The Barcelona stage has been a staple for years now, always with the Alto de Montjuïc at its core. Attacks often keep flying once the riders enter the circuit.
Montjuïc is an iconic hill overlooking the Catalan capital. The climb to the Montjuïc castle is included six times. Ramping up to 19%, the 2.5 kilometres ascent averages 4.6% before a 1 kilometre descent takes the riders to an uphill of 700 metres at 6%. Each lap concludes with a false flat downhill of 2.3 kilometres to the line.
Last year, the race came down to a group sprint with Andrea Bagioli taking the spoils, but usually an attacker celebrates. Other recent winners in Barcelona are Thomas De Gendt (2021, 2013), Davide Formolo (2019), Simon Yates (2018), Alejandro Valverde (2017, 2015), Alexey Tsatevich (2016), and Lieuwe Westra (2014).
This August, La Vuelta kicks off in Barcelona with a team time trial. The city also serves as finishing venue to stage 2.
The first three riders on the line gain time bonuses of 10, 6 and 4 seconds, while intermediate sprints come with 3, 2 and 1 seconds.
Ride the route yourself? Download GPX stage 7 Volta 2023.
Other interesting read: results 7th stage and final GC 2023 Volta a Catalunya.
Volta a Catalunya 2023, stage 7: route, profiles, more
Click on the images to zoom
