| 2015 Volta a Catalunya | |
| Series: | 2015 UCI World Tour |
| Race No: | 5 |
| Season No: | 28 |
| Date: | 23–29 March 2015 |
| Stages: | 7 |
| Distance: | 1238.1 |
| Unit: | km |
| Time: | 30h 30' 30" |
| Speed: | 40.582 |
| First: | Richie Porte |
| First Nat: | AUS |
| First Color: | green lines volta |
| Second: | Alejandro Valverde |
| Second Nat: | ESP |
| Third: | Domenico Pozzovivo |
| Third Nat: | ITA |
| Mountains: | Tom Danielson |
| Mountains Nat: | USA |
| Mountains Color: | red |
| Sprints: | Lluís Mas |
| Sprints Nat: | ESP |
| Sprints Color: | white-black strip |
| Youth: | Wilco Kelderman |
| Youth Nat: | NED |
| Youth Color: | white |
| Previous: | 2014 |
| Next: | 2016 |
The 2015 Volta a Catalunya was the 95th edition of the Volta a Catalunya stage race. It took place from 23 to 29 March and was the fifth race of the 2015 UCI World Tour.[1] [2] Defending champion Joaquim Rodríguez was scheduled to defend his title, but was pulled from the event days before it was due to start citing a stomach virus.[3] The race was won by Richie Porte, his second race win of the season, with Alejandro Valverde in second and Domenico Pozzovivo in third.
| Stage | Date | Course | Distance | Type | Winner | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 23 March | Calella to Calella | 185.2km (115.1miles) | Medium-mountain stage | |||
| 2 | 24 March | 191.8km (119.2miles) | Medium-mountain stage | ||||
| 3 | 25 March | Girona to Girona | 156.6km (97.3miles) | Medium-mountain stage | |||
| 4 | 26 March | 188.4km (117.1miles) | Mountain stage | ||||
| 5 | 27 March | 195.4km (121.4miles) | Medium-mountain stage | ||||
| 6 | 28 March | 194.1km (120.6miles) | Medium-mountain stage | ||||
| 7 | 29 March | Barcelona to Barcelona | 126.6km (78.7miles) | Flat stage | |||
The Volta a Catalunya is part of the UCI World Tour, which meant that the 17 UCI WorldTeams were automatically invited and obliged to send a team. The race organisers also made seven wildcard invitations to UCI Professional Continental teams. The peloton was therefore made up of 24 teams.[6]
In the 2015 Volta a Catalunya, four different jerseys were awarded. For the general classification, calculated by adding each cyclist's finishing times on each stage, and allowing time bonuses in intermediate sprints (3, 2 and 1 seconds) and at the finish in mass-start stages (10, 6 and 4 seconds respectively for the first three finishers), the leader received a white and green jersey. This classification was considered the most important of the 2015 Volta a Catalunya, and the winner of the classification was considered the winner of the race.
Additionally, there was a sprints classification, which awarded a white jersey. In the sprints classification, cyclists received points for finishing in the top 3 at intermediate sprint points during each stage; these intermediate sprints also offered bonus seconds towards the general classification. There was also a mountains classification, the leadership of which was marked by a red jersey. In the mountains classification, points were won by reaching the top of a climb before other cyclists, with more points available for the higher-categorised climbs.
There was also a classification for teams, in which the times of the best three cyclists per team on each stage were added together; the leading team at the end of the race was the team with the lowest total time.
| Stage | Winner | General classification | Mountains classification | Sprints classification | Young rider classification | Teams classification | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maciej Paterski | Maciej Paterski | Maciej Paterski | Martijn Keizer | Carlos Barbero | ||
| 2 | Alejandro Valverde | Lluís Mas | Wilco Kelderman | ||||
| 3 | Domenico Pozzovivo | Pierre Rolland | |||||
| 4 | Tejay van Garderen | Bart De Clercq | Tom Danielson | ||||
| 5 | Alejandro Valverde | Richie Porte | |||||
| 6 | Sergey Chernetskiy | ||||||
| 7 | Alejandro Valverde | ||||||
| Final | Richie Porte | Tom Danielson | Lluís Mas | Wilco Kelderman | |||