As it happened: French champion holds off Olympic champion to take stage 1 at Volta a Catalunya 2026

1. Dorian Godon (IGD) 4:00’59”
2. Remco Evenepoel (RBH) +4″
3. Tom Pidcock (PQT) +6″
4. Thomas Silva (XAT) +10″
5. Simone Gualdi (LOI)
6. Lenny Martinez (TBV)
7. Andrea Raccagni Noviero (SOQ)
8. Henri Uhlig (APT)
9. Oscar Onley (IGD)
10. Antoine l’Hote (DCT) all same time

Post race report…

1. Dorian Godon (IGD) 4:01’09”
2. Remco Evenepoel (RBH)
3. Tom Pidcock (PQT)
4. Thomas Silva (XAT)
5. Simone Gualdi (LOI)
6. Lenny Martinez (TBV)
7. Andrea Raccagni Noviero (SOQ)
8. Henri Uhlig (APT)
9. Oscar Onley (IGD)
10. Antoine l’Hote (DCT) all same time

(Image credit: Getty Images)

2026-03-23T16:10:01.200Z

Dorian Godon does indeed win stage 1 of Volta a Catalunya 2026 by the smallest margin! He wasn’t sure when he celebrated but Evenepoel told him he got it and a broad smile went across his face.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

2026-03-23T16:08:48.738Z

Photo finish between Dorian Godon and Remco Evenepoel! The Frenchman throws his arm into the air but did he hold on after overtaking the Olympic champion?

2026-03-23T16:07:31.984Z

500 metres to go with Jake Stewart (NSN) taking over for Gilmore

Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike) comes out of nowhere to lead the peloton into the final 1000 metres with Alpecin-Premier tech perfectly placed perhaps for Henri Uhlig

2026-03-23T16:05:52.130Z

French national champion, Dorian Godon (Ineos Grenadiers), moves into fourth wheel. Vingegaard still leads with 2km to go as Martinez and Evenepoel challenge him for the lead. Pidcock and Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers) both up there too.

2026-03-23T16:04:53.306Z

Mechanical for Sergio Chumil (Burgos-Burpellet-BH)

2026-03-23T16:04:24.703Z

Vingegaard now leading the peloton alongside Evenepoel and Almeida. The three biggest names leading. Vinegaard leading everyone down this very technical descent with 3km to go.

2026-03-23T16:03:30.561Z

Eulalio is sprinting out of every corner with Visma-Lease a Bike and UAE Team Emirates-XRG reassembling with 4km to go.

Bahrain Victorious come to the front with 6km to go and have Lenny Martinez on Afonso Eulalio’s wheel. Vingegaard is locked to Martinez’s wheel.

2026-03-23T16:01:01.884Z

Marc Soler now leading the peloton for Almeida with Vingegaard, Pidcock, Evenepoel and others all solo behind.

Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek)

This week is not for him with focus on Derek Gee-West and Mattias Skjelmose. Noah Hobbs (EF Education-EasyPost) also dropped.

2026-03-23T15:58:24.196Z

Pinarello-Q36.5, Ineos Grenadiers, Lidl-Trek, Modern Adventure and Uno-X Mobility battling to get their principal riders in and amongst the front positions of the peloton.

2026-03-23T15:56:44.134Z

Ivo Oliveira is really drilling the pace in the bunch. It will be interesting to see if Almeida goes all in for an early stage win.

UAE Team Emirates-XRG have five riders on the front ahead of Visma-Lease a Bike, Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe and the rest in this very strung out peloton.

2026-03-23T15:53:43.305Z

Josh Burnett is finally caught with 11.3km to go with UAE Team Emirates-XRG leading the way.

2026-03-23T15:49:59.368Z

Veistroffer sits up with Burnett being last man. He will likely take the combativity award and wear the green numbers tomorrow, but you wouldn’t say no to Veistroffer getting the green number, either.

2026-03-23T15:47:26.453Z

UAE Team Emirates-XRG his the front of the peloton for the first time all day with just over 16km to go. Filippo Baroncini has just done his turn, it’s his first race back since he crashed out on stage 3 of the Tour de Pologne in early August last year.

2026-03-23T15:45:44.282Z

Ethan Vernon (NSN) sits up from the peloton. He’s not going for it today with the focus of his team likely being on Gilmore and Stewart.

2026-03-23T15:43:31.663Z

The peloton are still pushing very hard with 18 seconds up to Burnett and Veistroffer.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Burnett now leading Veistroffer who is struggling to hold onto the Kiwi’s wheel.

2026-03-23T15:40:58.183Z

Lidl-Trek leads the peloton with Hugo Aznar caught.

2026-03-23T15:39:13.242Z

Veistroffer is absolutely caning it with Burnett clinging onto his wheel. They’re looking to win that green number for most combative rider.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

2026-03-23T15:38:33.490Z

Unai Aznar has been caught by the peloton led by Bahrain Victorious.

2026-03-23T15:38:14.619Z

The Aznar brothers are now both dropped from the break. As is Stites.

2026-03-23T15:37:48.993Z

Vingegaard is second wheel in the peloton.

2026-03-23T15:37:35.026Z

Unai Aznar is starting to be dropped as the road goes up again. His brother, Hugo, is struggling to hold on as well.

2026-03-23T15:36:20.102Z

Veistroffer is still the main driving force in this breakaway but it will be for nothing. At least the Frenchman got all the KOM and intermediate sprints in his pocket today. A jersey and some good prize money.

2026-03-23T15:35:23.778Z

We’re almost down to the coastline with a very lumpy and twisty road after a long, fast descent. The break only have 27 seconds now.

Inside a minute for the breakaway who are still pushing hard but the peloton are absolutely flying.

2026-03-23T15:27:54.169Z

Visma-Lease a Bike, Lotto-Intermarche and Pinarello-Q36.5 all now moving up but Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe continue to push on the front with the peloton taking the gap to the break to just 58 seconds.

2026-03-23T15:26:48.852Z

Lidl-Trek are the next team to move up to try and challenge the Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe lads.

2026-03-23T15:26:24.355Z

Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe take over control in the peloton with other teams battling to try and be close to the point of the bunch. Evenepoel in third wheel already!

2026-03-23T15:24:00.113Z

Multiple teams move to the front with Pinarello-Q36.5, Bahrain Victorious, Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, Lotto-Intermarche, Ineos Grenadiers, Visma-Lease a Bike and others all battling to hold the front.

2026-03-23T15:21:08.961Z

The break is starting to be brought back under control at one minute at 44 seconds.

Peloton have got on top of this surge from the break with the gap stabilising at one minute and 50 seconds.

2026-03-23T15:11:08.400Z

The break have added a minute to their advantage in the last 10km. They now lead the peloton by two minutes.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

2026-03-23T15:07:40.850Z

Veistroffer has really whipped up the other riders in this break and they are going absolutely flat out to try and stay away and pull off a real shock.

2026-03-23T15:05:24.211Z

It looks like the break has held something back here and are making use of the current tailwind as they drag the gap up to one minute and 43 seconds again.

The break holding a minute and a half on the peloton. Maybe they have saved something for this final hour or so.

2026-03-23T14:58:36.595Z

The gap appears to be steady at one minute and 20 seconds.

2026-03-23T14:56:46.948Z

With the race time heading towards three hours the average speed sits at 41.9kph. It has been a rapid day with Ineos Grenadiers and NSN returning to the front with Bahrain Victorious.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

2026-03-23T14:51:58.601Z

The break getting a bit frustrated with each other but they have taken the gap back up to one and a half minutes with Bahrain Victorious taking full control in the peloton, led by Slovenian champion Jakub Omrzel.

The gap hovering around a minute to the breakaway now.

2026-03-23T14:46:06.279Z

The brothers in the break today, Unai and Hugo Aznar. They did both ride for Kern Pharma but the eldest, Unai (23 years old), moved to Euskaltel-Euskadi for this season with Hugo (22 years old) staying at the rival Spanish squad.

2026-03-23T14:37:28.774Z

1101 metres of elevation gain has already been tackled today with 797 metres still to go.

2026-03-23T14:35:35.972Z

The break are still pushing hard but it is to no avail with the gap at one minute and four seconds.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

The gap continues to drop with one minute and six seconds up to the break.

2026-03-23T14:29:10.326Z

Ineos Grenadiers, NSN and Bahrain Victorious have brought the gap down to one minute and nine seconds!

2026-03-23T14:27:56.838Z

It appears there may not be another intermediate sprint.

1. Veistroffer (LOI) 3pts 3″
2. Burnett (BBH) 2pts 2″
3. Aznar (EKP) 1pt 1″

2026-03-23T14:24:04.657Z

They’re finished the main part of the descent but still have some steady downhill for a while yet.

2026-03-23T14:22:34.620Z

Half way through the stage with the average speed at 40.3kph. This is a rapid stage considering the parcours ridden already today.

2026-03-23T14:14:30.127Z

The gap drops below two minutes with the peloton now one minutes and 40 seconds behind the break with just over 90km to go.

2026-03-23T14:13:45.166Z

Veistroffer just needs the finish the stage and he will wear the KOM jersey on the podium and in tomorrow’s stage.

1. Veistroffer (LOI) 10pts
2. Stites (MAP) 8pts
3. Aznar (EUS) 6pts
4. Aznar (EKP) 4pts
5. Burnett (BBH) 2pts
6. Svestad-Bårdseng (IGD) 1pt

2026-03-23T14:07:03.836Z

1km from the summit of the Alt de Sant Hilari Sacalm.

5km from the top of the Alt de Sant Hilari Sacalm with 10, 8, 6, 4, 2 and 1 points available in the KOM competition.

2026-03-23T13:56:14.475Z

The peloton brings the gap down again to about two minutes.

2026-03-23T13:49:09.096Z

The gap finally has gone up slightly again for the first time in quite some time. The break now have two minutes and 20 seconds on the peloton.

2026-03-23T13:48:19.674Z

Pidcock thinks it would’ve been a “bit of a fluke” had he won Milan-San Remo on the weekend, but the Yorkshireman now turns his focus to GC riding against more of the world’s best…

The gap continues to come down, two minutes and 50 seconds now splits the peloton and the five-man breakaway.

2026-03-23T13:03:12.966Z

Just under an hour of racing and the average speed is at 40.5kph.

1. Veistroffer (LOI) 3pts 3″
2. Aznar (EKP) 2pts 2″
3. Stites (MAP) 1pt 1″

2026-03-23T12:48:29.188Z

The gap has now come down to three minutes.

2026-03-23T12:47:41.298Z

There are three, two and one points and bonus seconds available at each of the three intermediate sprints today.

2026-03-23T12:45:48.121Z

7km from the intermediate sprint in Salt.

2026-03-23T12:44:31.929Z

The gap continues to drop with another five seconds shaved off the time.

2026-03-23T12:43:10.630Z

The peloton are now taking control of things and have already brought the gap back down to three minutes and 25 seconds.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

2026-03-23T12:40:44.585Z

The peloton hasn’t really settled into a controlling pattern just yet with various teams working out who is the favourite for today and the week as a whole…

(Image credit: Getty Images)

2026-03-23T12:37:14.187Z

The gap has inched out to four minutes.

2026-03-23T12:36:54.639Z

Burnett has already had one very good week long stage race in Spain this year where he took the mountains jersey at the Vuelta a Andalucia. He also finished second in the New Zealand national road race.

2026-03-23T12:31:33.837Z

About 18km to the first of three intermediate sprints. The first one comes in the town of Salt.

2026-03-23T12:29:57.615Z

Veistroffer finally backs into the chasing group and we now have five riders together at three minutes and 50 seconds ahead of the peloton.

2026-03-23T12:29:12.853Z

Veistroffer has had quite the start to the year with a stage win and a spell in the leader’s jersey at the Tour of Oman as well as a heroic week at the Tour Down Under where he showed off his breakaway skills.

2026-03-23T12:28:06.101Z

The gap between Veistroffer and the peloton is now almost four minutes. The Frenchman has over 20 seconds on the chasers, still.

1. Veistroffer (LOI) 3pts
2. Burnett (BBH) 2pts
3. Stites (MAP) 1pt

2026-03-23T12:22:09.253Z

Veistroffer crossed the top of the Alt de Romanyà first and takes the three points.

2026-03-23T12:18:16.013Z

The peloton are now over two minutes down on the leader.

2026-03-23T12:17:53.690Z

Veistroffer has now dropped everyone and is pushing on solo with a group of four chasing at about 20″ as they are about to crest the first climb of the day already, the Alt de Romanyà. with Unai back in a group with his brother, Hugo…

(Image credit: Getty Images)

2026-03-23T12:16:08.862Z

The break splits with U. Aznar and Vestroffer being chased by Stites as well as Josh Burnett (Burgos-Burpellet-BH) and Hugo Aznar (Kern Pharma) who are just 15″ behind the leaders.

2026-03-23T12:13:31.787Z

Tyler Stites (Modern Adventure) has joined the lead group.

2026-03-23T12:13:07.004Z

The start was actually delayed to several riders having various issues. But now the riders are racing with several attacks trying to follow Veistroffer and Aznar.

Baptiste Veistroffer (Lotto-Intermarche)
Unai Aznar (Euskaltel-Euskadi)

(Image credit: Getty Images)

161 riders start the Volta a Catalunya 2026 stage 1 in Sant Feliu de Guíxols.The riders immediately plunge down a -5% descent before heading onto the climb.

2026-03-23T11:58:03.027Z

The neutral zone is 5.5km long today.

2026-03-23T11:57:07.437Z

The neutral start has happened and the riders have about 10 minutes to get settled in before racing begins and they start climbing almost immediately with the category three Alt de Romanyà, 4.4km long with an average gradient of 3.8% and a max kicker of 8%. That starts a mere 3km into the race!

2026-03-23T11:43:38.714Z

The stage, as seen from last year, can suit the fast men. However, riders such as Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) have also succeeded on this stage, it is very open. It could be someone like Dorian Godon (Ineos Grenadiers) or a GC man with a good kick like Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe). Only time will tell!

2026-03-23T11:40:55.830Z

The opening stage has the same finishing kilometres as the opening day last year that was won by emerging superstar, Matthew Brennan (Visma-Lease a Bike). This year, the organisers have plonked a whacking great category one climb in the middle of the day, the Al de Sant Hilari Sacalm, which is 14.6km long with an average gradient of 3% but max kicks of 8%.

(Image credit: Volta a Catalunya)

2026-03-23T11:34:50.876Z

Sign on, team presentations and interviews are well underway in Sant Feliu de Guíxols…

(Image credit: Getty Images)

2026-03-23T11:31:36.792Z

The neutral start comes at 12:50 local time with the flag set to be waved to start racing 10 minutes after that.

2026-03-23T11:29:18.623Z

Pidcock was oh so close to taking Milan-San Remo on Saturday and missed out by just half a wheel thanks to being caught on the wrong side of Tadej Pogačar’s wheel as the sprint started, but can he make amends in the mountains of Catalonia?