2016 Volta a Catalunya

2016 Volta a Catalunya

2016 UCI World Tour, race 5 of 28[1]
Race details
Dates	March 21, 2016 (2016-03-21)–March 27, 2016 (2016-03-27)
Stages	7
Distance	1,219.6 km (757.8 mi)
Winning time	30h 50' 19"
Results
Winner  Nairo Quintana (COL) (Movistar Team)   Second  Alberto Contador (ESP) (Tinkoff)   Third  Dan Martin (IRL) (Etixx–Quick-Step) Mountains  Thomas De Gendt (BEL) (Lotto–Soudal) Youth  Hugh Carthy (GBR) (Caja Rural–Seguros RGA) Sprints  Thomas De Gendt (BEL) (Lotto–Soudal)   Team BMC Racing Team
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The 2016 Volta a Catalunya was a road cycling stage race that took place in Catalonia, Spain, from 21 to 27 March. It was the fifth race of the 2016 UCI World Tour and the 96th edition of the Volta a Catalunya.^[2][3]

The race included seven stages. Two of these included summit finishes, so the favourites for the race were all climbers. Favourites for overall victory included Chris Froome (Team Sky), Alberto Contador (Tinkoff), Nairo Quintana (Movistar Team) and the defending champion Richie Porte (BMC Racing Team): the race was the first meeting of several of the riders expected to feature in the Grand Tours later in the season.

The first two stages were Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis). He then withdrew through illness on the third stage, which included the first summit finish. This was won by Dan Martin (Etixx–Quick-Step), who took over the overall lead. Martin lost the lead, however, on the next stage, the second summit finish of the race, where Quintana won the stage and took over the overall lead. Quintana defended his lead over the following stage to take the overall victory, seven seconds ahead of Contador, with Martin ten seconds further back in third. Thomas De Gendt (Lotto–Soudal) won both the mountains and intermediate sprints classifications, with Hugh Carthy (Caja Rural–Seguros RGA) winning the young rider classification. BMC won the team classification.