With multiple cycling clubs, an ongoing exhibition for historic Spanish team Kelme and a long overdue start to the Volta a Catalunya on Saturday’s ultra-tough mountain stage, to describe the Pyrenean town of Bergà as cycling-mad would be no exaggeration.
But it’s not just local riders who matter here. In Bergà, they’ve even got a Sepp Kuss fan club. And a metre-high chocolate Sepp Kuss as part of a cake, too.
The chocolate Sepp, proudly on display in one local baker’s store, is actually a traditional Easter cake, made for the upcoming religious festival.
Why this year? Simply because with the Volta a Catalunya returning to Bergà for a start this Saturday for the first time since triple Vuelta a España King of the Mountains Anthony Karpany won in 1959, a finish at the first-category Alto de Queralt summit finish just outside the city, and Kuss racing in the Volta a Catalunya, too, the opportunity to make a ‘Sepp cake’ was too good to miss.
“Yeah I saw a picture of it in the local paper and they made a nice mona de Pascua [Easter Cake] of me, so that’s really beautiful – they did a great job,” Kuss told Cyclingnews on Friday.
“And it’s a beautiful stage, too, through a great area to ride and race. It’s really nice that the Volta can take advantage of such an amazing area.”
As for his local fan club, who are expected to gather in their yellow Visma jerseys on the Queralt climb, Kuss said “There’s a Youtube channel who made a peña ciclista [fanclub] here. I was surprised at the number of people that registered and now they’ll have a nice day watching the race.”
Kuss fans may be numerous in Bergà, but they reflect a widespread interest in cycling across the region, explains one sports journalist based in the town, Isaac Vilalta of Catalunya Radio and Volata magazine.
“There are cycling clubs in almost every village and town in the surrounding area and some in Bergà as well, of course. And a lot of young people are getting interested in cycling and cyclo tourists come here because there’s not much traffic around and loads of climbs,” he tells Cyclingnews.
“Plus, we’ve got a lot of cycling history, amateur races use this area, and there have been stages of the Setmana Catalana race here” – for many years Catalunya’s second biggest bike race until it folded in 2005…
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