Raul Villar and Janika Loiv win the first stage of the VolCAT by SCOTT 2025

Raul Villar wins the first stage of the VolCAT by SCOTT 2025. The La Nucia BH Coloma Academy rider led the race along with Xavier Pijuan, with whom he maintained a close battle that was only decided at the finish in Igualada, the venue for the three stages of the race. In the women’s category, the Estonian Janika Loiv won with apparent ease, while a great Estíbaliz Sagardoy took second place in her debut in a stage race.

Raul Villar reigns in the first stage and wins the leader’s jersey

Easter arrived on the calendar and spring sunshine welcomed the more than 500 riders called up for the first stage of the VolCAT by SCOTT 2025. The iconic event once again attracted riders of the highest competitive level, who showed up on time to fight for UCI points in a C3 category stage. For its part, the city of Igualada was dressed to the nines and welcomed the international MTB spotlight with open arms.

The race got off to a clean start and the riders left Igualada behind. A gentle, gravelly road made the first selection between fields of rapeseed. The first kilometres were hard, with a large part of the positive gradient of the stage, which filtered the peloton even more and left four survivors in the lead. Among them, Raul Villar and Xavier Pijuan stood out to the point that they opened a gap and escaped.

The track was left behind and the trails became the main protagonists. The leading duo continued to lead the race around the Collbàs hermitage and the outskirts of the town of Carme. The heavy rains of the last few months brought the stream to life, surrounded on both sides by a lush inland forest. The pair reached the refreshment area -KM 26.5- with more than a minute’s margin and headed for the final fight on their way back to the Parc Central de Igualada.

Thus, Villar and Pijuan have matched forces until the last meters, in which Villar has brought out some extra watts that have given him the victory. The rider of La Nucia BH Coloma Academy is now in the leader’s jersey and, although he has already announced his absence in the second stage, he has also confirmed that he will return on the last day to add more points for the ranking.

Janika Loiv triumphs and wears yellow on the first stage

Estonian runner Janika Loiv was the favourite to win the race. Her speed in the first metres allowed her to distance herself from her rivals and place herself in a good group. The storage of forces and the distribution of efforts were the key to Loiv continuing to lead the women’s race throughout the race.

Behind, Estíbaliz Sagardoy and Txell Figueras battled unsuccessfully for the balance to swing in their favour. The two runners were neck and neck until Sagardoy managed to get rid of Figueras, who had to settle for third place.

On the other hand, the highest step of the podium was taken by Janika Loiv who was unbeatable and who seriously threatens to dominate the race until the last day of the race.