Favorites stage 1 Tour of Catalonia 2024 | Will Pogacar continue in Roglic and Evenepoel's footsteps from last year?

The Tour of Catalonia will start with a stage in and around Sant Feliu de Guixols, just as it has in recent years. Michael Matthews won here in 2019 and 2022 in a sprint from a reduced peloton, while last season's victory went to Primoz Roglic, who beat Remco Evenepoel in the sprint.

From the start, the riders immediately begin a rolling phase, where they must be cautious of the threat of a strong breakaway group forming. After 120 kilometers, we reach Sant Feliu de Guixols, where the final kilometer climbs up at approximately four percent, for the first time. However, there are still fifty kilometers left to go.

In this remaining distance, the riders must overcome the Alt de San Grau, a climb of eight kilometers at an average of four percent. They then descend back towards the start and finish location, where the final ascending kilometer must be conquered after some earlier hills.

Climbs
28.5 km: Alt de la Ganga (3.5 km at 4.3%)
54.5 km: Alt dels Angels (5.5 km at 5.7%)
152.5 km: Alt de Sant Gau (8.1 km at 4.0%)

Times
Start: 12:25 PM
Finish: 4:30 PM

The riders have nothing to complain about on Monday, with the weather being around 20 degrees Celsius in Catalonia, winds coming from the sea, and plenty of sunshine expected.

The last three times this stage was ridden, it ended in a bunch sprint, but it is still hard to predict the outcome. Sprinters, punchers, attackers, general classification riders... all have a chance to win here. However, one man seems largely responsible for the race's outcome in this edition, and that is Tadej Pogacar. If he and his formidable UAE-Team Emirates squad set their sights on this stage, it could well turn into chaos.

But that doesn't mean Pogacar will have an easy ride ahead. For instance, there is Maxim Van Gils of Lotto-Dstny, who consistently competes for the win in WorldTour races. In Catalonia, he is racing without the knee-troubled Lennert Van Eetvelt but with Ardennes specialist Andreas Kron. Last year, Van Gils finished fourth in this stage.

From last year's top ten finishers in the sprint, we can identify some interesting contenders, such as Ide Schelling (then third, now with Astana Qazaqstan Team), Ethan Hayter (sixth for INEOS Grenadiers), Dorian Godon (seventh for AG2R), Ilan Van Wilder, William Junior Lecerf (eighth with Soudal Quick-Step) and Bryan Coquard (tenth for Cofidis). Other fast men capable of some serious climbing include Iván Garcia Cortina (Movistar) and Marijn van den Berg (EF Education-EasyPost), although the latter is still dealing with the aftermath of a concussion in February.

There are certainly good punchers too. Stephen Williams (Israel-Premier Tech) already won the Tour Down Under this season with his qualities in that regard, Sergio Higuita and Aleksandr Vlasov will represent BORA-hansgrohe and top talent Francesco Bussato is set to show off his capabilities for Intermarché-Wanty. Alpecin-Deceuninck is counting on junior world champion Axel Laurance, who would have been joined by the knee-troubled Kaden Groves. Laurance has already proved he can handle top riders like Mads Pedersen in Besseges.

Top favorites: Tadej Pogacar (UAE-Team Emirates) and Axel Laurance (Alpecin-Deceuninck)
Outsiders: Maxim Van Gils (Lotto-Dstny), Ide Schelling (Astana Qazaqstan Team), Ethan Hayter (INEOS Grenadiers) and Bryan Coquard (Cofidis)
Long shots: Ilan Van Wilder (Soudal Quick-Step), Dorian Godon (Decathlon AG2R), Andreas Kron (Lotto-Dstny), Fransesco Busatto (Intermarché-Wanty), Sergio Higuita, Aleksandr Vlasov (BORA-hansgrohe), Iván Garcia Cortina (Movistar), Marijn van den Berg (EF Education-EasyPost) and Stephen Williams (Israel-Premier Tech)