La Volta a Catalunya is the fourth-oldest cycling stage race in the world. It was held for the first time in 1911, only behind the Tour de France (1903), Tour of Belgium (1908) and the Giro d´Italia (1909).
An early hero of la Volta and a 7 time winner was Mariano Canardo who, when he won his last Volta in 1939 the banner read ¨Year of Victory. Franco Franco Franco¨ of course referring to the winning side of the war and the beginning of the dictatorship of Francisco Franco.
In the years after the civil war and of WWII, the racers and most people were mainly concerned about earning enough to eat but still their passion for the sport kept the race going.
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| With Joaquim Rodriguez ¨Purito¨ |
This is the 93rd edition of the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya and there is an amazing group of riders: Bradley Wiggins, Joaquim Rodriguez, Christian Vande Velde, Dan Martin, David Zabriskie, Chris Horner, Alejandro Valverde, Ryder Hesjedal, Michele Scarponi and many others.
Today it was certainly exciting to see the start of la Volta in Calella. We have been going to see stages of la Volta for many years and this was the first time it was packed with spectators! There were so many people checking out the cool team cars and trucks, all the new equipment and bikes for the year, walking through and hearing the cyclists yell at their buddies they haven´t seen since last season in many different accents and languages is just thrilling.
