After 65 years of waiting, Berguedà will once again be the protagonist of the Tour de Catalunya. On March 23, the region will host the sixth stage of the 103rd edition of the Catalan tour, which will leave Berga and arrive at the Santuari de Queralt, crossing several towns in Bergué and ascents as legendary as the Coll del Pradell. But this will not be the only event with two wheels that Berguedà will experience this month. Under the name Primavera Ciclista in Berguedà, a group of pedal enthusiasts has organized a program full of talks, exhibitions and competitions related to the world of cycling.
A month of March on wheels
The promoters of the Cycling Spring in Berguedà are Sergi Fernández and Oriol Rego, who have presented the activities that will fill the agenda of the region in the coming weeks. “The idea is for Berguedà to take advantage of the opportunity of the Volta to make itself known and enhance its appeal,” explained Fernández. Among the proposals, the sporting events stand out, which will start with the Gironella Bike (March 10), will continue with the Portal Attack Short Track (March 16) and the Popular Climb between Berga and Queralt (March 17), and will end with the Casserrenca (April 7). There will also be space for training and debate, with lectures on cycling and rural tourism (March 7), coffee, nutrition and cycling (March 14), and a 360º look at women’s cycling (March 15).
The culture and history of cycling in Berguedà
The Berguedà Cycling Spring also wants to reflect the culture and history surrounding cycling in the region, with two exhibitions in the center of Berga. The first is an exhibition that takes up different spaces on Carrer Major, with photographs and objects that show the past and present of cycling in Berguedà. The curator of the exhibition is Pep Espelt, who has stated that “it is an exhibition of bicycles, but also of politics, landscape, history and the town”. The second exhibition is at the Berga County Museum, and is dedicated to El Kelme, the Berga team, a structure that was active between 1993 and 2003 under the direction of Joan Mas. The presentation of Primavera Ciclista, led by Isaac Vilalta, also served to inaugurate this exhibition, which was attended by cyclists such as Jordi Riera and Àngel Morales, who recalled the importance of the Coll de Pradell, paved on 2004, for elite cycling.
The great day of the Tour and the future of cycle tourism
The peak of the Cycling Spring in Berguedà will be March 23, when the region will receive the sixth stage of the 2024 Tour. To make this day a party, the organization has prepared a series of activities to enjoy the ‘show in company and with a clear objective: that the image of the day be the Vaga de Queralt. As explained by Fernández and Rego, on March 23rd it will start at Passeig de la Indústria, where the riders of the Volta will leave for Borredà, with a large display of vehicles, professionals and colors in the Valley. When the bikes are underway, the organization proposes a joint exit to Font Negra, where there will be a giant screen to follow the stage, as well as an offer of food trucks. When the cyclists reach the Pradell, the caravan will go up to the Vaga de Queralt, where there will be music with DJs and the performance of the Castellers de Berga, to create a unique and very Berguedan atmosphere. “We want to do our Corba dels Hollandesos”, said Rego and Fernández. The Volta organization was very pleased with this initiative, which was represented by Víctor Mur, its general secretary. “There is a lot of anticipation for the Berguedà stage”, said Mur, who added that “it was necessary to return to Berguedà, because more than 60 years without coming was an anomaly”.
The local institutions have also very positively assessed the return of the Tour to the region, and have expressed their desire to consolidate the cycling tourism offer to take advantage of the Berguedà’s potential in this area. “We have the challenge in the post-Volta”, acknowledged the president of the Regional Council, Ramon Caballé, who assured that there is a consensus among all the councils to work along these lines. This is obviously the case in Berga, where its mayor, Ivan Sànchez, has celebrated that “the Volta has shown that, in Berguedà, when we work together, we are unstoppable”.
The presentation of the Spring Cycling Festival in Berguedà ended with the deferred intervention of Antoni Karmany, the winner of the last stage of the Tour contested in Berga (went from Palafrugell to the Berguedà capital) in 1959 The ex-cyclist is 90 years old, but he remembers in detail the hardness of that stage, but also the good memories he has of it. With all this, Berga and Berguedà are celebrating their history, their ability and their passion for cycling and the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya this March.