Favorites stage 7 Tour of Catalonia 2025 | After Saturday's fiasco, the final showdown awaits on Montjuïc

Saturday’s mountain stage turned into a complete fiasco. After several route changes, only 146 kilometers remained—and of those, just 28 were actually raced. Stormy conditions across Catalonia made the stage nearly impossible. But if you thought that would be the only short challenge of the weekend, you would be disappointed.

In fact, in Sunday’s final stage, in the provincial capital of Barcelona, is only 88 kilometers long. That’s significantly shorter than in previous years, although the finale remains the same. The approach to the local circuit has simply been halved: instead of heading out into the surrounding hills, the race stays close to the city. The first 40 kilometers will be completely flat, with two intermediate sprints along the way. And since there were no shake-ups in the general classification on Saturday, everything is still on the line.

Then comes the well-known local circuit, with the Alto del Castell de Montjuïc acting as the ultimate decider. It will be tackled six times in nearly 50 kilometers, and it’s no easy climb: on paper it’s 2.5 kilometers at 4.4%, but the final kilometer kicks up to 10.5%, with even steeper spikes. If a Primoz Roglic or Juan Ayuso makes a move there, we could be in for an epic finale.

Times
Start: 10:55 AM (local time) | 5.55 AM (EST)
Finish: 1:00 PM (local time) | 8.00 AM (EST)

It’s set to be a beautiful day of racing in Barcelona! Temperatures will climb to around 21°C, though a strong northwesterly wind is expected. Hopefully, it won’t cause the same chaos we saw in stage 7 and the race can (finally) unfold cleanly. With the wind partially at the riders’ backs on the Montjuïc climb—anything could happen. One thing’s for sure: it’ll stay dry.

Normally, we might list a few different names here, but since stage six was a true no contest, the GC contenders will be eager to unleash everything they’ve got in this final stage. So once again, all eyes are on race leader Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates - XRG), who holds a one-second lead over Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe). The two intermediate sprints along the route could also prove decisive.

But there are plenty of other riders hoping to close out this stage race on a high note. Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto) has had his share of bad luck lately, while Richard Carapaz (EF Education - EasyPost) will be hungry for a strong finish. Egan Bernal (INEOS Grenadiers) and Enric Mas (Movistar) will also be eyeing an opportunity to make a move, and both Mikel Landa (Soudal Quick-Step) and Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious) are still within half a minute of the race lead.

Should we only be watching the GC riders? Definitely not. Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek), fresh off his win on Saturday, said he’s aiming to light it up again in the final stage. Dorian Godon and Andrea Vendrame (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) will be hoping for a sprint from a reduced bunch—and if that happens, don’t forget about Tibor del Grosso (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Axel Laurance (INEOS Grenadiers). In short: this finale could go in any direction!

Top favorites: Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) and Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates - XRG)
Outsiders: Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto), Enric Mas (Movistar), Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) and Mikel Landa (Soudal Quick-Step)
Long shots: Egan Bernal, Axel Laurance (INEOS Grenadiers), Richard Carapaz (EF Education - EasyPost), Dorian Godon, Andrea Vendrame (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Tibor del Grosso (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious)