MICFootball will be played on 56 fields in 40 towns on the Costa Brava. These are record numbers for an edition, that of 2024, which will break all records, exceeding 400 teams for the first time.
Figueres will once again host the opening and some of the finals on Saturday
while the outcome of the rest of the categories will take place in Palamós during the weekend
Banyoles will be the municipality in charge of hosting the Pre-MICFootball matches for another year
an event that will once again serve to warm up the engines of faces at the MIC
Maçanet de la Selva and Vilamalla) are added to the towns that repeat the experience lived in previous years: Bàscara
Some of the municipalities have increased the number of fields that will host MICFootball matches in 2024
Marca de l’Ham and Albert Gurt stadiums; The matches in Girona will be on the fields of Gironès – Sàbat
Fontajau (home of the women’s category) and Torres de Palau; The Palafrugell duels will be at the Josep Pla i Arbonès municipal stadium and at the Gregal; The action in Roses will take place in Mas Oliva and La Vinyasa; while Salt distributes its matches between the Penya Bons Aires and Comacros fields
Copyright © 2025 MICFOOTBALL | Aviso legal y Política de privacidad
Stage 1 of the 2024 Volta Ciclista a Catalunya
Catalunya's first stage will test Pogacar and the GC contenders from the gun
Nick Schultz of Israel-Premier Tech held off the rapid charge of Tadej Pogačar with teammate Stevie Williams taking third.
Hello and welcome to Cyclingnews' live coverage of Volta Ciclista a Catalunya 2024
It's a beautiful day and the start village of Sant Feliu de Guíxols is truly buzzing
😋Això ja fa olor de #VoltaCatalunya103... un plaer, @Guixols! 👋🌊Sant Feliu de Guíxols ya se prepara para el inicio de la Volta a Catalunya 2024.Getting ready for the first stage of #VoltaCatalunya! 🚴♂️💥 pic.twitter.com/g42notcPj0March 18, 2024
Volta a Catalunya comes hot on the heels of a big weekend in racing, as GC favourite Tadej Pogacar tested his form at Milan-San Remo
but wasn't able to distance the sprinters on the Poggio
For an excellent retrospective on the race, read Cyclingnews' Stephen Farrand's analysis of the agony and ecstasy of Milan-San Remo
and the major teams have signed on ahead of race start
two of the most closely watched riders will be Geraint Thomas and Egan Bernal with Ineos Grenadiers.
Riders will soon be hitting the neutral start at the base of first (uncategorised) climb 3.1km from the official start
Cyclingnews' Barry Ryan outlined some of the key storylines to follow at this year's race
where there promises to be more to watch than purely Pogacar's dominance
The peloton has passed km0 and the race is offically underway
As the riders ride past through the 170km mark
there is a brief attack of three riders but it's closed down rapidly
Pogacar occupied the most media attention at the race start
While we await the first attack, we highly recommend enjoying our race gallery from Saturday's edition of Milan-San Remo
The brief attack is caught and the peloton is together after 10km as it rolls up the foothills of the day's first climb
Alex Baudin (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) and another rider crest the summit of the first climb with a small gap
Mikel Bizkarra (Euskaltel–Euskad) join Alex Baudin and Adne Holter (Uno-X) on the descent
forming a break of five with 20 seconds which may establish itself as the break of the day
The breakaway of five riders have a gap of 2'19" over the peloton with the first categorised climb
there is a mechanical for Mikel Landa (Soudal-QuickStep)
This is a big week for him as he leads his new team alongside Ilan Van Wilder.
UAE Team Emirates are leading the peloton for their superstar leader Tadej Pogačar
The gap up to the breakaway is now 2'23" as they have gone over the first KoM
the break have a 2'17" gap on the chasing bunch
Just 1km to the intermediate sprint in La Bisbal d’Empordà.
It was the veterans of the group who took the first points of the day with all the riders involved being 30 or above.
Mikel Bizkarra is the oldest of the riders in the lead group at the age of 34
Just two years older than Elissonde and four more than Petilli.
Holter and Baudin are more than a decade younger at 23 and 22 respectively.
2 and 1 bonus seconds handed out in that sprint.
The break have a gap of 2'07" on the peloton as they are on the slopes of the second catgorised climb of the day
Average gradient of 5.1% with a max kick of 10% over the 5.5km
UAE Team Emirates are seemingly wanting to keep a very tight hold on the break today
The descent of the Alt dels Àngels is extremely technical
The riders will need to be very careful.
It will be easier for the five riders in the break to pick their lines compared to 170 riders in the peloton.
The time gap is suddenly plummeting as both the break and the peloton are descending.
It is now down to 1'32" between the two groups with 115km to go.
The pace is really on in the peloton.
That means that Elissonde leads the KoM standings with 8 points ahead of Bizkarra who has 5 points.
The gap is now 1'19" between the break and the peloton
The breakaway have 12km to the next intermediate sprint at Cassà de la Selva.
perhaps the peloton would like to battle for them.
There is a small slit in the peloton after the technical descent of the Alt dels Àngels with just a small amount of seconds between them
Into the final 100km of the stage and the gap is now only 1'00"
The pace in the peloton is really up with just 3km to the intermediate sprint at Cassà de la Selva.
The pace has suddenly completely gone from the bunch now with the time gap shooting back up to 1'56" in a very short period of time.
The split in the peloton is also back together
The break will battle it out for the points and bonus seconds at the intermediate sprint in Cassà de la Selva.
The gap is back to over two minutes at 2'17" with 93km remaining.
It is a lovely sunny day in Catalunya today with the temperature around 21 degrees C.
🚴♂️Etapa 1⃣ #VoltaCatalunya103 - Km 75,8 etapa🔵Esprint Intermedi🔵📍 @ajcassa1️⃣ @MikelBizkarra (@euskaltelteam) 3pts, 3''2️⃣ @SimonePetilli (@IntermarcheW) 2pts, 2''3️⃣ @Alexbaudin73 (@decathlonAG2RLM) 1pt, 1''@lagrossacat #VoltaCatalunya103 pic.twitter.com/ac5FAMrLfYMarch 18, 2024
There's now a period of racing where there isn't any intermediate sprints or KoM sprints for 60km.
the terrain is constantly up and down and the riders will have an opportunity to see the finish and the closing kilometres before launching into one lap of the final circuit.
Just a reminder of who is in the break today:
Elissonde leads the KoM standings with 8 points and Bizkarra leads the points standings with 6 points after two sprints in both competitions.
Both the break and the peloton are on a fast downhill and the gap has dropped to 1'36" as we are over the halfway mark on the stage
Last year's opening stage was the same as today and it saw Primož Roglič win ahead of Remco Evenepoel and Ide Schelling.
Schelling is the only one of the three who is racing this year
as he moved from Bora-Hansgrohe to Astana Qazaqstan
why not have a read of the thoughts of Thomas De Gendt in his final Volta a Catalunya
>>> 'Probably a one-time failure' - Thomas De Gendt revisits UAE tyre blowout
Felix Großschartner is sat on the front of the peloton ahead of all his UAE Team Emirates teammates.
The gap up to the break is now down to 1'07" and falling once again heading towards the final third of the stage.
seen the peloton really up the pace with UAE Team Emirates closing rapidly on the break
The gap is not just 46" with 67km to go.
A few riders are struggling with Mongolian national champion
is struggling right at the back behind Louis Meintjes
While Jambaljamts Sainbayar has been dropped
it is so fantastic seeing riders from lesser cycling nations such as Mongolia racing in WorldTour races such as this one.
Front puncture for Oscar Rodriguez of Ineos Grenadiers
Multiple riders now being distanced with another sprinter
Rodriguez is making his way back in for Ineos after his puncture.
The break are holding the peloton off well and have got the gap back to 1'09" as the race crosses the finish line before heading towards the more climbing as well as another intermediate sprint.
This has been what the peloton has looked like for almost the entire day..
🚴♂️ L'equip @TeamEmiratesUAE lidera el pilot al primer pas per la meta de @Guixols (a 51,9 km de l'arribada 🏁)💥We have UAE Team Emirates at the front of the peloton! Still chasing the breakaway around 50 km to go. #VoltaCatalunya103 pic.twitter.com/G9crxqkyqdMarch 18, 2024
Visma-Lease-a-Bike and Uno-X Mobility are battling UAE Team Emirates on the front of the peloton as the gap drops to 25"
Van Gils screaming at his teammates.
Mikel Bizkarra has been dropped from the break and caught by the bunch.
Lots of riders are out of the back after that crash with some trying to get back in and some sitting up to just roll in
One rider aiming to get back in is Ivan Sosa
About 14" between the break and the peloton with several teams across the road in colour order trying to keep their leaders safe.
They are coming towards the Alt de Sant Grau but this is likely bringing the break back before the intermediate sprint in Llagostera where 3
33km to go to the finish and Elissonde is caught.
Holter and Baudin are trying to stay away but are also about to get caught.
Visma-Lease-a-Bike and Ineos Grenadiers leading the way.
Pogačar didn't need to get round Bernal as he could take the 2 bonus seconds and save his legs instead.
UAE Team Emirates his the front yet again as the race starts the Alt de Sant Grau with 27km to go.
8.1km long climb with an average gradient of 4% with a maximum kick of around 7%
Visma-Lease-a-Bike and Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale alongside UAE Team Emirates on the front.
Looks like it may just be a ride over the climb
Doesn't seem hard enough to really destroy the race.
Bryan Coquard of Cofidis has just lost contact with the peloton alongside Jesús David Peña of Jayco-AlUla and Tobias Bayer of Alpecin-Deceuninck
Soudal-QuickStep and Movistar have really upped the pace
Soler leading Pogačar down this very technical descent to make sure his leader is well placed.
Mikel Bizkarra of Euskaltel-Euskadi has been named the most combative rider after his day in the breakaway
Him being the only Spaniard in the break may have helped that seen as he was the first one caught today.
João Almeida now joins Soler and Pogačar on the front of the peloton as the Portuguese rider is working for the Slovenian
But UAE Team Emirates aren't letting him go with Almeida leading the charge on this extremely technical coast road that they are taking on for the second time
Almeida still leads for Pogačar with the peloton in one extremely long line
but once again UAE Team Emirates drags it back.
Tadej Pogačar is perfectly placed coming into town as he sits in fifth position
He is the favourite for today as well as the entire race
but he will be challenged in today's finish.
4km to go now in the opening stage of the Volta a Catalunya on what has been a stage that has slowly built with excitement.
3km to go and Ineos Grenadiers alongside Israel-Premier Tech move up as well as Visma-Lease-a-Bike.
Israel-Premier Tech look to be working for the Tour Down Under champion
Israel-Premier Tech are absolutely flying down this descent with Schultz and Williams
but Visma-Lease-a-Bike are keeping them close.
Final kilometre for the stage and Israel-Premier Tech still lead for Stevie Williams
A late attack by an Israel-Premier Tech got away
Nick Schultz (Israel-Premier Tech) wins stage one of the Volta a Catalunya 2024!
Tadej Pogačar was absolutely flying but didn't quite get there in the end
Here is the race report after what was a fantastic opening stage with a surprise winner
>>> Volta a Catalunya: Nick Schultz narrowly beats Pogacar to win stage 1
General classification after stage one:
Thank you very much for joining our live page for the opening stage of the Volta a Catalunya 2024.
We'll end it here for today but please do come back tomorrow for stage two and the rest of the race.