Tejay van Garderen won a stage today in the Volta a Catalunya
In the cold Spanish snow, Tejay won a stage of the
2014 Volta Ciclista a Catalunya to Vallter 2000. Where is that you might ask? Well I was wondering the very same thing myself, as in, "Where the hell is that?". I discovered Vallter 2000 is a peak (that I am guessing not many people visit) on the border of Spain and France, well north of Barcelona. Barcelona is the city where the Volta a Catalunya will end this Sunday.
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| Location of Vallter 2000 climb in Spain |
Joaquin Rodriguez is
currently in the lead of this race by 4 seconds. The
route map has to be one of the most confusing I have ever seen, all I know is they ride all over Cataluyna (Catalonia,
Cataluña) in 7 days and 7 etapes.
Cataluyna has fantastic cycling. It's capital is Barcelona, it's provinces are Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. I last visited Spain in 2010, I wrote a bit about it:
I finally get Girona,
Cycling in Girona Spain,
I'm on Vacation in France/Spain! (a beautiful beach north of Girona).
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| My coffee break in Cataluyna. Photo by Karen Rakestraw of Pedal Dancer® |
But today - Tejay won Stage 4!
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| American Tejay van Garderen (BMC) Photo by Karen Rakestraw of Pedal Dancer® |
Today's race coverage showed fog, fog, and more fog, with occasional riders appearing through -fog. Vallter 2000 is one of those remote ski stations. When it isn't covered in snow, it looks like this.
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| Vallter 2000 |
Which is a far cry from this, which is Barcelona
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| City of Barcelona, Spain, with the landmark Torre Agbar skyscraper |
Which is known for this
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| Casa Batllo: architecture by Antoni Gaudi |
And this
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| tapas |
And this
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| paella |
And come Sunday - it will be known as the place where one of these men won the 2014 Volta a Catalunya. Three more stages to go:
General Classification after Stage 4
ESP 1 RODRIGUEZ OLIVER, Joaquin (KATUSHA) 17:47:34
ESP 2 CONTADOR VELASCO, Alberto (TINKOFF-SAXO) + 4
USA 3 VAN GARDEREN, Tejay (BMC RACING) + 7
FRA 4 BARDET, Romain (AG2R LA MONDIALE) + 10
COL 5 QUINTANA ROJAS, Nairo Alexander (MOVISTAR)
GBR 6 FROOME, Christopher (SKY) + 17
USA 7 TALANSKY, Andrew (GARMIN SHARP) + 18
Ciclista a Catalunya 2014 - Stage 4 - FINAL KILOMETERS. it is foggy! (hi ha boira) and it is snowy! (està cobert de neu).
