Team Emirates count on climbers

catalonia — The UCI World Tour is in full flow, and with the Spring Classics just weeks away, it’s time for UAE Team Emirates’ climbers to be unleashed, with a mouth-watering line-up confirmed for the upcoming Volta a Catalunya from March 25-31.

Leading the Emirati formation and the team’s General Classification (GC) contender will be Dan Martin.

The Irishman is in familiar territory and will be eager to put in the same kind of performance that saw him claim the GC title in this race back in 2013.

Joining him are Rory Sutherland, Edward Ravasi, Simone Petilli, Rui Oliveira and Cristian Munoz. Fabio Aru will no longer take part in the Volta a Catalunya, having withdrawn through injury. He will be replaced by UAE Team Emirates’ Riabushenko.

One of the early season mountain tests, the 99th edition of the Volta a Catalunya takes absolutely no prisoners; riders thrown in at the deep end from the word go with Stage one offering no less than five categorised climbs — three of which are rated category one — over a 163.7km route.

Stage two is a slightly different affair, with three smaller categorised climbs unlikely to faze the peloton, with a sprint finish the likely outcome.

However, Stage three will be a jaw-dropping prospect for even the most experienced climbers. The riders will set off from Sant Feliu de Guíxols and cycle 179km to the popular ski resort of Vallter 2000.

The gradual incline on the course is relentless, after they hit the opening categorised climb at 12km, it’s all uphill from there.

Any riders put off by the prospect of taking on two consecutive category one climbs in the closing 60km won’t enjoy the final climb – an 11.2km slog with gradients up to 14 per cent Stage four is another tough day amidst the mountains.