The Principality of Andorra, which has hosted the Catalunya Volta, Vuelta a España, and Tour de France stages for decades, will host its own professional road race, the Andorra Morabank Classica, in 2025.

The race will be held in the tiny Principality of Andorra, surrounded by the Pyrenees mountains, and will feature 4,300 meters of climbing in just 145 km.

Announced earlier this week, the inaugural Morabank Classica will take place on June 22 and is an ideal stepping stone for athletes looking to hone their climbing form before the Tour de France. A total of 20 teams, 10 WorldTour and 10 ProTour, will be on the start line to compete in a peloton of 140.

Despite its long and rich history of hosting mountain stages and rest days for the Tour, Vuelta, and Volta, as well as multiple MTB World Cups, Andorra has never had its own professional road race.

However, as Morabank Classica ambassador and Lidl Trek pro rider Carlos Verona told AS at the event launch on Thursday, many pro riders, including Verona, reside in the principality, and the Andorran government is promoting cycling as a means of transportation With many professional riders, including Verona, residing in the Principality, and the Andorran government's campaign to promote bicycling as a means of transportation, it seemed logical to hold a road race.

“When I came here in 2015, there were only a few bike racers like Prito (Joaquin Rodriguez), (Xavier Florencio), and Jose Joaquin Rojas. Now we have over 120 professionals living here, and every summer we get more cyclotourists.”

A total of 21 “all mountain passes” are well marked, and there is a coexistence campaign with road users, including cyclists.

Verona, which has been working on the project for the past three years, told AS that it is pleased to finally - in some ways - be able to hold the race on the road.

“I have to thank the organizers of the Route Occitanie, who have been working on this project for the past three years.

“They also moved the event up one day on the calendar so it will be held Wednesday through Saturday in 2025.

According to Verona, the race will start in the principality's capital, Andorra la Vella, and finish in La Massana, a village at the foot of the famous Ordino Arcalis.

“It's up to the teams to decide if they want to participate in the race, but of course I want to,” he told AS.

“Eventually I will talk to Lidl Trek about taking part, and I will also talk to Movistar and other [non-WorldTour] Spanish teams.

Further down the road, Verona explained in other interviews that his goal is to organize a women's one-day road race in Andorra alongside the recently established men's event.