OPQS to Volta Ciclista a Catalunya

OPQS to Volta Ciclista a Catalunya

Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team has announced the selection that will participate in Volta Ciclista a Catalunya, a 1177.1km UCI WorldTour stage race from March 24th until March 30th. There are no time trials in this race, making all seven stages quite hilly, including two summit finishes in stages three and four. Stage 3 finishes on Category 1 La Molina, while Stage 4 includes a summit finish on the highest point of the race: HC Vallter 2000. There are five 25 categorized climbs in the entire race. Other stages have some climbs to conquer close to the finish, and Stage 6 may be the lone opportunity for the skills of a sprinter.

"We have a team built to do well in the mountain stages and in the GC," Sport Director Jan Schaffrath said. "Uran will be our leader and he will be supporterd by a good group of climbers. There's no time trial, so it will be mostly undulating or mountain stages we are dealing with at this WorldTour stage race. The first big goal is to try and do well in the GC, and then we will look stage-to-stage. As a team we are prepared to support Uran for the GC as best we can. Young guys like Carlos Verona, Julian Alaphilippe, and Petr Vakoc are in pretty good shape. The middle stages will give chances to go in the breakaway. Let's see how far we can go, giving our young guys a chance to try."