On September 13th 2024 a four-person team set sail from Guernsey to undertake the La Vuelta a Barca Recce. The purpose of this mission is simple, albeit extremely challenging: to cover and review every element of the Tour, making amendments where necessary, to ensure the highest possible quality event for all the participants when we roll out on La Vuelta a Barca in September 2026.

 

This task was meticulously completed by the two Directors of We Move As One Ltd, Leon Howard and Gary Hooks, and supported by two longstanding Tour riders, bringing a host of knowledge and experience to the task at hand. Over the first 4 days, the team navigated South from St Malo across the challenging but beautiful rural planes of the West coast of France, across the estuary at Royan, and to Pyrenees gateway town of Pau, situated on the fringes of the mountain range. The final 5 days the group traversed the length of mountain range from West to East, summiting in Andorra, and finally onto the destination of the Catalan capital, Barcelona.

 

The team successfully covered and polished all of the Tour routes, as well as finalised the accommodation for the 2026 event, ensuring the facilities, catering, and every finer detail of the event will be of an exceptional standard for the team of 60 riders and 10 staff who will be participating in La Vuelta a Barca 2026. In addition, the Recce successfully identified the all-important checkpoints and lunch locations, ensuring our riders are perfectly fuelled to successfully complete the riding challenge ahead of them.

 

Over the duration of the Recce, the team assess more than 50 pre-identified hotels across the 9 destinations to be able to select the optimal accommodation for the riders. The criteria for this includes: sufficient number of twin rooms, WIFI in all rooms . half board (buffet), breakfast service commencing no later than 6AM, and adequate bike storage.

 

The knowledge and first-hand experience gained by the team during the Recce is of the utmost importance and sets We Move As One apart from other tours, as we know every aspect of La Vuelta a Barca ahead of time so we can ensure your Tour is an exceptional life experience which you’ll never forget.

 

In sum, this has been our best recce to date. The four-person team has been on multiple routes over the years and have learned how to complete the job at hand in most efficient manner possible to ensure all bases are completely covered and maximise the benefits for when the full complement of riders and support staff undertake the Tour. It has been a huge success and we cannot wait for our members to share the exact same experiences in 2026 when “We Move As One”.