The GI-531 road is one of the most congested in the Girona region. It crosses the Llémena Valley, a river basin dotted with small villages surrounded by nature, from Sant Gregori – west of Girona – to Les Planes d'Hostoles in La Garrotxa. The road is narrow, with significant changes in gradient, a single lane in each direction, very sharp curves, and a virtually nonexistent shoulder. Private vehicles share this route with other traffic. groups of cyclists who do sportHeavy goods vehicles from companies working in the area and school buses also use this road.

In a global context marked by the erosion of rights, a means of transport like the bicycle has become, more than ever, an ideological symbol. Consequently, political polarization directly impacts decisions regarding sustainable mobility. The 2023 municipal elections marked a turning point in many cities: the arrival of new governments has influenced the management of bike lanes, often citing arguments of safety or freedom to move around by car. We have seen this in Castelldefels, Palma, Elche, Valladolid, and Logroño, and Lisbon has drawn attention for impounding bicycles parked in public spaces. At the same time, in Barcelona, ​​the socialist government of Jaume Collboni has maintained the infrastructure but reduced the push for new traffic-calming measures. In Girona, however, the dynamic is different. It has become established in the last decade as the cycling capital of southern Europe, and businesses linked to the sector have multiplied almost fivefold. If at the beginning of 2014 there were only eight cycling shops In the city, there are currently 41. The bicycle has also become an economic and tourist engine: if in Barcelonaexpanded He lives in a rented apartment costing over 2,000 euros and drinks specialty coffees costing 5 euros; in Girona he is accompanied by a high-end road or gravel bike and equipment worth over 4,000 euros.

The Girona City Council wants to limit the granting of licenses for new businesses related to cycling. Cycle tourism is thriving. an extraordinary boom in the city, especially in the Barri Vell, where in recent years, every time an iconic business closes, a new one opens a new store linked to high-end cyclingDesigned to attract primarily foreign customers.

The support of the Barcelona Provincial Council The inclusion of cycling in major events, such as the Volta a Catalunya, the 2025 Vuelta a España Femenina, and the 2026 Tour de France, demonstrates the Corporation's commitment to promoting cycling in the province. The benefits of cycling are numerous, both in terms of sport and society. On the one hand, it is an accessible and healthy sport that contributes to improving the health and quality of life of the population and helps prevent cardiovascular disease. On the other hand, using a bicycle as a means of daily transport improves sustainable mobility and reduces the environmental impact of transportation. Furthermore, cycling is an excellent excuse for socializing, participating in, and riding with the many cycling clubs in the municipalities of Barcelona. Therefore, the Provincial Council's Cycling Promotion Plan aims to leave a sporting legacy in the province that will allow for the continued promotion of road cycling, both on open roads and on the municipal cycling circuits within the region.

The cycling team formerly known as Israel – Premier Tech has changed hands. In a turn of events, businessman Sylvan Adams is leaving the scene, selling the team's structure to a business group led by a well-known figure: Andrés Iniesta. The former Barcelona player is entering the world of cycling through his company NSN, which will lend its name to a team that is guaranteed participation in the next three editions of the Tour de France, the Giro d'Italia, and the Vuelta a España. Last week, the details of this operation were finalized, and it has been very positively received within the Union Cycliste Professional (UCP), as the Israel – Premier Tech team had become problematic. Pending a financial audit, a necessary requirement, the new project is already operational and will present its corporate image in the coming days.

On August 27th, five pro-Palestinian activists from Alt Empordà blocked the Israeli team participating in the Vuelta a España. It happened during a team time trial in Figueres and was the first in a series of protests against the presence of the Israel Premier Tech team in the race, actions that continued at every stage until the final day. "When we found out the Vuelta was coming, we decided to take some completely peaceful action, and luckily in Figueres it was a team time trial. That made it very easy for us to block only the Zionist team, the Israeli team. We didn't want to cause any problems for the cyclists, Oliver, or anyone else," explains the young activist, who has been involved in various causes for many years. The action, however, became the spark for a widespread protest throughout the country. It ended up paralyzing the entry of the Vuelta into MadridBut in practical terms, the Figueres blockade is currently the only boycott against the Israeli team's participation that the Vuelta a España organizers have reported. It resulted in one arrest: that of Esteve Robleda i Sastre, an educational psychologist. In a city with few demonstrations, dozens of people gathered in front of the Mossos d'Esquadra police station in the capital of the Alt Empordà region to demand his release. On Saturday, a fundraising event for Palestine was held in Figueres, both in case the complaint ends up in court and to support the Palestinian people. It was also an opportunity to learn firsthand how the protest against the Israel Premier Tech team's participation in the cycling competition was organized.

The 2026 Tour de France has unveiled its route in a special edition in Paris, as Catalonia will host the first three stages. Barcelona has never before hosted the start of the prestigious French race, which for 2026 is opting for a fast route that will include two ascents of Alpe d'Huez. The 2026 Tour will go "from the Sagrada Familia to the Eiffel Tower," as race director Christian Prudhomme said, referring to the fact that the team presentation ceremony will take place at the foot of the temple designed by Antoni Gaudí.

The most politicized Vuelta a España of all time ended prematurely. With 57 km to go, riders climbed into their team vehicles as pro-Palestinian protesters managed to block the road. The final stage, finishing in Madrid, was expected to be complicated by a demonstration against the presence of the Israel Premier Tech team, and that's exactly what happened. The war in Gaza, currently at the center of the political agenda, also took center stage in this race due to the presence of this team owned by a businessman close to the Netanyahu government. As the race progressed and more news of civilian deaths in Gaza arrived, tensions grew at the Vuelta. In the end, the race was unable to complete its route, as the organizers feared.

Will the Vuelta a España reach its destination? A growing number of voices are expressing doubts about the Spanish race's ability to meet its schedule, with the final finish in Madrid this coming Sunday, due to the growing number of pro-Palestinian protesters organized against the presence of the Israel Premier-Tech team. This Thursday's stage, a 27.2 km individual time trial in Valladolid, was cut to a 12-kilometer route "with the aim of providing greater protection for development," according to the organizers. Being a time trial, the goal was to protect the Israeli team's riders with a shorter route featuring barriers. Two people were arrested during a day of confrontation between Podemos, which considers the presence of the Israeli team a disgrace, and the PP, which defends it. The stage was won by Italian Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers), seven seconds faster than Australian Jay Vine (UAE) and Portuguese Joao Almeida (UAE). Almeida has shaved a few seconds off general classification leader Jonas Vingegaard (Visma), who now has a 40-second lead over the Portuguese rider.

The Israel Premier Tech team continues to be one of the protagonists of this edition of the Vuelta a Espana. The team, owned by a tycoon who supports the Netanyahu government, sees protests organized on roadsides against its presence at every stage. Today, the team announced that it is removing the country's name from the jersey at the Vuelta a Espana to "prioritize the safety" of its "cyclists and the entire peloton, given the danger of some protests at the Vuelta," they explained. "Israel Premier Tech has provided the cyclists with a uniform bearing the team's monogram for the remainder of the race," a uniform with a logo that does not include the name of Israel. The Israeli team, however, emphasizes that "the team name remains Israel Premier Tech," although it explains: "The monogrammed uniform now aligns with the branding decisions we have previously adopted for our vehicles and casual wear," from which it has also removed the name of Israel.

It won't be easy getting on the UAE team bus these days at the Vuelta a Espana. The fragile relationship between the team's stars exploded in the middle of the competition, prompting team management to publicly punish Spaniard Juan Ayuso. The young rider from Alicante, currently the biggest star of Spanish cycling, has counterattacked, stating that he lives in "a dictatorship" where "they want to damage" his "image." The final days of competition could be complicated within the Emirates-based team.

"It was obvious something was going to happen," says a Vuelta a España worker nervously. They've been told not to talk about the presence of the Israel Premier Tech team, owned by a personal friend of the Israeli president. The race was supposed to go ahead as if nothing had happened, but every day they're met with hundreds of protesters waiting for them. For weeks, the organizers had been worried about the announcements of demonstrations against the team's presence. And on Wednesday, during the team time trial on the roads of the Alt Empordà, it happened: security forces were unable to prevent a group of protesters from blocking the road just as the Israel Premier Tech team was about to pass, to protest the presence of a team with ties to the Israeli government right in the middle of the military campaign in Gaza.

On April 29, 1935, a group of brave riders began pedaling through the center of Madrid, leaving from Atocha station. They were participants in the first edition of the Vuelta a España, a competition that this year celebrates its 80th edition in 90 years, as it was not always possible to take place. That first edition featured 50 cyclists who faced a 10-stage route of more than 250 km each. When the Vuelta returned to Madrid on May 15, only 29 cyclists arrived. The rest had folded, exhausted by a tough route on dirt roads, with slopes that broke their legs and caused damage to their iron bicycles. The winner was Belgian Gustaaf Deloor, who beat Catalan Mariano Cañardo, second in the general classification. Marianu He suffered a lot, as he quickly lost teammates and suffered falls.

Adrià Pericas (Tona, 2006) had been showing signs of his talent for some time. This week, it was confirmed that the 19-year-old cyclist from Osona had signed his first professional contract with UAE Team Emirates, the best cycling team currently in the world, led by Slovenian Tadej Pogacar. Pericas will share a team with Marc Soler from Villanueva, as well as Pablo Torres from Madrid, Igor Arrieta from Navarra, and Juan Ayuso from Valencia, the best Spanish cyclist currently in Spain.

"I felt guilty, but the fear of facing the problem outweighed my motivation to try to fix it. I was trapped in my own head. I remember days waking up, having breakfast, getting dressed to go out to train, and then lying on the couch for hours," says Leo Hayter (London, 2001). On August 16, 2024, he announced his temporary retirement due to depression, at just 23 years old. He had signed for the Ineos team as one of the British riders with the most promise: his trophy cabinet includes an Under-23 Giro d'Italia and a bronze in the Under-23 World Time Trial Championship. "I haven't been cycling in recent months, but I haven't lived either," he said in a letter titled My fightIn November, he posted his first activity on the Strava platform after months without touching the bike: 28.4 kilometers in one hour and eleven minutes, with the text "hat and unfit(fatty and out of shape). A few days ago he won the Catalan Time Trial Championship. It's been 426 days since I last wore my bib. Many, many more since I did a race I was really looking forward to," he wrote on Instagram.

In mid-May I turned 37, a date when you're dangerously close to forty, and I thought it was time to start them off with a good challenge to keep going strong. A couple of years ago I pedal a gravel bike through Girona and I wanted to try cycling from home with everything you need to sleep away. It's what many have come to name bikepacking, although in my case I wanted to avoid carrying a tent and all the food, because I didn't intend to be self-sufficient. One route in particular caught my attention: what if I circumnavigated the Girona region in five days, traveling by bike for an average of eight hours? That's how my personal birthday present began, on a trip supported by the Greenways Consortium and the Girona-Costa Brava Tourist Board, which provided the accommodation.

France hosts the 112th edition of the Tour de France. 3,338.8 km and a vertical drop of 52,500 meters spread over 21 stages, with two big favorites: Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard, and a Catalan referee: Marc Soler. On Saturday, July 5, Lilla will kick off the competition with a stage finish at the same starting point. It will be three weeks of cycling through French soil, culminating on Sunday, July 27 in Paris. The Camps Elisis will once again be the final finish, after last year's Tour ended in Nice due to the Olympic Games.

It all started with Joaquín Purito Rodríguez. He was one of the first cyclists who understood, some 20 years ago, that spending long periods in Andorra might be a good idea. And not just because of the tax benefits. "Here you leave home and immediately find a mountain pass. There are more than 20 well-marked and maintained ones. You train at altitude, it's ideal. People like Purito, Xavier Florencio, and Ángel Vicioso were the first professionals to form a core group in Andorra, at a time when people said the weather said the weather said the weather said training," says Carlos Verona (San Lorenzo del Escorial, 1992). The Madrid-born rider from the Lidl-Trek team has been in Andorra for 10 years now and has become the star of the inaugural Andorra MoraBanc Clásica, the first professional cycling race in the Principality.

Simon Yates's victory in the Giro d'Italia could be presented as proof that justice exists. Deep down, we all know that bonuses don't always win and that we don't always get second chances, but in the case of the British cyclist, that wasn't the case. His victory was forged in the penultimate stage, on one of the toughest climbs in the Alps, the one in which seven years earlier Yates himself had suffered one of the toughest defeats of his career. Magnificent. It's true that Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard, the great dominators of cycling at the moment, were not there, but the great Italian race—the one born more than a century ago in the pink pages of the Sports Gazette– has thrilled with the great debut of the young Mexican Isaac del Toro (UAETeam), who at just 21 years old, led the classification for almost the entire race, and has stood up to first Juan Ayuso - who ended up retiring - and then the Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz (he leaves on Saturday when he no longer does, with Yates). The last day was almost a tourist stage in Rome, passing by the Vatican, just as the late Pope Francis had wanted.

A short gravel bike route from Girona, perfect for those days when you want to make the most of your time without any complications. We start in the center of Girona and head toward Quart along the Via Verda. From there, we continue to Palol de Onyar, where we take a path that leads us toward the Gavarres. The track is very fun, with a gentle slope and a very good surface. During the climb, you can enjoy impressive views of the city. The climb to the top is about 10 kilometers, and then we take a few meters of road to face the second part, which takes us to the Gavarres. to Los Angeles, one of the most emblematic sites A must-see by bike in Girona.