Contador, Froome and Valverde will clash at Volta a Catalunya

Some of the best climbers in the world will clash on the climbs at the Tour of Catalunya from March 20th - March 26th

Raced over seven days, it covers the community of Catalonia in Northeast Spain and contains one or more stages in the mountain region of the Pyrenees.

The race traditionally finishes with a stage in Barcelona, Catalonia's capital, on a circuit with the famous Montjuïc climb and park.

First held in 1911, the Volta a Catalunya is the fourth-oldest still-existing cycling stage race in the world. Only the Tour de France (1903), the Tour of Belgium (1908) and the Giro d'Italia (1909) are older.

From the gun the peloton will face tough climbs! 

Stage 1 from Calella to Calella includes 6 climbs of which two are first-category. There's also a smaller climb before the run-in to the finish, so the stage should see some animated racing from the word go, especially with Valverde and Contador attacking and Froome having to follow wheels.

Stage 2 features a team time trial of 41.3 kilometers in and around the town of Banyoles. The GC contenders and their teams will have to be on good form to stay in contention, so it should make a for a good day's racing.

Stage 3 offers GC riders another chance to shine with two first-category climbs including the final ascent of La Molina  at 1,692 meters high.

The fourth stage is a mostly downhill affair with a couple of small climbs near the end that could see an attack and any GC contender who's behind in time could put in a late attacks however the stage would be more suitable to the breakaway specialists with the GC contenders saving their legs.

Stage 5 is a whopper of a stage which features a few smaller climbs inland from the coast, but the mountain top finish at Lo Port at over 1,000 metres and will see some real animated action from the likes of Contador and Valverde. Will Froome follow wheels or will he attack? What's his form like? This will be the first indication.

This could be a very animated stage with attacks from the gun and GC attacks on the final climb. A stage not to be missed.

Stage 6 doesn't let up with four categoried climbs, the final being a first-category climb at nearly 1,000 metres high, so more action awaits on this stage.

The final Stage 7, will see the peloton arriving in the city of Barcelona. The 138km stage includes eight laps, each of them featuring the famous Montjuïc climbof almost 100 meters so this could also shake things up for the final podium steps if there's any argument over time gaps.

All in all, the route promises to be a perfect opportunity for some of the world's best climbers,  while the world's best sprinters will likely give it a miss.

Three-times Tour de France winner Chris Froome will make his season debut in this race and has the support of a strong team including Geraint Thomas, Mikel Landa, Mikel Nieve and Peter Kennaugh.

While Sky may be using this race as a team test ahead of the upcoming grand tours, Movistar will have different plans with Alejandro Valverde receiving the assistance of riders like Jonathan Castroviejo and Andrey Amador.

Alberto Contador only just missed out on the overall victory of Paris-Nice but will be determined to make up for it. The Spaniard of Trek-Segafredo is joined by Bauke Mollema and Jarlinson Pantano. The Colombian was particularly important to Contador in Paris-Nice.

Other big names include Rohan Dennis, Tejay Van Garderen (BMC), Adam Yates, Ilnur Zakarin, Daniel Martin, Pierre Rolland, Steven Kruijswijk, Robert Gesink, Romain Bardet and Rafal Majka. BMC will be looking to dominate the team time trial again and Team Sky won't want a repeat of a wheek failure as in Paris-Nice.=

The Volta a Catalunya has a rich history with some of the world's best riders on its list of champions. Reigning winner Nairo Quintana won't be there to defend his crown however, and neither will 2015 winner Richie Porte and 2014 champion Joaquim 'Purito' Rodriguez. Dan Martin (Quick-Step Floors) who won the race in 2013, is the most recent winner to make an appearance this year. Other former winners include Alejandro Valverde.

The 2017 Volta a Catalunya promises to be an exciting race as some of the world's best climbers face off on tough and unforgiving climbs.

Will Sky show any early season dominance ahead of the Grand Tours?

Will Trek-Segafredo show glimpes of the team behind Contador's final bid for Tour de France glory?

Be sure to tune in next week and find out!

Volta Ciclista a Catalunya 2017 start list (provisional)

Movistar Team

Alejandro Valverde (Esp)
Jonathan Castroviejo (Esp)
Andrey Amador (CRI)
Víctor De La Parte (Spa)
Rubén Fernardez (Spa)
Daniel Moreno (Spa)
Nelson Oliviera (Por)
Marc Soler (Spa)

Team Sky

Chris Froome (GBr)
Wout Poels (Ned)
Diego Rosa (Ita)
Peter Kennaugh (GBr)
Mikel Landa (Esp)
Vasil Kiryienka (Bel)
David Lopez (Esp)
Mikel Nieve (Esp)

BMC Racing Team

Samuel Sanchez (Esp)
Rohan Dennis (Aus)
Tejay Van Garderen (USA)
Ben Hermans (Bel)
Brent Bookwalter (USA)
Dylan Teuns (Bel)
Alessandro De Marchi (Ita)
Kilian Frankiny (Tur)

Orica-Scott

Adam Yates (GBr)
Daryl Impey (RSA)
Damien Howson (Aus)
Svein Tuft (Can)
Sam Bewley (NZl)
Alexander Edmondson (Aus)
Rubén Plaza (Esp)
Carlos Verona (Esp)

Team Katusha – Alpecin

Ilnur Zakarin (Rus)
Pavel Kochetkov (Rus)
Tiago Machado (Por)
Maxim Belkov (Rus)
Robert Kiserlovski (Cro)
Jhonatan Restrepo (Col)
Rein Taaramae (Est)
Alberto Losada (Esp)

Quick-Step Floors

Julian Alaphilippe (Fra)
Daniel Martin (Ire)
Gianluca Brambilla (Ita)
Pieter Serry (Bel)
Laurens De Plus (Bel)
Enric Mas (Esp)
Maximilian Schachmann (Ger)
Petr Vakoc (Cze)

Cannondale-Drapac Pro Cycling Team

Andrew Talansky (USA)
Davide Formolo (Ita)
Brendan Canty (Aus)
Pierre Rolland (Fra)
Hugh Carthy (GBr)
Alex Howes (USA)
Kristijan Koren (Cro)

Trek-Segafredo

Alberto Contador (Esp)
Bauke Mollema (Ned)
Jarlinson Pantano (Col)
Michael Gogl (Aus)
Haimar Zubeldia (Esp)
Peter Stetina (USA)
Markel Irizar (Esp)
Matthias Brandle (Aus)

Astana

Jakob Fuglsang (Den)
Pello Bilbao (Esp)
Sergei Chernetckii (Rus)
Nikita Stalnov (Kaz)
Jesper Hansen (Den)
Dario Cataldo (Ita)
Daniil Fominykh (Kaz)
Paolo Tiralongo (Ita)

FDJ

Arthur Vichot (Fra)
Johan Le Bon (Fra)
Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe)
Davide Cimolai (Ita)
David Gaudu (Fra)
Jérémy Maison (Fra)
Benoit Vaugrenard (Fra)
Léo Vincent (Fra)

Team LottoNL-Jumbo

Steven Kruijswijk (Ned)
Robert Gesink (Ned)
George Bennett (Aus)
Stef Clement (Ned)
Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel)
Victor Campenaerts (Bel)
Martijn Keizer (Ned)
Bert-Jan Lindeman (Ned)

Ag2r La Mondiale

Pierre Latour (Fra)
Ben Gastauer (Lux)
Axel Domont (Fra)
François Bidard (Fra)
Cyril Gautier (Fra)
Alexandre Geniez (Fra)
Quentin Jauregui (Fra)
Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra)

Lotto-Soudal

André Greipel (Ger)
Sean De Bie (Bel)
Thomas De Gendt (Bel)
Bart De Clercq (Bel)
Rafael Valls (Esp)
Sander Armee (Bel)
Louis Vervaeke (Bel)

Bahrain-Merida

Enrico Gasparotto (Ita)
Tsgabu Grmay (Eth)
Janez Brajkovi (Cro)
Ondrej Cink (Cze)
Antonio Nibali (Ita)
Domen Novak (Cro)

Team Sunweb

Max Walscheid (Ger)
Laurens Ten Dam (Hol)
Johannes Frohlinger (Ger)
Phil Bauhaus (Ger)
Chris Hamilton (Aus)
Lennard Hofstede (Hol)
Lennard Kamna (Ger)
Sindre Skjøstad Lunke (Nor)

Dimension Data

Nathan Haas (Aus)
Kristian Sbaragli (Ita)
Igor Anton (Esp)
Mekseb Debesay (Eri)
Daniel Teklehaimanot (Eri)
Jaco Venter (RSA)
Jacques Janse Van Rensburg (RSA)
Lachlan Morton (Aus)

Bora – Hansgrohe

Rafal Majka (Pol)
Jay McCarthy (Aus)
Pawel Poljanski (Pol)
Michael Schwarzmann (Ger)
Jan Barta (Cze)
Silvio Herklotz (Ger)
José Mendes (Por)
Gregor Muhlberger (Aus)

UAE Team Emirates

John Darwin Atapuma (Col)
Louis Meintjes (RSA)
Valerio Conti (Ita)
Przemyslaw Niemiec (Pol)
Matteo Bono (Ita)
Anass Ait El Abdia (Mor)
Kristijan Durasek (Cro)
Edward Ravasi (Ita)

Caja Rural-Seguros RGA

Sergio Pardilla (Esp)
Jaime Roson (Esp)
Yuri Trofimov (Rus)
David Arroyo (Esp)
Luís Guillermo Mas (Esp)
Nick Schultz (Aus)
Diego Rubio (Esp)
Eduard Prades (Esp)

CCC Sprandi Polkowice

Maciej Paterski (Pol)
Jan Tratnik (Cro)
Jan Hirt (Cze)
Lukasz Owsian (Pol)
Leszek Plucinski (Pol)
Piotr Brozyna (Pol)
Felix Grosschartner (Aus)
Patryk Stosz (Pol)

Cofidis, Solutions Crédits

Nacer Bouhanni (Fra)
Jonas Van Genechten (Bel)
Julien Simon (Fra)
Luis Ángel Mate (Esp)
Stephane Rossetto (Fra)
Guillaume Bonnafond (Fra)
Daniel Navarro (Esp)
Geoffrey Soupe (Fra)

Manzana Postobon

Ricardo Vilela (Por)
Jetse Bol (Ned)
Hernando Bohorquez (Col)
Hernan Aguirre (Col)
Juan Sebastian Molano (Col)
Juan Felipe Osorio (Col)
Antonio Piedra (Esp)
Aldemar Reyes (Col)

Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij

Pieter Weening (Ned)
Jeroen Meijers (Ned)
Martijn Tusveld (Ned)
Nick Van Der Lijke (Ned)
Oscar Riesebeek (Ned)
Tim Ariesen (Ned)
Martijn Budding (Ned)
Etienne Van Empel (Ned)

Funvic/Brasil Pro Cycling

Flavio Santos (Bra)
Murilo Affonso (Bra)
Magno Nazaret (Bra)
Pedro Autran Dourado Dutra Nicacio (Bra)
Caio Godoy (Bra)
Gabriel Machado Silva (Bra)
Raphael Pires (Bra)
Jordi Simon (Esp)

Wanty – Groupe Gobert

Xandro Meurisse (Bel)
Guillaume Martin (Fra)
Guillaume Levarlet (Fra)
Thomas Degand (Bel)
Fabien Doubey (Fra)
Marco Minnaard (Ned)
Dion Smith (Aus)
Frederik Veuchelen (Bel)