Remco Evenepoel sealed his sixth victory in just eight days of racing for his new Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe team, easing through the short fifth stage of the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana to seal the overall win.
Evenepoel never came under threat on the two major climbs in the first half of the the 94.7-kilometre stage from Bétera to Valencia but when UAE Team Emirates XRG tried to split the peloton in the final 10 kilometres, the Belgian was attentive to the danger.
The surge in pace almost nullified the advantage of the day’s breakaway remnants, but Raul García Pierna (Movistar) sprinted to the stage win ahead of escape companions Emil Herzog (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and Jasper Schoofs (Soudal-QuickStep).
Evenepoel, in the group just four seconds behind, celebrated his first stage race win for his new team ahead of João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe).
How it unfolded
With just 95 kilometres of racing on the final stage of the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana, the fight for the day’s breakaway was short but intense, and 21 riders flew the coop in the first 10 minutes.
Most teams were represented, with Matevž Govekar (Bahrain Victorious), Adrià Pericas (UAE Team Emirates XRG), Julien Bernard and Mathias Norsgaard (Lidl-Trek), AJ August and Kim Heiduk (Ineos Grenadiers), Emil Herzog (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Jasper Schoofs (Soudal-Quickstep), Raúl García Pierna and Daniele Forlin (Movistar), Sven Erik Bystrøm (Uno-X Mobility), Tom van Asbroeck (NSN), Danny van der Tuuk (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Joseba López (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Mattia Bais and Mirco Maestri (Polti-VisitMalta), Iñigo Elosegui and Diego Uriarte (Kern Pharma), Jonathan Caicedo (Petrolike), Conn McDunphy and Adam Lewis (APS/Cadence Cyclery) making the move.
Van der Tuuk, the leader of the mountains classification, made the move to defend the jersey and sealed the victory on the first climb, the Oronet and then was free to ease up on the much harder climb at Garbí.
The steep pitches of that second ascent – a maximum of 16.4% – shattered the breakaway, and after the summit it was Herzog leading Pericas, Bernard, August, Schoofs, Movistar’s García Pierna and Uriarte with Govekar, Heiduk,…
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