Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana – Overall preview

By @EchelonsHub

Into Valencia for the first Spanish stage-race of the season. Every year the Mediterranean coast hosts a bunch of quality races with startlists stacked with headliners and this will be no exception, as the riders will take in the sunny and hilly roads for some preparation but also with meaningful wins up for grabs.

The Route

The race starts off with an interesting hilly stage. The climbers have a chance to surprise, the puncheurs have a chance to resist and take on a sprint finish. This being the opening day will mean many riders will be in the unknown in terms of race condition, making it an extra exciting stage.

The first of the day for the sprinters, albeit featuring some hilly terrain from Bétera to Torrent.

The queen stage and where the GC will surely be decided. Steep climbs in Spain, a shocker right? 5.5Km at 10%, the stage isn’t easy but everyone will be focused in these final kilometers, the climb to the Alto de Tibi is not only viciously steep towards the end but has really rough pavement, which should make for a heart-blasting effort for whoever decides to go for a result in it.

Back into some more comfortable grounds where the riders will be able to get those kilometers in the legs without getting that big fatigue boost. The sprinters will have three opportunities this week and this is the second one.

The final one comes on the final day. It’s a very short stage but let’s face it, sometimes sprint stages really don’t need to be longer than this, Valencia will be the final point of the race.

Weather for the Week

Sunny days and temperatures that will be between 15 and 20 degrees. It’s early February I remind you, no surprise why so many riders like to train and race over here.

GC Contenders

With 15 World Tour teams at the start and many riders looking to get their season under way it’s with no surprise that’s there’s a strong and wide list of contenders to fight for the GC here. Despite there only being two stages to decide the overall if all goes normal, they will have big battles.

As main contenders for the race I would have four teams slightly above the competition, the first being Movistar who have just come out of the Mallorca Challenge with some sharp race days in the legs and with proven form. Alejandro Valverde should lead as it’s a race very well suited to his characteristics, with Enric Mas as a reliable second card for the Spanish team. The second is Quick-Step who come in with Remco Evenepoel, Mattia Cattaneo and Mikkel Honoré, all of which can be in contention for the win if the form is right. You have Ineos, with Tao Geoghegan Hart and Pavel Sivakov who should have a co-leadership, however never ignoring young talent Carlos Rodriguez who is also set to take a step up in Ineos’ hierarchy. And lastly you have Bora, Aleksandr Vlasov had a very good start to the season in Mallorca and promises to be a firm contender here, alongside the ever-consistent Wilco Kelderman they will for the first time share leadership duties.

Many other teams will have their chances aswell though as the level is very even. Bahrain come with the duo of Pello Bilbao and Dylan Teuns, Israel with Ben Hermans and Jakob Fuglsang, Astana with David de la Cruz and Vincenzo Nibali, UAE with Marc Soler and Juan Ayuso, and some more riders to take into consideration will be Giulio Ciccone and Lucas Hamilton, leading Trek and BikeExchange respectively. Each of these riders may step up and take the overall win if they find themselves on superior form, which is very possible at this time of year where many are just starting to get their engines in the proper gear.

The Sprinters

There are on paper three stages that suit the likes of the sprinters so with no surprise we also have a very respectable lineup of fast men at the start, even though some chose to kick things off in Saudi Arabia or in the Etoile de Bessèges. Fabio Jakobsen had a stellar return to competition last year and will be the man to beat no doubt, having a strong leadout here, but he will be challenged by the likes of some consolidated sprinters. Elia Viviani changed teams and in Ineos he will have another shot and road sprinting glory, Israel’s Giacomo Nizzolo and DSM’s Cees Bol should be the main rivals to the stages that Jakobsen is set to challenge.

Furthermore you’ll find David Dekker leading a modest Jumbo-Visma squad, alongside the UAE team who have Juan Sebastián Molano and Ryan Gibbons at the start, they should also be very dangerous if they get themselves in the right position. Alexander Kristoff will once again try to come for the sprints now that he’s on the helm of the Intermarché leadout, Dion Smith will be BikeExchange’s option, Matthew Walls will be Bora’s, Matteo Moschetti will be Trek’s, Andrea Vendrame will be leading the AG2R team and for Bingoal we have the interesting combination of Timothy Dupont and Stanislaw Aniolkowski.

Prediction Time

⭐⭐⭐ Valverde, Evenepoel, Vlasov

⭐⭐ Mas, Hart, Ciccone, Bilbao

⭐ Ayuso, Soler, Rodriguez, Sivakov, Fuglsang, Hermans, Kelderman, Hamilton, De la Cruz, Cattaneo, Teuns

It’ll be a battle mostly between experience and youth I’d say, Valverde is still very good in steep climbs and he’ll have one, and on the other side Evenepoel should also like it due to his lightweight build. I’m counting on Alejandro Valverde to capitalize on his classic early-season form and take home the overall.

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