Favorites stage 5 Volta a Catalunya 2026 | Will Vingegaard, Almeida, Pidcock and Evenepoel finally clash in the high mountains?

Last year, the Tour of Catalonia also finished at La Molina for the first time, after a huge 218-kilometre day with more than 5,000 metres of climbing. Precisely because that stage was so hard, the gaps remained relatively small, and it eventually came down to an exciting duel between Primoz Roglic and Juan Ayuso.

Neither of those riders is here in 2026, but La Molina is back on the route. The riders roll out from La Seu d’Urgell for a day featuring no fewer than five serious climbs. The first of them is the Port Colladornat, around fifteen kilometres long at five percent.

From the third climb onward, the race should really come to life, because the Coll de Fumanya — 5.5 kilometres at an average of nine percent — is a proper test. Before the riders reach the toughest climb of all, they also still have to tackle the Collada Sobirana, 7.5 kilometres at 6.7 percent.

The finish, however, comes atop the Coll de Pal, almost 2,100 metres above sea level, after a tough ascent of 16.5 kilometres at 7.2 percent. It is a fairly regular climb, but definitely a steep one. By the summit, the true balance of power in this Volta a Catalunya should be much clearer.

Times
Start: 11:35 AM local time
Finish: 4 PM local time

While Thursday’s stage was partially called off because of severe wind gusts, conditions look more manageable on Friday. It will be cold on top of the climb — which is hardly surprising at 2,100 metres altitude — but relatively dry and calm. Riders are still expected to face a headwind on the final ascent.

On stage 3, we already got a glimpse of the hierarchy in this Volta a Catalunya, although a day with 4,500 vertical metres is, of course, a very different challenge. Even so, it is fair to say that Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike) and Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) are the men to beat on Friday.

Normally, Vingegaard has the edge in a hard mountain stage like this one, as he showed again recently at Paris–Nice. On the other hand, Evenepoel may once more benefit from the wind, which on paper could slightly favour riders with a sharp punch near the finish. That said, Vingegaard should certainly not be underestimated in that type of finale either.

Where Vingegaard and Evenepoel can count on support from Sepp Kuss and Davide Piganzoli on one side, and Florian Lipowitz and Jai Hindley on the other, riders such as João Almeida (UAE Emirates-XRG), Oscar Onley (INEOS Grenadiers) and Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious) will also be targeting a stage like this. Martinez, after all, recently won the final stage of Paris–Nice, finishing ahead of Vingegaard.

Tom Pidcock showed excellent form for Pinarello-Q36.5 in Italy, but can he carry that level into Catalonia as well, where the stages are clearly of a different nature?

Among the pure climbers, we should also keep an eye on Mikel Landa (Soudal Quick-Step), Ben O’Connor (Jayco AlUla), Felix Gall, Matthew Riccitello (Decathlon CMA CGM), David Gaudu, Guillaume Martin (Groupama-FDJ), Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious), Derek Gee, Mattias Skjelmose, Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek), Cristian Rodriguez, Lorenzo Fortunato (XDS-Astana), Enric Mas, Cian Uijtdebroeks (Movistar) and Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost).

Top favorites: Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike) and Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe)
Outsiders: Joao Almeida (UAE Emirates-XRG), Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5), Oscar Onley (INEOS Grenadiers) and Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious)
Long shots: Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), Mikel Landa (Soudal Quick-Step), Ben O'Connor (Jayco AlUla), Felix Gall, Matthew Riccitello (Decathlon CMA CGM), Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious), Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) and Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost)