sprint, Salt, km. 36
- Alt de Sant Hilari (cat. 1), km. 74.9
- Intermediate sprint, Arbucies, km. 86.3
- Intermediate sprint, Hostalric, km. 102.7
Stage 2: Figueres-Banyoles, 167.4 km
Stage 2 takes the peloton 167.4 kilometres from Figueres to Banyoles, the reverse of last year's stage. The only climb of the day, the category 3 Alt del Purgatori comes 18 kilometres into the stage. Despite there being over 2,000 metres of climbing, it's considered a flat stage with a sprint finish in store on the Passeig de Mossèn Constans in Banyoles.
- Alt del Purgatori, km. 18.3
- Intermediate sprint, Perelada, km. 60.9
- Intermediate sprint, Besalú, km. 110.5
- Intermediate sprint, Olot, km. 133.9
Stage 3: Costa Daurada (Mont-roig del Camp) - Costa Daurada (Vila-seca), 159.4km
The Costa Daurada returns to the Volta for the first time since 2022 when Richard Carapaz escaped to win the stage ahead of eventual overall winner Sergio Higuita.
Starting from the Josep Florencio Municipal Velodrome in Mont-roig del Camp, the stage runs for 159.5 kilometres to Vila-seca with 2,252 metres of climbing.
The stage features the category 1 Alt de la Mussara and almost immediately after, the Coll de Capafonts (cat. 2). The smaller Coll Roig tops out with 44.5km to go and might not rule out some stronger sprinters for the flat run-in to the finish.
- Alt (cat. 1), km. 34
- Coll de Capafons (cat. 2), km. 49.6
- Intermediate Sprint, Cornudella de Montsant, km. 66.8
- Coll Roig (cat. 3), km. 114.9
- Intermediate Sprint, Reus, km. 144.7
Stage 4: Mataró-Vallter, 173km
Stage 4 is the first of three summit finishes, running 173 kilometres from the Esport club in Mataró to the Vallter ski station at 2,100 metres in altitude.
The GC contenders get a warmup on the Coll de Parpers and Alt de Sant Feliu de Codines in the first hour of racing but will want to save their legs because the final climb is 11.4 kilometres long with an average gradient of 7.6%.
With 3,995 metres of climbing on the day, it's a painful wake up call for the peloton.
- Coll de Parpers (cat. 3), km 8.5
- Intermediate sprint, Granollers, km. 19
- Alt de Sant Feliu de Codones (cat. 2), km. 41.9
- Intermediate sprint, Olost, km. 90.6
- Intermediate sprint, Sant Joan de les Abadesses, km. 136.6
- Vallter (HC), km. 172.8
Stage 5: La Seu d'Urgell - La Molina / Coll de Pal, 155.3km
If stage 4 uncovered the best climbers in the Volta a Catalunya, the next day of racing from La Seu d'Urgell to the Coll de Pal will be even more revealing, with 4,500 metres of climbing across five major mountains.
The stage begins with the Port Colldornat and ends on the above category Coll de Pal at 2,085 metres in altitude. The final climb is as tough or harder than that to Vallter, and certainly more demanding than the stage 6 climb to Queralt, so look for all-out assaults on the GC from the top contenders.
- Port Colldornat (cat. 1), km. 32.7
- Coll de Josa (cat. 2), km. 65.2
- Coll de Fumanya (cat. 1), km. 93.1
- Collada Sobirana (cat. 1), km. 119.4
- Intermediate sprint, Bagà, km. 135.1
- Coll de Pal (HC), km. 155.3
Stage 6: Berga-Queralt, 158.2 km
The penultimate day of the race replicates that of the 2024 edition where Tadej Pogačar stormed away solo to victory to extend his already unassailable lead.
The same route was supposed to be used last year, but high winds forced organisers to reduce the stage to just 25 kilometres at the end of which Quinn Simmons won the sprint.
This time, riders should face the full menu of challenges including the Coll de la Batallola, Coll de Pradell and Collada de Sant Isidre before the uphill run into Queralt.
- Coll de la Batallola (cat. 3), km. 63.6
- Coll de Pradell (HC), km. 98.4
- Intermediate sprint, Pedraforca, km. 108.9
- Malanyeu Collada de Sant Isidre (cat. 1), km. 131.5
- Intermediate sprint, Canyet Berga, km. 152.4
- Queralt (cat. 1), km. 158.2
Stage 7: Barcelona-Barcelona, 95.1 km
The Volta a Catalunya 2026 concludes in Barcelona with a punchy circuit including seven climbs to Alt del Castell de Montjuïc - one more than riders faced in previous years.
A flat first 40km includes two intermediate sprints before the start of the first of the climbs, after which it's up and down all the way to the finish. At just 95.1km in length, the stage packs 1,781 metres of climbing into the last 55km of the day.
- Intermediate sprint, Viladecans, km. 13.7
- Intermediate sprint, Castelldefels, km. 17.4
- Intermediate sprint, Barcelona, km. 48
- Alt del Castell de Montjuïc, km. 42.5, 50.4, 58.2, 66.1, 73.9, 81.8 and 89.7
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