News | Volta a Catalunya • March 16, 2018
Aru and Martin to be tested at the Volta a Catalunya
UAE Team Emirates is ready for the Catalonian climbs in this challenging race
The World Tour circuit is moving to the Iberian Peninsula for the Volta a Catalunya, from March 19 to 25.
The seven stages, with two climbing arrivals and a total of twenty four Mountain Grand Prix, will be kind to riders who can get fired up on the mountains, like Daniel Martin, the 2013 winner with no less than four podiums in the Catalonian race.
“Volta a Catalunya has always been a special race for me, not only because I have lived in the region now for ten years so it is as close to a home race as I can get, but also because the course is very suited to my characteristics and it was the scene of my greatest stage race victory when I took the general classification in 2013 – Martin explained – The 2018 route is very tough and really shows the beautiful region off well.
It will be a really hard fight for the overall with a lot of the best GC riders in the world riding, but I think we have a great team to attack this race and be succesfull.
Getting sick at the Paris-Nice was not ideal, of course. I had great condition before the race and believe I could have done well there. I’m not sure how the sickness has effected my form, but I’m finally feeling healthy again, so that’s the most important thing“.
Next to Martin, UAE Team Emirates will line up another big name, Fabio Aru: “This year will be my fifth time participating in the Volta a Catalunya. I’m very familiar with the most important climbs on the route, like La Molina and Vallter 2000: the perfect conditions are in place to take on this race with good prospects and there is still a lot of desire to further improve and achieve important results, after I closed out the Tirreno-Adriatico on a high note in spite of a few unfortunate minor setbacks.”
Here is the list of the riders who will be coached by Sports Directors Joxean Matxin (Spain), Daniele Righi (Italy) and Bruno Vicino (Italy):
– Fabio Aru (Italy)
– Darwin Atapuma (Colombia)
– Roberto Ferrari (Italy)
– Vegard Stake Laengen (Norway)
– Daniel Martin (Ireland)
– Edward Ravasi (Italy)
– Rory Sutherland (Australia)
