2018 Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana (2.1)
69th edition: January 31 - February 4, 2018
Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana podium history | 2017 edition | 2019 edition | Start list
Stage 1 | Stage 2 | Stage 3 | Stage 4 | Stage 5
Sunday, February 4: 5th & Final Stage, Paterna - Valencia, 135.2 km
Jurgen Roelandts (left) and Danny van Poppel drive for the line at the end of stage 5. Roelandts got it.
The race: Here's the story from stage winner Jurgen Roelandts' BMC team.
4 February, 2018, Valencia (ESP): Jürgen Roelandts sprinted to victory on the fifth and final stage of Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana following a strong day of racing from BMC Racing Team.
Despite the wet weather, it was a fast start to the final day of racing in Spain with a strong six-rider group, including Stefan Küng, jumping off the front of the peloton early and opening up an advantage over the opening 10km, of the 135.2km course.
However, behind the breakaway, the main bunch was keen to keep control of proceedings, and consequently, after peaking at 1'23" after 32km of racing, the gap to the leaders was pulled back to around the one-minute mark. Heading into the second half of the stage, and with a potential bunch sprint up for grabs, the peloton picked up the pace and the gap to Küng and the rest of the breakaway began to fall before, with 40km to go, just 30 seconds separated the two groups.
On the descent of the day's only categorized climb, Küng attacked to begin an impressive solo effort at the front of the race, which saw him head into the final 20km still holding onto an advantage of around 20 seconds.
While Küng continued to dig deep up ahead, the peloton began a frantic chase with riders stretched out along the road as the race was eventually pulled back together and the stage was set for a fast and furious finale.
With four sharp turns to navigate before the final run into the line, it was a battle for position in the bunch but, after being protected by his BMC Racing Team teammates, Roelandts was in a perfect position when the finish line came into view. As the sprint was launched, Roelandts' impressive turn of speed saw him power towards the line before punching the air with delight after sealing victory in Valencia.
Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana also proved to be a strong season opener for Kilian Frankiny, with the 24-year old crossing the line safely in the main bunch on stage 5 to secure ninth overall on the General Classification as well as the final white jersey of the week as the winner of the Best Young Rider Classification.
Interview with Jürgen Roelandts
Congratulations, Jürgen. How do you feel after today's victory?
"It's been a while since I have had a victory. I've moved teams, and I had an operation in the past six months, and this is my first race back. I proved today that I have worked hard and I was even able to take this victory. It's amazing for me. I think I made all the right choices over the last six months and it all came together today."
This was your first race with BMC Racing Team, what are your goals looking ahead to the rest of the season?
"My main goals will be the Classics with Greg Van Avermaet. I know he is the number one there. I knew I would get to have opportunities with the team at races like this to go for the sprints. It's a lot of fun to win for myself again. It's been three years, so I am super happy."
Quotes From the Finish Line:
Stefan Küng: "It was a pretty grim day with a lot of rain and cold temperatures at the beginning of the stage. My plan today was to go in the breakaway, and I was able to do that. We had a good group of six riders in front. It was obvious that the bunch wasn't going to let us get too far away, so we were always sitting around one minute ahead. Then, when we got closer to the climb, the bunch got to within 30 seconds. That's when the attacks started within the breakaway itself, and David De La Cruz (Team Sky) came from the bunch behind. In the descent, I passed him, and suddenly after a technical part, I looked back, and I was alone. I knew that if I waited for the others, we would get caught pretty quickly, so I just gave it a go and tried to do my best. On a parcours like today, with the highways, it's hard to hold off the whole bunch. It is never easy to get into a breakaway, so I was fully committed until the end, and it was a good training ride."
"When I crossed the line, I saw that Jürgen had won and that meant that my day wasn't all for nothing. Our guys could take it relatively calm in the bunch and set him up perfectly. I am really happy for him. He is a good fit for the team, and I think we will have a lot of fun and success together."
Kilian Frankiny: "With the rain today, it was not easy. Then, on the climb, Astana Pro Team tried something, so it was pretty hectic coming into the final. Stefan was still out in front and behind we were hoping that he could do it. Behind him, the team looked after me really well and kept me on the wheel so I could cross safely."
"I am very proud to win the white jersey. There were a lot of talented riders here like Gianni Moscon (Team Sky) and other big names, so I am pretty happy. Also ninth on the GC here was my first overall top ten result with BMC Racing Team, so I am very happy."
Sports Director, Valerio Piva: "I am very happy for Jürgen and for the whole team. They have worked well together all week. We won the team time trial which was already a good performance from the team. Then, coming into today, our plan was to jump in the breakaway with Stefan, and he made it a very hard race. In the final, we wanted to pilot Jürgen into the sprint, and everyone did their job. We were able to win the stage, and we also kept the white jersey, so we leave here with two victories and the best young rider classification. I am very happy with how the season has started for this group."
Complete Results:
135.2 kilometers raced at an average speed of 45.462 km/hr
| 1 | Roelandts, Jürgen | BMC | 2hr 58min 26sec |
| 2 | Poppel, Danny van | LottoNL-Jumbo | s.t. |
| 3 | Venturini, Clément | Ag2r La Mondiale | @ 1sec |
| 4 | Soto, Nelson | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | s.t. |
| 5 | Planckaert, Baptiste | Katusha-Alpecin | s.t. |
| 6 | Noppe, Christophe | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 7 | Canola, Marco | Vini Fantini-Nippo | s.t. |
| 8 | Gidich, Yevgeniy | Astana | s.t. |
| 9 | Koch, Jonas | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | s.t. |
| 10 | Hofstetter, Hugo | Cofidis | s.t. |
| 11 | Gazzoli, Michele | Polartec-Kometa | s.t. |
| 12 | Prades, Eduard | Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | s.t. |
| 13 | Tizza, Marco | Vini Fantini-Nippo | + 00' 04'' |
| 14 | Pibernik, Luka | Bahrain-Merida | s.t. |
| 15 | Antunes, Amaro | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | s.t. |
| 16 | Deltombe, Kevin | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 17 | Rosa, Diego | Sky | s.t. |
| 18 | Kudus, Merhawi | Dimension Data | s.t. |
| 19 | Rubio, Diego | Burgos-BH | s.t. |
| 20 | Enger, Sondre | Israel Cycling Academy | s.t. |
| 21 | Gautier, Cyril | Ag2r La Mondiale | s.t. |
| 22 | Irizar, Julen | Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | s.t. |
| 23 | Valverde, Alejandro | Movistar | s.t. |
| 24 | Sánchez, Luis León | Astana | s.t. |
| 25 | Rojas, José Joaquin | Movistar | s.t. |
| 26 | Bagioli, Nicola | Vini Fantini-Nippo | s.t. |
| 27 | Yates, Adam | Mitchelton-Scott | s.t. |
| 28 | Aranburu, Álex | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | s.t. |
| 29 | Modolo, Sacha | EF Education First-Drapac | s.t. |
| 30 | Bilbao, Pello | Astana | s.t. |
| 31 | Arcas, Jorge | Movistar | s.t. |
| 32 | Pernsteiner, Hermann | Bahrain-Merida | s.t. |
| 33 | Biermans, Jenthe | Katusha-Alpecin | s.t. |
| 34 | Mezgec, Luka | Mitchelton-Scott | s.t. |
| 35 | Herrada, Jesús | Cofidis | s.t. |
| 36 | Vuillermoz, Alexis | Ag2r La Mondiale | s.t. |
| 37 | Albasini, Michael | Mitchelton-Scott | s.t. |
| 38 | Fuglsang, Jakob | Astana | s.t. |
| 39 | Roglič, Primož | LottoNL-Jumbo | s.t. |
| 40 | Mendes, José | Burgos-BH | s.t. |
| 41 | Poels, Wout | Sky | s.t. |
| 42 | Hollenstein, Reto | Katusha-Alpecin | s.t. |
| 43 | Schär, Michael | BMC | s.t. |
| 44 | Bookwalter, Brent | BMC | s.t. |
| 45 | Frankiny, Kilian | BMC | s.t. |
| 46 | Sáez, Héctor | Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | s.t. |
| 47 | Vlasov, Aleksandr | Gazprom-RusVelo | s.t. |
| 48 | Anderson, Ryan | Rally Cycling | s.t. |
| 49 | Salas, Ibai | Burgos-BH | s.t. |
| 50 | Van Avermaet, Greg | BMC | s.t. |
| 51 | Kreuziger, Roman | Mitchelton-Scott | s.t. |
| 52 | Hermans, Ben | Israel Cycling Academy | s.t. |
| 53 | Sprengers, Thomas | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 54 | Plaza, Rubén | Israel Cycling Academy | s.t. |
| 55 | Van Hoecke, Gijs | LottoNL-Jumbo | s.t. |
| 56 | Moscon, Gianni | Sky | s.t. |
| 57 | Herrada, José | Cofidis | s.t. |
| 58 | Turek, Daniel | Israel Cycling Academy | s.t. |
| 59 | Visconti, Giovanni | Bahrain-Merida | s.t. |
| 60 | Chevrier, Clément | Ag2r La Mondiale | s.t. |
| 61 | Tulik, Angélo | Direct Energie | s.t. |
| 62 | Godon, Dorian | Cofidis | s.t. |
| 63 | Ourselin, Paul | Direct Energie | s.t. |
| 64 | De La Cruz, David | Sky | s.t. |
| 65 | Cras, Steff | Katusha-Alpecin | s.t. |
| 66 | Powless, Neilson | LottoNL-Jumbo | s.t. |
| 67 | Trentin, Matteo | Mitchelton-Scott | s.t. |
| 68 | Sicard, Romain | Direct Energie | s.t. |
| 69 | Owsian, Łukasz | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | s.t. |
| 70 | Bizkarra, Mikel | Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | s.t. |
| 71 | Fabbro, Matteo | Katusha-Alpecin | s.t. |
| 72 | Joyce, Colin | Rally Cycling | s.t. |
| 73 | Samitier, Sergio | Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | s.t. |
| 74 | Antón, Igor | Dimension Data | s.t. |
| 75 | Moser, Moreno | Astana | s.t. |
| 76 | Smit, Willie | Katusha-Alpecin | s.t. |
| 77 | Pardilla, Sergio | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | s.t. |
| 78 | Kiryienka, Vasil | Sky | s.t. |
| 79 | Domont, Axel | Ag2r La Mondiale | s.t. |
| 80 | Santaromita, Ivan | Vini Fantini-Nippo | s.t. |
| 81 | Gasparotto, Enrico | Bahrain-Merida | s.t. |
| 82 | Thwaites, Scott | Dimension Data | s.t. |
| 83 | Nauleau, Bryan | Direct Energie | s.t. |
| 84 | Perez, Anthony | Cofidis | s.t. |
| 85 | De Marchi, Alessandro | BMC | s.t. |
| 86 | Chernetski, Sergei | Astana | s.t. |
| 87 | Grivko, Andrei | Astana | s.t. |
| 88 | Sütterlin, Jasha | Movistar | s.t. |
| 89 | Pauwels, Serge | Dimension Data | s.t. |
| 90 | Stannard, Ian | Sky | s.t. |
| 91 | Carretero, Héctor | Movistar | s.t. |
| 92 | Yates, Simon | Mitchelton-Scott | s.t. |
| 93 | Róson, Jaime | Movistar | s.t. |
| 94 | Van Zyl, Johann | Dimension Data | s.t. |
| 95 | Tratnik, Jan | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | s.t. |
| 96 | Küng, Stefan | BMC | s.t. |
| 97 | Vanmarcke, Sep | EF Education First-Drapac | s.t. |
| 98 | Emden, Jos van | LottoNL-Jumbo | + 00' 26'' |
| 99 | Pellizotti, Franco | Bahrain-Merida | + 00' 27'' |
| 100 | Naesen, Oliver | Ag2r La Mondiale | + 00' 47'' |
| 101 | Kwiatkowski, Michał | Sky | + 01' 00'' |
| 102 | Porsev, Alexander | Gazprom-RusVelo | + 03' 23'' |
| 103 | Boev, Igor | Gazprom-RusVelo | + 05' 12'' |
| 104 | Gamper, Patrick | Polartec-Kometa | + 05' 34'' |
| 105 | Martín, Gotzon | Team Euskadi | s.t. |
| 106 | Insausti, Jon Ander | Team Euskadi | s.t. |
| 107 | Juaristi, Txomin | Team Euskadi | s.t. |
| 108 | Van Rooy, Kenneth | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 109 | Ballesteros, Miguél | Polartec-Kometa | s.t. |
| 110 | Lopez, Juan | Team Euskadi | s.t. |
| 111 | Camacho, Juan | Polartec-Kometa | s.t. |
| 112 | López, Diego | Team Euskadi | s.t. |
| 113 | Kuriyanov, Stepan | Gazprom-RusVelo | s.t. |
| 114 | Ries, Michel | Polartec-Kometa | s.t. |
| 115 | Petit, Adrien | Direct Energie | s.t. |
| 116 | Van Gompel, Mathias | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 117 | Goikoetxea, Peio | Team Euskadi | s.t. |
| 118 | Fernández, Egoitz | Team Euskadi | s.t. |
| 119 | Declercq, Benjamin | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 120 | Simón, Jordi | Burgos-BH | s.t. |
| 121 | Bou, Joan | Vini Fantini-Nippo | s.t. |
| 122 | Van Hecke, Preben | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 123 | Kump, Marko | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | s.t. |
| 124 | Rodríguez, Cristian | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | s.t. |
| 125 | Novak, Domen | Bahrain-Merida | s.t. |
| 126 | Inkelaar, Kevin | Polartec-Kometa | s.t. |
| 127 | Moschetti, Matteo | Polartec-Kometa | s.t. |
| 128 | Molina, Antonio | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | s.t. |
| 129 | Ponzi, Simone | Vini Fantini-Nippo | s.t. |
| 130 | Nakane, Hideto | Vini Fantini-Nippo | s.t. |
| 131 | Cabedo, Óscar | Burgos-BH | s.t. |
| 132 | Ezquerra, Jesús | Burgos-BH | s.t. |
| 133 | Sanz, Enrique | Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | s.t. |
| 134 | Gradek, Kamil | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | s.t. |
| 135 | Niv, Guy | Israel Cycling Academy | s.t. |
| 136 | Mancebo, Francisco | Inteja Dominica | s.t. |
| 137 | Firsanov, Sergey | Gazprom-RusVelo | s.t. |
| 138 | Bico, Nuno | Movistar | s.t. |
| 139 | Nych, Artem | Gazprom-RusVelo | s.t. |
| 140 | Navardauskas, Ramunas | Bahrain-Merida | s.t. |
| 141 | Bravo, Garikoitz | Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | s.t. |
| 142 | Belkov, Maxim | Katusha-Alpecin | s.t. |
| 143 | McLay, Daniel | EF Education First-Drapac | s.t. |
| 144 | Diaz, José | Israel Cycling Academy | s.t. |
| 145 | Rolland, Pierre | EF Education First-Drapac | s.t. |
| 146 | Breschel, Matti | EF Education First-Drapac | s.t. |
| 147 | Langeveld, Sebastian | EF Education First-Drapac | s.t. |
| 148 | Trusov, Nikolay | Gazprom-RusVelo | s.t. |
| 149 | Dougall, Nic | Dimension Data | s.t. |
| 150 | Gaudin, Damien | Direct Energie | s.t. |
| 151 | Winden, Dennis van | Israel Cycling Academy | s.t. |
| 152 | Rossetto, Stéphane | Cofidis | s.t. |
| 153 | Taaramäe, Rein | Direct Energie | + 05' 46'' |
| 154 | Bouwman, Koen | LottoNL-Jumbo | s.t. |
| 155 | Huffman, Evan | Rally Cycling | + 10' 28'' |
| 156 | Van Asbroeck, Tom | EF Education First-Drapac | + 11' 31'' |
| 157 | Rubio, Jesús | Inteja Dominica | s.t. |
| 158 | Torres, Albert | Inteja Dominica | s.t. |
| 159 | Aguirre, José | Inteja Dominica | s.t. |
Final GC after Stage 5:
- Final GC leader: Alejandro Valverde (Movistar)
- Mountains classification winner: Preben van Hecke (Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise)
- Conbination classification winner: Thomas Sprengers (Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise)
- Best young rider: Kilian Frankiny (BMC)
- Team classification winner: Astana
661.6 kilometers raced at an average speed of 40.719 km/hr
| 1 | Valverde, Alejandro | Movistar | 16hr 14min 53sec |
| 2 | Sánchez, Luis León | Astana | @ 14sec |
| 3 | Fuglsang, Jakob | Astana | + 00' 26'' |
| 4 | Yates, Adam | Mitchelton-Scott | + 00' 37'' |
| 5 | Herrada, Jesús | Cofidis | + 00' 48'' |
| 6 | Roglič, Primož | LottoNL-Jumbo | + 00' 49'' |
| 7 | Bilbao, Pello | Astana | + 00' 54'' |
| 8 | Kreuziger, Roman | Mitchelton-Scott | + 00' 57'' |
| 9 | Frankiny, Kilian | BMC | + 01' 03'' |
| 10 | Antunes, Amaro | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | + 01' 09'' |
| 11 | Hermans, Ben | Israel Cycling Academy | + 01' 09'' |
| 12 | Moscon, Gianni | Sky | + 01' 13'' |
| 13 | Vuillermoz, Alexis | Ag2r La Mondiale | + 01' 17'' |
| 14 | De La Cruz, David | Sky | s.t. |
| 15 | Kudus, Merhawi | Dimension Data | + 01' 21'' |
| 16 | Bookwalter, Brent | BMC | + 01' 23'' |
| 17 | Rosa, Diego | Sky | + 01' 28'' |
| 18 | Visconti, Giovanni | Bahrain-Merida | + 01' 42'' |
| 19 | Poels, Wout | Sky | + 01' 52'' |
| 20 | Van Avermaet, Greg | BMC | + 01' 52'' |
| 21 | Powless, Neilson | LottoNL-Jumbo | + 01' 55'' |
| 22 | Fabbro, Matteo | Katusha-Alpecin | + 02' 04'' |
| 23 | Bizkarra, Mikel | Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | + 02' 59'' |
| 24 | Yates, Simon | Mitchelton-Scott | + 03' 35'' |
| 25 | Pernsteiner, Hermann | Bahrain-Merida | + 04' 20'' |
| 26 | Cras, Steff | Katusha-Alpecin | + 04' 23'' |
| 27 | Sicard, Romain | Direct Energie | + 04' 26'' |
| 28 | Domont, Axel | Ag2r La Mondiale | s.t. |
| 29 | Prades, Eduard | Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | + 04' 54'' |
| 30 | Aranburu, Álex | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | + 04' 57'' |
| 31 | Mendes, José | Burgos-BH | + 05' 00'' |
| 32 | De Marchi, Alessandro | BMC | + 05' 05'' |
| 33 | Sprengers, Thomas | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | + 05' 08'' |
| 34 | Naesen, Oliver | Ag2r La Mondiale | + 05' 22'' |
| 35 | Róson, Jaime | Movistar | + 05' 27'' |
| 36 | Herrada, José | Cofidis | + 05' 30'' |
| 37 | Vlasov, Aleksandr | Gazprom-RusVelo | s.t. |
| 38 | Pibernik, Luka | Bahrain-Merida | + 05' 36'' |
| 39 | Gautier, Cyril | Ag2r La Mondiale | + 06' 11'' |
| 40 | Chevrier, Clément | Ag2r La Mondiale | s.t. |
| 41 | Tulik, Angélo | Direct Energie | + 06' 36'' |
| 42 | Tizza, Marco | Vini Fantni-Nippo | + 06' 38'' |
| 43 | Venturini, Clément | Ag2r La Mondiale | + 06' 45'' |
| 44 | Tratnik, Jan | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | + 06' 47'' |
| 45 | Plaza, Rubén | Israel Cycling Academy | + 06' 52'' |
| 46 | Schär, Michael | BMC | + 06' 55'' |
| 47 | Owsian, Łukasz | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | + 07' 02'' |
| 48 | Hollenstein, Reto | Katusha-Alpecin | + 07' 11'' |
| 49 | Gasparotto, Enrico | Bahrain-Merida | + 07' 24'' |
| 50 | Grivko, Andrei | Astana | + 07' 38'' |
| 51 | Rubio, Diego | Burgos-BH | + 07' 41'' |
| 52 | Pellizotti, Franco | Bahrain-Merida | + 07' 47'' |
| 53 | Chernetski, Sergei | Astana | + 07' 57'' |
| 54 | Planckaert, Baptiste | Katusha-Alpecin | + 09' 08'' |
| 55 | Vanmarcke, Sep | EF Education First-Drapac | + 09' 39'' |
| 56 | Ballesteros, Miguél | Polartec-Kometa | + 09' 56'' |
| 57 | Smit, Willie | Katusha-Alpecin | + 10' 01'' |
| 58 | Turek, Daniel | Israel Cycling Academy | + 10' 41'' |
| 59 | Taaramäe, Rein | Direct Energie | + 10' 54'' |
| 60 | Mezgec, Luka | Mitchelton-Scott | + 10' 56'' |
| 61 | Antón, Igor | Dimension Data | + 10' 58'' |
| 62 | Biermans, Jenthe | Katusha-Alpecin | + 10' 59'' |
| 63 | Moser, Moreno | Astana | + 11' 43'' |
| 64 | Ezquerra, Jesús | Burgos-BH | + 11' 51'' |
| 65 | Ries, Michel | Polartec-Kometa | + 12' 06'' |
| 66 | Roelandts, Jürgen | BMC | + 12' 15'' |
| 67 | Declercq, Benjamin | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | + 12' 41'' |
| 68 | Rojas, José Joaquin | Movistar | + 12' 44'' |
| 69 | Koch, Jonas | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | + 13' 13'' |
| 70 | Kwiatkowski, Michał | Sky | + 15' 02'' |
| 71 | Kiryienka, Vasil | Sky | + 15' 43'' |
| 72 | Rodríguez, Cristian | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | + 16' 28'' |
| 73 | Novak, Domen | Bahrain-Merida | + 16' 36'' |
| 74 | Poppel, Danny van | LottoNL-Jumbo | + 17' 13'' |
| 75 | Albasini, Michael | Mitchelton-Scott | + 17' 14'' |
| 76 | Van Hoecke, Gijs | LottoNL-Jumbo | + 17' 26'' |
| 77 | Van Zyl, Johann | Dimension Data | s.t. |
| 78 | Arcas, Jorge | Movistar | + 17' 28'' |
| 79 | Salas, Ibai | Burgos-BH | + 17' 41'' |
| 80 | Anderson, Ryan | Rally Cycling | + 17' 57'' |
| 81 | Küng, Stefan | BMC | s.t. |
| 82 | Pardilla, Sergio | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | + 18' 03'' |
| 83 | Pauwels, Serge | Dimension Data | + 18' 07'' |
| 84 | Deltombe, Kevin | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | + 18' 15'' |
| 85 | Perez, Anthony | Cofidis | s.t. |
| 86 | Cabedo, Óscar | Burgos-BH | + 18' 16'' |
| 87 | Irizar, Julen | Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | + 18' 19'' |
| 88 | Thwaites, Scott | Dimension Data | + 18' 23'' |
| 89 | Canola, Marco | Vini Fantni-Nippo | + 19' 36'' |
| 90 | Van Hecke, Preben | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 91 | Bagioli, Nicola | Vini Fantni-Nippo | + 19' 39'' |
| 92 | Santaromita, Ivan | Vini Fantni-Nippo | s.t. |
| 93 | Carretero, Héctor | Movistar | + 19' 43'' |
| 94 | Joyce, Colin | Rally Cycling | + 19' 48'' |
| 95 | Simón, Jordi | Burgos-BH | + 20' 07'' |
| 96 | Modolo, Sacha | EF Education First-Drapac | + 20' 17'' |
| 97 | Juaristi, Txomin | Team Euskadi | + 20' 35'' |
| 98 | Niv, Guy | Israel Cycling Academy | + 21' 03'' |
| 99 | Breschel, Matti | EF Education First-Drapac | + 21' 11'' |
| 100 | Gidich, Yevgeniy | Astana | + 21' 21'' |
| 101 | Ourselin, Paul | Direct Energie | + 21' 24'' |
| 102 | Bouwman, Koen | LottoNL-Jumbo | + 21' 30'' |
| 103 | Trentin, Matteo | Mitchelton-Scott | + 21' 32'' |
| 104 | Rossetto, Stéphane | Cofidis | + 21' 33'' |
| 105 | Molina, Antonio | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | + 23' 27'' |
| 106 | Nych, Artem | Gazprom-RusVelo | + 23' 33'' |
| 107 | Rolland, Pierre | EF Education First-Drapac | + 23' 51'' |
| 108 | Firsanov, Sergey | Gazprom-RusVelo | + 24' 08'' |
| 109 | Emden, Jos van | LottoNL-Jumbo | + 24' 24'' |
| 110 | Godon, Dorian | Cofidis | + 25' 04'' |
| 111 | Trusov, Nikolay | Gazprom-RusVelo | + 25' 11'' |
| 112 | Bravo, Garikoitz | Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | + 25' 16'' |
| 113 | Fernández, Egoitz | Team Euskadi | + 25' 23'' |
| 114 | Stannard, Ian | Sky | + 25' 46'' |
| 115 | Porsev, Alexander | Gazprom-RusVelo | + 26' 17'' |
| 116 | Insausti, Jon Ander | Team Euskadi | + 26' 54'' |
| 117 | Gradek, Kamil | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | s.t. |
| 118 | Martín, Gotzon | Team Euskadi | + 27' 00'' |
| 119 | Sütterlin, Jasha | Movistar | + 27' 19'' |
| 120 | Dougall, Nic | Dimension Data | + 27' 20'' |
| 121 | Nauleau, Bryan | Direct Energie | + 28' 00'' |
| 122 | Enger, Sondre | Israel Cycling Academy | + 28' 06'' |
| 123 | Lopez, Juan | Team Euskadi | + 28' 30'' |
| 124 | Van Gompel, Mathias | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | + 29' 29'' |
| 125 | Sáez, Héctor | Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | + 29' 36'' |
| 126 | Samitier, Sergio | Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | + 29' 48'' |
| 127 | Noppe, Christophe | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | + 31' 32'' |
| 128 | Moschetti, Matteo | Polartec-Kometa | + 31' 47'' |
| 129 | Soto, Nelson | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | + 32' 18'' |
| 130 | Van Rooy, Kenneth | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | + 33' 16'' |
| 131 | Diaz, José | Israel Cycling Academy | + 33' 25'' |
| 132 | Inkelaar, Kevin | Polartec-Kometa | + 33' 30'' |
| 133 | Bou, Joan | Vini Fantni-Nippo | + 33' 39'' |
| 134 | Gamper, Patrick | Polartec-Kometa | + 33' 42'' |
| 135 | Langeveld, Sebastian | EF Education First-Drapac | + 33' 49'' |
| 136 | Belkov, Maxim | Katusha-Alpecin | + 33' 58'' |
| 137 | Ponzi, Simone | Vini Fantni-Nippo | + 35' 12'' |
| 138 | Boev, Igor | Gazprom-RusVelo | + 35' 17'' |
| 139 | Petit, Adrien | Direct Energie | + 35' 26'' |
| 140 | Sanz, Enrique | Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | + 35' 41'' |
| 141 | McLay, Daniel | EF Education First-Drapac | + 36' 12'' |
| 142 | Nakane, Hideto | Vini Fantni-Nippo | + 36' 16'' |
| 143 | Goikoetxea, Peio | Team Euskadi | + 36' 54'' |
| 144 | Kuriyanov, Stepan | Gazprom-RusVelo | + 37' 09'' |
| 145 | Gazzoli, Michele | Polartec-Kometa | + 37' 43'' |
| 146 | Hofstetter, Hugo | Cofidis | + 37' 45'' |
| 147 | Mancebo, Francisco | Inteja Dominica | + 39' 45'' |
| 148 | Winden, Dennis van | Israel Cycling Academy | + 40' 05'' |
| 149 | Huffman, Evan | Rally Cycling | + 41' 14'' |
| 150 | Van Asbroeck, Tom | EF Education First-Drapac | + 42' 09'' |
| 151 | Torres, Albert | Inteja Dominica | + 42' 17'' |
| 152 | Kump, Marko | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | + 42' 52'' |
| 153 | Camacho, Juan | Polartec-Kometa | s.t. |
| 154 | Bico, Nuno | Movistar | s.t. |
| 155 | López, Diego | Team Euskadi | + 42' 56'' |
| 156 | Gaudin, Damien | Direct Energie | + 43' 25'' |
| 157 | Navardauskas, Ramunas | Bahrain-Merida | + 43' 50'' |
| 158 | Rubio, Jesús | Inteja Dominica | + 49' 47'' |
| 159 | Aguirre, José | Inteja Dominica | + 54' 02'' |
Saturday, February 3: Stage 4, Orihuela - Cocentaina, 181 km
Alejandro Valverde wins stage four while wearing the leader's jersey. Photo: Gomez Sport.
The race: Here's the stage story from GC leader Alejandro Valverde's Movistar team.
Words start to run low to define Alejandro Valverde‘s sensational return into racing after his accident in the 2017 Tour de France. Following his exhibition in the Alto del Garbí to win in Albuixech on Thursday, taking the leader’s jersey in the process, the Spanish rider from the Movistar Team reasserted his dominant position in the Queen stage of the 2018 Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana, a tough 184km journey from Orihuela to the Alto de las Canteras in Cocentaina.
Valverde was the strongest into the decisive stretch of the final climb, staying calm against all attacks from his rivals to finish off with one of his signature sprints in the closing 150 meters, where he left his group companions behind and reached down Briton Adam Yates (MTS), who had jumped away seconds before. The win, Alejandro’s 110th as a professional rider, strengthens his lead in the standings, now with 14 seconds over 2nd-place Luis León Sánchez (AST) and 26″ over Jakob Fuglsang.
Valverde rounded off a fine work from the whole Movistar Team all day. Early race control from Arcas, Bico, Sütterlin and Carretero was followed later on by big turns from Rojas and Rosón into the two ascents of Benillup (Cat-3), prior to the decisive climb. The squad directed by Chente García Acosta will have to get over one final hurdle tomorrow to claim success in the race, with a fast 135km loop from Paterna to Valencia and over the Alto del Oronet (Cat-4), 35k from the finish.
REACTION, Alejandro Valverde:
“The first thing I want to do is thank my whole team, because their work all day was impressive. The start was really, really fast, with attacks everywhere and not many teams wanting to keep things calm. Sky even tried to go all-in into the first ascent towards Cocentaina, after the Benillup climbs. When Kwiatkowski attacked, we tried to keep him at short distance first, but later on realised that we had to let him go, because we would be wasting some precious weapons if we tried to keep him on a leash. They then tried to get a third man at the front, and that’s where I went myself to chase him.
"The good thing was that my team-mates were able to stay strong and keep things a little bit more controlled in the following phase, so I could stay calm until the end. There’s no way I couldn’t finish things off for them, I had to pay them back. This win really feels great. I keep this yellow jersey and obtaining a second win in just seven days of racing… I honestly don’t know if I’m stronger than before the injury (laughs).”
Complete Results:
181 kilometers raced at an average speed of 37.632 km/hr
| 1 | Valverde, Alejandro | Movistar | 4hr 48min 35sec |
| 2 | Yates, Adam | Mitchelton-Scott | @ 4sec |
| 3 | Sánchez, Luis León | Astana | s.t. |
| 4 | Herrada, Jesús | Cofidis | + 00' 09'' |
| 5 | Roglič, Primož | LottoNL-Jumbo | + 00' 10'' |
| 6 | Fuglsang, Jakob | Astana | s.t. |
| 7 | Bilbao, Pello | Astana | + 00' 15'' |
| 8 | Kreuziger, Roman | Mitchelton-Scott | + 00' 18'' |
| 9 | Frankiny, Kilian | BMC | + 00' 24'' |
| 10 | Hermans, Ben | Israel Cycling Academy | + 00' 30'' |
| 11 | Antunes, Amaro | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | s.t. |
| 12 | Moscon, Gianni | Sky | + 00' 34'' |
| 13 | Vuillermoz, Alexis | Ag2r La Mondiale | + 00' 38'' |
| 14 | De La Cruz, David | Sky | s.t. |
| 15 | Kudus, Merhawi | Dimension Data | + 00' 42'' |
| 16 | Bookwalter, Brent | BMC | + 00' 44'' |
| 17 | Yates, Simon | Mitchelton-Scott | + 00' 47'' |
| 18 | Rosa, Diego | Sky | + 00' 49'' |
| 19 | Visconti, Giovanni | Bahrain-Merida | + 01' 03'' |
| 20 | Poels, Wout | Sky | + 01' 13'' |
| 21 | Van Avermaet, Greg | BMC | s.t. |
| 22 | Powless, Neilson | LottoNL-Jumbo | + 01' 16'' |
| 23 | Fabbro, Matteo | Katusha-Alpecin | + 01' 25'' |
| 24 | Pernsteiner, Hermann | Bahrain-Merida | + 01' 32'' |
| 25 | Cras, Steff | Katusha-Alpecin | + 01' 35'' |
| 26 | Sicard, Romain | Direct Energie | + 01' 38'' |
| 27 | Ballesteros, Miguél | Polartec-Kometa | s.t. |
| 28 | Domont, Axel | Ag2r La Mondiale | s.t. |
| 29 | Naesen, Oliver | Ag2r La Mondiale | + 01' 51'' |
| 30 | Prades, Eduard | Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | + 02' 09'' |
| 31 | Aranburu, Álex | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | s.t. |
| 32 | Mendes, José | Burgos-BH | + 02' 12'' |
| 33 | Juaristi, Txomin | Team Euskadi | + 02' 14'' |
| 34 | De Marchi, Alessandro | BMC | + 02' 17'' |
| 35 | Sprengers, Thomas | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | + 02' 20'' |
| 36 | Bizkarra, Mikel | Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | s.t. |
| 37 | Taaramäe, Rein | Direct Energie | + 02' 24'' |
| 38 | Vlasov, Aleksandr | Gazprom-RusVelo | + 02' 42'' |
| 39 | Niv, Guy | Israel Cycling Academy | s.t. |
| 40 | Herrada, José | Cofidis | s.t. |
| 41 | Pibernik, Luka | Bahrain-Merida | + 02' 48'' |
| 42 | Bouwman, Koen | LottoNL-Jumbo | + 02' 57'' |
| 43 | Chevrier, Clément | Ag2r La Mondiale | + 03' 23'' |
| 44 | Gautier, Cyril | Ag2r La Mondiale | s.t. |
| 45 | Ezquerra, Jesús | Burgos-BH | + 03' 33'' |
| 46 | Ries, Michel | Polartec-Kometa | + 03' 48'' |
| 47 | Tulik, Angélo | Direct Energie | s.t. |
| 48 | Tizza, Marco | Vini Fantini-Nippo | + 03' 50'' |
| 49 | Tratnik, Jan | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | + 03' 59'' |
| 50 | Venturini, Clément | Ag2r La Mondiale | + 04' 04'' |
| 51 | Plaza, Rubén | Israel Cycling Academy | s.t. |
| 52 | Schär, Michael | BMC | + 04' 07'' |
| 53 | Owsian, Łukasz | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | + 04' 14'' |
| 54 | Albasini, Michael | Mitchelton-Scott | + 04' 23'' |
| 55 | Hollenstein, Reto | Katusha-Alpecin | s.t. |
| 56 | Declercq, Benjamin | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 57 | Turek, Daniel | Israel Cycling Academy | + 04' 26'' |
| 58 | Pellizotti, Franco | Bahrain-Merida | + 04' 36'' |
| 59 | Gasparotto, Enrico | Bahrain-Merida | s.t. |
| 60 | Biermans, Jenthe | Katusha-Alpecin | + 04' 44'' |
| 61 | Róson, Jaime | Movistar | + 04' 48'' |
| 62 | Salas, Ibai | Burgos-BH | + 04' 50'' |
| 63 | Grivko, Andrei | Astana | s.t. |
| 64 | Rubio, Diego | Burgos-BH | + 04' 53'' |
| 65 | Chernetski, Sergei | Astana | + 05' 09'' |
| 66 | Irizar, Julen | Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | + 05' 28'' |
| 67 | Roelandts, Jürgen | BMC | + 06' 18'' |
| 68 | Planckaert, Baptiste | Katusha-Alpecin | + 06' 23'' |
| 69 | Vanmarcke, Sep | EF Education First-Drapac | + 06' 51'' |
| 70 | Smit, Willie | Katusha-Alpecin | + 07' 13'' |
| 71 | Antón, Igor | Dimension Data | + 08' 10'' |
| 72 | Rodríguez, Cristian | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | s.t. |
| 73 | Mezgec, Luka | Mitchelton-Scott | + 08' 14'' |
| 74 | Novak, Domen | Bahrain-Merida | + 08' 18'' |
| 75 | Moser, Moreno | Astana | + 08' 55'' |
| 76 | Rojas, José Joaquin | Movistar | + 09' 56'' |
| 77 | Fernández, Egoitz | Team Euskadi | + 09' 58'' |
| 78 | Cabedo, Óscar | Burgos-BH | s.t. |
| 79 | Koch, Jonas | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | + 10' 28'' |
| 80 | Diaz, José | Israel Cycling Academy | + 10' 31'' |
| 81 | Emden, Jos van | LottoNL-Jumbo | + 11' 11'' |
| 82 | Van Hoecke, Gijs | LottoNL-Jumbo | s.t. |
| 83 | Van Zyl, Johann | Dimension Data | s.t. |
| 84 | Arcas, Jorge | Movistar | + 11' 13'' |
| 85 | Kuss, Sepp | LottoNL-Jumbo | + 11' 15'' |
| 86 | Poppel, Danny van | LottoNL-Jumbo | + 11' 18'' |
| 87 | Kwiatkowski, Michał | Sky | s.t. |
| 88 | Van Hecke, Preben | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 89 | Simón, Jordi | Burgos-BH | + 11' 49'' |
| 90 | Trentin, Matteo | Mitchelton-Scott | + 12' 53'' |
| 91 | Breschel, Matti | EF Education First-Drapac | s.t. |
| 92 | Kiryienka, Vasil | Sky | + 12' 55'' |
| 93 | Stannard, Ian | Sky | s.t. |
| 94 | Modolo, Sacha | EF Education First-Drapac | + 13' 01'' |
| 95 | Rossetto, Stéphane | Cofidis | + 13' 15'' |
| 96 | Trusov, Nikolay | Gazprom-RusVelo | + 13' 26'' |
| 97 | Moschetti, Matteo | Polartec-Kometa | s.t. |
| 98 | Gradek, Kamil | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | + 15' 09'' |
| 99 | Insausti, Jon Ander | Team Euskadi | s.t. |
| 100 | Schlegel, Michal | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | s.t. |
| 101 | Anderson, Ryan | Rally Cycling | s.t. |
| 102 | Nauleau, Bryan | Direct Energie | s.t. |
| 103 | Inkelaar, Kevin | Polartec-Kometa | s.t. |
| 104 | Ourselin, Paul | Direct Energie | s.t. |
| 105 | Molina, Antonio | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | s.t. |
| 106 | Godon, Dorian | Cofidis | s.t. |
| 107 | Küng, Stefan | BMC | s.t. |
| 108 | Britton, Rob | Rally Cycling | s.t. |
| 109 | Gidich, Yevgeniy | Astana | s.t. |
| 110 | Martín, Gotzon | Team Euskadi | + 15' 15'' |
| 111 | Enger, Sondre | Israel Cycling Academy | s.t. |
| 112 | Winden, Dennis van | Israel Cycling Academy | s.t. |
| 113 | Pardilla, Sergio | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | s.t. |
| 114 | Nych, Artem | Gazprom-RusVelo | s.t. |
| 115 | Pauwels, Serge | Dimension Data | + 15' 19'' |
| 116 | Gamper, Patrick | Polartec-Kometa | + 15' 21'' |
| 117 | Oronte, Emerson | Rally Cycling | s.t. |
| 118 | Perez, Anthony | Cofidis | + 15' 27'' |
| 119 | Deltombe, Kevin | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 120 | Langeveld, Sebastian | EF Education First-Drapac | + 15' 28'' |
| 121 | Rolland, Pierre | EF Education First-Drapac | + 15' 33'' |
| 122 | Thwaites, Scott | Dimension Data | + 15' 35'' |
| 123 | Dougall, Nic | Dimension Data | s.t. |
| 124 | Belkov, Maxim | Katusha-Alpecin | + 15' 37'' |
| 125 | Mancebo, Francisco | Inteja Dominica | + 15' 41'' |
| 126 | Firsanov, Sergey | Gazprom-RusVelo | + 15' 50'' |
| 127 | Porsev, Alexander | Gazprom-RusVelo | + 16' 43'' |
| 128 | Lopez, Juan | Team Euskadi | + 16' 45'' |
| 129 | Sáez, Héctor | Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | s.t. |
| 130 | Bagioli, Nicola | Vini Fantini-Nippo | + 16' 51'' |
| 131 | Ponzi, Simone | Vini Fantini-Nippo | s.t. |
| 132 | Canola, Marco | Vini Fantini-Nippo | s.t. |
| 133 | Santaromita, Ivan | Vini Fantini-Nippo | s.t. |
| 134 | Bou, Joan | Vini Fantini-Nippo | + 16' 55'' |
| 135 | Carretero, Héctor | Movistar | s.t. |
| 136 | Samitier, Sergio | Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | + 16' 57'' |
| 137 | Bravo, Garikoitz | Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | + 16' 58'' |
| 138 | Joyce, Colin | Rally Cycling | + 17' 00'' |
| 139 | Petit, Adrien | Direct Energie | + 17' 05'' |
| 140 | Boev, Igor | Gazprom-RusVelo | + 17' 18'' |
| 141 | Sanz, Enrique | Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | + 17' 20'' |
| 142 | Van Gompel, Mathias | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | + 17' 44'' |
| 143 | Van Asbroeck, Tom | EF Education First-Drapac | + 17' 51'' |
| 144 | McLay, Daniel | EF Education First-Drapac | s.t. |
| 145 | Van Rooy, Kenneth | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 146 | Torres, Albert | Inteja Dominica | + 17' 59'' |
| 147 | Goikoetxea, Peio | Team Euskadi | + 18' 33'' |
| 148 | Noppe, Christophe | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | + 18' 44'' |
| 149 | Kuriyanov, Stepan | Gazprom-RusVelo | + 18' 48'' |
| 150 | Soto, Nelson | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | + 19' 30'' |
| 151 | Sütterlin, Jasha | Movistar | + 24' 31'' |
| 152 | Milán, Diego | Inteja Dominica | s.t. |
| 153 | Celano, Danilo | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | s.t. |
| 154 | Nakane, Hideto | Vini Fantini-Nippo | s.t. |
| 155 | Bico, Nuno | Movistar | s.t. |
| 156 | Camacho, Juan | Polartec-Kometa | s.t. |
| 157 | Sarabia, Ignacio | Inteja Dominica | s.t. |
| 158 | Kump, Marko | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | s.t. |
| 159 | Huffman, Evan | Rally Cycling | + 24' 35'' |
| 160 | López, Diego | Team Euskadi | s.t. |
| 161 | Gazzoli, Michele | Polartec-Kometa | + 24' 55'' |
| 162 | Eisel, Bernhard | Dimension Data | s.t. |
| 163 | Hofstetter, Hugo | Cofidis | + 24' 57'' |
| 164 | Gaudin, Damien | Direct Energie | + 25' 04'' |
| 165 | Rubio, Jesús | Inteja Dominica | + 25' 29'' |
| 166 | Navardauskas, Ramunas | Bahrain-Merida | s.t. |
| 167 | Aguirre, José | Inteja Dominica | + 25' 55'' |
GC after stage 4:
526.4 kilometers raced so far at an average speed of 39.659 km/hr
| 1 | Valverde, Alejandro | Movistar | 13hr 16min 23sec |
| 2 | Sánchez, Luis León | Astana | @ 14sec |
| 3 | Fuglsang, Jakob | Astana | + 00' 26'' |
| 4 | Yates, Adam | Mitchelton-Scott | + 00' 37'' |
| 5 | Herrada, Jesús | Cofidis | + 00' 48'' |
| 6 | Roglič, Primož | LottoNL-Jumbo | + 00' 49'' |
| 7 | Bilbao, Pello | Astana | + 00' 54'' |
| 8 | Kreuziger, Roman | Mitchelton-Scott | + 00' 57'' |
| 9 | Frankiny, Kilian | BMC | + 01' 03'' |
| 10 | Antunes, Amaro | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | + 01' 09'' |
| 11 | Hermans, Ben | Israel Cycling Academy | s.t. |
| 12 | Moscon, Gianni | Sky | + 01' 13'' |
| 13 | De La Cruz, David | Sky | + 01' 17'' |
| 14 | Vuillermoz, Alexis | Ag2r La Mondiale | s.t. |
| 15 | Kudus, Merhawi | Dimension Data | + 01' 21'' |
| 16 | Bookwalter, Brent | BMC | + 01' 23'' |
| 17 | Rosa, Diego | Sky | + 01' 28'' |
| 18 | Visconti, Giovanni | Bahrain-Merida | + 01' 42'' |
| 19 | Poels, Wout | Sky | + 01' 52'' |
| 20 | Van Avermaet, Greg | BMC | s.t. |
| 21 | Powless, Neilson | LottoNL-Jumbo | + 01' 55'' |
| 22 | Fabbro, Matteo | Katusha-Alpecin | + 02' 04'' |
| 23 | Bizkarra, Mikel | Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | + 02' 59'' |
| 24 | Yates, Simon | Mitchelton-Scott | + 03' 35'' |
| 25 | Pernsteiner, Hermann | Bahrain-Merida | + 04' 20'' |
| 26 | Cras, Steff | Katusha-Alpecin | + 04' 23'' |
| 27 | Ballesteros, Miguél | Polartec-Kometa | + 04' 26'' |
| 28 | Sicard, Romain | Direct Energie | s.t. |
| 29 | Domont, Axel | Ag2r La Mondiale | s.t. |
| 30 | Naesen, Oliver | Ag2r La Mondiale | + 04' 39'' |
| 31 | Prades, Eduard | Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | + 04' 57'' |
| 32 | Aranburu, Álex | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | + 04' 57'' |
| 33 | Mendes, José | Burgos-BH | s.t. |
| 34 | De Marchi, Alessandro | BMC | + 05' 05'' |
| 35 | Sprengers, Thomas | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | + 05' 08'' |
| 36 | Taaramäe, Rein | Direct Energie | + 05' 12'' |
| 37 | Róson, Jaime | Movistar | + 05' 27'' |
| 38 | Herrada, José | Cofidis | + 05' 30'' |
| 39 | Vlasov, Aleksandr | Gazprom-RusVelo | s.t. |
| 40 | Pibernik, Luka | Bahrain-Merida | + 05' 36'' |
| 41 | Gautier, Cyril | Ag2r La Mondiale | + 06' 11'' |
| 42 | Chevrier, Clément | Ag2r La Mondiale | s.t. |
| 43 | Ezquerra, Jesús | Burgos-BH | + 06' 21'' |
| 44 | Tulik, Angélo | Direct Energie | + 06' 36'' |
| 45 | Ries, Michel | Polartec-Kometa | s.t. |
| 46 | Tizza, Marco | Vini Fantini-Nippo | + 06' 38'' |
| 47 | Tratnik, Jan | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | + 06' 47'' |
| 48 | Venturini, Clément | Ag2r La Mondiale | + 06' 52'' |
| 49 | Plaza, Rubén | Israel Cycling Academy | s.t. |
| 50 | Schär, Michael | BMC | + 06' 55'' |
| 51 | Owsian, Łukasz | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | + 07' 02'' |
| 52 | Declercq, Benjamin | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | + 07' 11'' |
| 53 | Hollenstein, Reto | Katusha-Alpecin | s.t. |
| 54 | Gasparotto, Enrico | Bahrain-Merida | + 07' 24'' |
| 55 | Pellizotti, Franco | Bahrain-Merida | s.t. |
| 56 | Grivko, Andrei | Astana | + 07' 38'' |
| 57 | Rubio, Diego | Burgos-BH | + 07' 41'' |
| 58 | Chernetski, Sergei | Astana | + 07' 57'' |
| 59 | Planckaert, Baptiste | Katusha-Alpecin | + 09' 11'' |
| 60 | Vanmarcke, Sep | EF Education First-Drapac | + 09' 39'' |
| 61 | Smit, Willie | Katusha-Alpecin | + 10' 01'' |
| 62 | Turek, Daniel | Israel Cycling Academy | + 10' 41'' |
| 63 | Mezgec, Luka | Mitchelton-Scott | + 10' 56'' |
| 64 | Antón, Igor | Dimension Data | + 10' 58'' |
| 65 | Rodríguez, Cristian | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | s.t. |
| 66 | Biermans, Jenthe | Katusha-Alpecin | + 10' 59'' |
| 67 | Novak, Domen | Bahrain-Merida | + 11' 06'' |
| 68 | Moser, Moreno | Astana | + 11' 43'' |
| 69 | Roelandts, Jürgen | BMC | + 12' 29'' |
| 70 | Rojas, José Joaquin | Movistar | + 12' 44'' |
| 71 | Cabedo, Óscar | Burgos-BH | + 12' 46'' |
| 72 | Koch, Jonas | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | + 13' 16'' |
| 73 | Kuss, Sepp | LottoNL-Jumbo | + 14' 03'' |
| 74 | Kwiatkowski, Michał | Sky | + 14' 06'' |
| 75 | Van Hecke, Preben | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 76 | Simón, Jordi | Burgos-BH | + 14' 37'' |
| 77 | Juaristi, Txomin | Team Euskadi | + 15' 05'' |
| 78 | Niv, Guy | Israel Cycling Academy | + 15' 33'' |
| 79 | Breschel, Matti | EF Education First-Drapac | + 15' 41'' |
| 80 | Kiryienka, Vasil | Sky | + 15' 43'' |
| 81 | Bouwman, Koen | LottoNL-Jumbo | + 15' 48'' |
| 82 | Rossetto, Stéphane | Cofidis | + 16' 03'' |
| 83 | Albasini, Michael | Mitchelton-Scott | + 17' 14'' |
| 84 | Poppel, Danny van | LottoNL-Jumbo | + 17' 23'' |
| 85 | Van Hoecke, Gijs | LottoNL-Jumbo | + 17' 26'' |
| 86 | Van Zyl, Johann | Dimension Data | s.t. |
| 87 | Arcas, Jorge | Movistar | + 17' 28'' |
| 88 | Salas, Ibai | Burgos-BH | + 17' 41'' |
| 89 | Anderson, Ryan | Rally Cycling | + 17' 57'' |
| 90 | Küng, Stefan | BMC | s.t. |
| 91 | Schlegel, Michal | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | s.t. |
| 92 | Molina, Antonio | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | s.t. |
| 93 | Nych, Artem | Gazprom-RusVelo | + 18' 03'' |
| 94 | Pardilla, Sergio | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | s.t. |
| 95 | Pauwels, Serge | Dimension Data | + 18' 07'' |
| 96 | Oronte, Emerson | Rally Cycling | + 18' 09'' |
| 97 | Deltombe, Kevin | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | + 18' 15'' |
| 98 | Perez, Anthony | Cofidis | s.t. |
| 99 | Irizar, Julen | Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | + 18' 19'' |
| 100 | Rolland, Pierre | EF Education First-Drapac | + 18' 21'' |
| 101 | Thwaites, Scott | Dimension Data | + 18' 23'' |
| 102 | Firsanov, Sergey | Gazprom-RusVelo | + 18' 38'' |
| 103 | Canola, Marco | Vini Fantini-Nippo | + 19' 39'' |
| 104 | Bagioli, Nicola | Vini Fantini-Nippo | s.t. |
| 105 | Santaromita, Ivan | Vini Fantini-Nippo | s.t. |
| 106 | Trusov, Nikolay | Gazprom-RusVelo | + 19' 41'' |
| 107 | Carretero, Héctor | Movistar | + 19' 43'' |
| 108 | Bravo, Garikoitz | Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | + 19' 46'' |
| 109 | Joyce, Colin | Rally Cycling | + 19' 48'' |
| 110 | Fernández, Egoitz | Team Euskadi | + 19' 53'' |
| 111 | Modolo, Sacha | EF Education First-Drapac | + 20' 17'' |
| 112 | Insausti, Jon Ander | Team Euskadi | + 21' 24'' |
| 113 | Gidich, Yevgeniy | Astana | s.t. |
| 114 | Gradek, Kamil | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | s.t. |
| 115 | Ourselin, Paul | Direct Energie | s.t. |
| 116 | Martín, Gotzon | Team Euskadi | + 21' 30'' |
| 117 | Trentin, Matteo | Mitchelton-Scott | + 21' 32'' |
| 118 | Dougall, Nic | Dimension Data | + 21' 50'' |
| 119 | Porsev, Alexander | Gazprom-RusVelo | + 22' 58'' |
| 120 | Lopez, Juan | Team Euskadi | + 23' 00'' |
| 121 | Van Gompel, Mathias | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | + 23' 59'' |
| 122 | Emden, Jos van | LottoNL-Jumbo | + 24' 02'' |
| 123 | Godon, Dorian | Cofidis | + 25' 04'' |
| 124 | Stannard, Ian | Sky | + 25' 46'' |
| 125 | Moschetti, Matteo | Polartec-Kometa | + 26' 17'' |
| 126 | Sütterlin, Jasha | Movistar | + 27' 19'' |
| 127 | Van Rooy, Kenneth | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | + 27' 46'' |
| 128 | Diaz, José | Israel Cycling Academy | + 27' 55'' |
| 129 | Inkelaar, Kevin | Polartec-Kometa | + 28' 00'' |
| 130 | Nauleau, Bryan | Direct Energie | s.t. |
| 131 | Britton, Rob | Rally Cycling | s.t. |
| 132 | Enger, Sondre | Israel Cycling Academy | + 28' 06'' |
| 133 | Bou, Joan | Vini Fantini-Nippo | + 28' 09'' |
| 134 | Gamper, Patrick | Polartec-Kometa | + 28' 12'' |
| 135 | Langeveld, Sebastian | EF Education First-Drapac | + 28' 19'' |
| 136 | Belkov, Maxim | Katusha-Alpecin | + 28' 28'' |
| 137 | Sáez, Héctor | Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | + 29' 36'' |
| 138 | Ponzi, Simone | Vini Fantini-Nippo | + 29' 42'' |
| 139 | Samitier, Sergio | Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | + 29' 48'' |
| 140 | Petit, Adrien | Direct Energie | + 29' 56'' |
| 141 | Boev, Igor | Gazprom-RusVelo | + 30' 09'' |
| 142 | Sanz, Enrique | Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | + 30' 11'' |
| 143 | McLay, Daniel | EF Education First-Drapac | + 30' 42'' |
| 144 | Van Asbroeck, Tom | EF Education First-Drapac | + 30' 42'' |
| 145 | Nakane, Hideto | Vini Fantini-Nippo | + 30' 46'' |
| 146 | Celano, Danilo | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | s.t. |
| 147 | Torres, Albert | Inteja Dominica | + 30' 50'' |
| 148 | Huffman, Evan | Rally Cycling | s.t. |
| 149 | Goikoetxea, Peio | Team Euskadi | + 31' 24'' |
| 150 | Noppe, Christophe | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | + 31' 35'' |
| 151 | Kuriyanov, Stepan | Gazprom-RusVelo | + 31' 39'' |
| 152 | Soto, Nelson | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | + 32' 21'' |
| 153 | Mancebo, Francisco | Inteja Dominica | + 34' 15'' |
| 154 | Winden, Dennis van | Israel Cycling Academy | + 34' 35'' |
| 155 | Kump, Marko | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | + 37' 22'' |
| 156 | Camacho, Juan | Polartec-Kometa | s.t. |
| 157 | Bico, Nuno | Movistar | s.t. |
| 158 | López, Diego | Team Euskadi | + 37' 26'' |
| 159 | Gazzoli, Michele | Polartec-Kometa | + 37' 46'' |
| 160 | Hofstetter, Hugo | Cofidis | + 37' 48'' |
| 161 | Gaudin, Damien | Direct Energie | + 37' 55'' |
| 162 | Navardauskas, Ramunas | Bahrain-Merida | + 38' 20'' |
| 163 | Rubio, Jesús | Inteja Dominica | s.t. |
| 164 | Milán, Diego | Inteja Dominica | + 39' 46'' |
| 165 | Sarabia, Ignacio | Inteja Dominica | s.t. |
| 166 | Eisel, Bernhard | Dimension Data | + 40' 10'' |
| 167 | Aguirre, José | Inteja Dominica | + 42' 35'' |
Friday, February 2: Stage 3, Benitatxell - Calpe 23.2 km team time trial
Team BMC on their stage-winning ride. Photo: Gomez Sport
The race: Here's the report from winner Team BMC.
BMC Racing Team continued their dominance in the team time trial at the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana by smashing the 23km course to claim the win for the second consecutive year.
Heavy rain and strong winds early in the day put the race in doubt but eventually the race organizers and UCI commissaires decided to proceed but neutralize the result from the General Classification.
Fortunately, the rain had cleared and the roads had mostly dried by the time the first team rolled out at 14:32.
As the fourth to last team to roll down the ramp, BMC Racing Team was chasing the fastest provisional time of 29’01” set by Gazprom-RusVelo, which was later bettered by AG2R La Mondiale.
The team’s prowess in the discipline was immediately evident with the riders turning regularly, a perfect line in formation, and at the intermediate time check, BMC Racing Team clocked the fastest time by 25 seconds. The three final teams to start couldn’t match BMC Racing Team’s speed and as the remaining teams navigated the technical course, the advantage increased.
With the time taken from the fourth rider to finish, Greg Van Avermaet led Brent Bookwalter, Stefan Küng, and Jürgen Roelandts across the line and stopped the clock at 27’25” which was an impressive 50.77km/hour average speed.
Astana Pro Team and AG2R La Mondiale completed the podium, 1’08” and 1’12” behind respectively.
Quotes from the Finish Line
Stefan Küng: "It was a pretty demanding TTT but in the end, we are the best bike riders in the world, and I think we are able to handle this type of situation. This is also what makes a good bike rider. I am proud of the team. We did a good job, and we showed once again that we really know how to perform in this discipline and we know how to approach it no matter what the conditions are. We said that we didn't want to take inappropriate risks but that we wanted to go fast and I think that's what we did. It worked out well, so we are happy."
Greg Van Avermaet: "We prepared for the time trial as good as possible, and we came here with the main objective to win today. It was hard to make a good decision this morning because it was raining a lot but when it dried up, I think everyone wanted to keep it safe but still go as fast as possible to the line to take this victory. We are not here for the GC, and the most important thing for us was the stage win, and we now have it here with the team so, overall I'm pretty happy. It was a really technical course. It was not only about power it was also about technique, and with our team, we have a lot of experience, and that helped a lot to keep everyone together. Everyone put a stone in this victory, and it was really nice to see that we could still win today.”
Valerio Piva, Sports Director: "We came here with the team time trial win as our main objective. Of course, this morning it was difficult to motivate the riders because of the weather, but finally, the decision was made by the organization and the jury to ride but not for time. The guys were amazing in the race. Everyone was concentrating on doing their best. I am very happy. A team victory is good, and it gives everyone motivation."
Results:
23.2 kilometers raced at an average speed of 50.772 km/hr
| 1 | BMC | 27min 25sec |
| 2 | Astana | @ 1min 8sec |
| 3 | AG2R La Mondiale | 1:12 |
| 4 | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | 1:36 |
| 5 | Gazprom-RusVelo | s.t. |
| 6 | Katusha-Alpecin | 1:43 |
| 7 | Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | 1:46 |
| 8 | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | 1:54 |
| 9 | Cofidis | 2:13 |
| 10 | Direct Energie | 2:14 |
| 11 | Movistar | 2:31 |
| 12 | Vini Fanitini-Nippo | 2:37 |
| 13 | Burgos-BH | 2:45 |
| 14 | Team Euskadi | 2:57 |
| 15 | Bahrain-Merida | 2:59 |
| 16 | Mitchelton-Scott | 3:13 |
| 17 | Polartec-Kometa | 3:19 |
| 18 | Dimension Data | 3:32 |
| 19 | EF Education First-Drapac | 3:36 |
| 20 | Caja Rural - Seguros RGA | 3:49 |
| 21 | Sky | 4:07 |
| 22 | LottoNL-Jumbo | 4:18 |
| 23 | Inteja Dominica | 5:52 |
| 24 | Israel Cycling Academy | 6:34 |
GC after Stage 3:
Unchanged after the neutralized team time trial.
| 1 | VALVERDE Alejandro | Movistar | 8hr 27min 58sec |
| 2 | SANCHEZ Luis Leon | Astana | @ 4sec |
| 3 | FUGLSANG Jakob | Astana | 0:06 |
| 4 | POELS Wout | Sky | 0:29 |
| 5 | ROSA Diego | Sky | s.t. |
| 6 | BILBAO Pello | Astana | s.t. |
| 7 | VAN AVERMAET Greg | BMC | s.t. |
| 8 | DE LA CRUZ David | Sky | s.t. |
| 9 | ROGLIC Primoz | LottoNL-Jumbo | s.t. |
| 10 | BOOKWALTER Brent | BMC | s.t. |
| 11 | ANTUNES Amaro Manuel | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | s.t. |
| 12 | KUDUS Merhawi | Dimension Data | s.t. |
| 13 | VUILLERMOZ Alexis | AG2R La Mondiale | s.t. |
| 14 | ROSON Jaime | Movistar | s.t. |
| 15 | VISCONTI Giovanni | Bahrain-Merida | s.t. |
| 16 | POWLESS Neilson | LottoNL-Jumbo | s.t. |
| 17 | HERRADA Jesús | Cofidis | s.t. |
| 18 | KREUZIGER Roman | Mitchelton-Scott | s.t. |
| 19 | HERMANS Ben | Israel Cycling Academy | s.t. |
| 20 | MOSCON Gianni | Sky | s.t. |
| 21 | BIDARD François | AG2R La Mondiale | s.t. |
| 22 | BIZKARRA Mikel | Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | s.t. |
| 23 | FABBRO Matteo | Katusha-Alpecin | s.t. |
| 24 | FRANKINY Kilian | BMC | s.t. |
| 25 | YATES Adam | Mitchelton-Scott | s.t. |
| 26 | MEZGEC Luka | Mitchelton-Scott | 2:32 |
| 27 | VENTURINI Clément | AG2R La Mondiale | 2:38 |
| 28 | NAESEN Oliver | AG2R La Mondiale | s.t. |
| 29 | KWIATKOWSKI Michal | Sky | s.t. |
| 30 | ROJAS José Joaquín | Movistar | s.t. |
| 31 | SIMÓN Jordi | Burgos-BH | s.t. |
| 32 | SMIT Willie | Katusha-Alpecin | s.t. |
| 33 | ANDERSON Ryan | Rally Cycling | s.t. |
| 34 | THWAITES Scott | Dimension Data | s.t. |
| 35 | PIBERNIK Luka | Bahrain-Merida | s.t. |
| 36 | TULIK Angelo | Direct Energie | s.t. |
| 37 | RUBIO Diego | Burgos-BH | s.t. |
| 38 | PRADES Eduard | Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | s.t. |
| 39 | EZQUERRA Jesus | Burgos-BH | s.t. |
| 40 | KÜNG Stefan | BMC | s.t. |
| 41 | ARANBURU Alex | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | s.t. |
| 42 | GAUTIER Cyril | AG2R La Mondiale | s.t. |
| 43 | SÜTTERLIN Jasha | Movistar | s.t. |
| 44 | DELTOMBE Kevin | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 45 | DECLERCQ Benjamin | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 46 | CANOLA Marco | Vini Fantini-Nippo | s.t. |
| 47 | VANMARCKE Sep | EF Education First-Drapac | s.t. |
| 48 | BALLESTEROS Miguel Angel | Polartec-Kometa | s.t. |
| 49 | SPRENGERS Thomas | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 50 | PLANCKAERT Baptiste | Katusha-Alpecin | s.t. |
| 51 | SCHAR Michael | BMC | s.t. |
| 52 | TRATNIK Jan | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | s.t. |
| 53 | TAARAMÄE Rein | Direct Energie | s.t. |
| 54 | HERRADA José | Cofidis | s.t. |
| 55 | SICARD Romain | Direct Energie | s.t. |
| 56 | GASPAROTTO Enrico | Bahrain-Merida | s.t. |
| 57 | CHEVRIER Clément | AG2R La Mondiale | s.t. |
| 58 | DOMONT Axel | AG2R La Mondiale | s.t. |
| 59 | VAN HECKE Preben | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 60 | HOLLENSTEIN Reto | Katusha-Alpecin | s.t. |
| 61 | VLASOV Aleksandr | Gazprom-RusVelo | s.t. |
| 62 | KOCH Jonas | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | s.t. |
| 63 | KUSS Sepp | LottoNL-Jumbo | s.t. |
| 64 | DE MARCHI Alessandro | BMC | s.t. |
| 65 | SCHLEGEL Michal | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | s.t. |
| 66 | OWSIAN Lukasz | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | s.t. |
| 67 | MOLINA Antonio | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | s.t. |
| 68 | ROSSETTO Stephane | Cofidis | s.t. |
| 69 | JOYCE Colin | Rally Cycling | s.t. |
| 70 | ANTON Igor | Dimension Data | s.t. |
| 71 | RIES Michel | Polartec-Kometa | s.t. |
| 72 | TIZZA Marco | Vini Fantini-Nippo | s.t. |
| 73 | PERNSTEINER Hermann | Bahrain-Merida | s.t. |
| 74 | YATES Simon | Mitchelton-Scott | s.t. |
| 75 | CARRETERO Héctor | Movistar | s.t. |
| 76 | PEREZ Anthony | Cofidis | s.t. |
| 77 | CRAS Steff | Katusha-Alpecin | s.t. |
| 78 | BAGIOLI Nicola | Vini Fantini-Nippo | s.t. |
| 79 | GRIVKO Andrei | Astana | s.t. |
| 80 | CHERNETCKII Sergei | Astana | s.t. |
| 81 | MENDES José | Burgos-BH | s.t. |
| 82 | ORONTE Emerson | Rally Cycling | s.t. |
| 83 | NOVAK Domen | Bahrain-Merida | s.t. |
| 84 | RODRÍGUEZ Cristian | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | s.t. |
| 85 | FIRSANOV Sergey | Gazprom-RusVelo | s.t. |
| 86 | NYCH Artem | Gazprom-RusVelo | s.t. |
| 87 | SANTAROMITA Ivan | Vini Fantini-Nippo | s.t. |
| 88 | PAUWELS Serge | Dimension Data | s.t. |
| 89 | PARDILLA Sergio | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | s.t. |
| 90 | BRAVO Garikoitz | Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | s.t. |
| 91 | PLAZA Rubén | Israel Cycling Academy | s.t. |
| 92 | KIRYIENKA Vasil | Sky | s.t. |
| 93 | PELLIZOTTI Franco | Bahrain-Merida | s.t. |
| 94 | ROLLAND Pierre | EF Education First-Drapac | s.t. |
| 95 | BRESCHEL Matti | EF Education First-Drapac | s.t. |
| 96 | CABEDO Óscar | Burgos-BH | s.t. |
| 97 | MOSER Moreno | Astana | s.t. |
| 98 | VAN POPPEL Danny | LottoNL-Jumbo | 5:55 |
| 99 | ROELANDTS Jurgen | BMC | 6:01 |
| 100 | PORSEV Alexander | Gazprom-RusVelo | 6:05 |
| 101 | BIERMANS Jenthe | Katusha-Alpecin | s.t. |
| 102 | TRUSOV Nikolay | Gazprom-RusVelo | s.t. |
| 103 | INSAUSTI Jon Ander | Team Euskadi | s.t. |
| 104 | GIDICH Yevgeniy | Astana | s.t. |
| 105 | NAKANE Hideto | Vini Fantini-Nippo | s.t. |
| 106 | VAN HOECKE Gijs | LottoNL-Jumbo | s.t. |
| 107 | CELANO Danilo | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | s.t. |
| 108 | GRADEK Kamil | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | s.t. |
| 109 | TUREK Daniel | Israel Cycling Academy | s.t. |
| 110 | VAN GOMPEL Mathias | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 111 | ARCAS Jorge | Movistar | s.t. |
| 112 | LOPEZ COZAR Juan Antonio | Team Euskadi | s.t. |
| 113 | MARTIN Gotzon | Team Euskadi | s.t. |
| 114 | OURSELIN Paul | Direct Energie | s.t. |
| 115 | HUFFMAN Evan | Rally Cycling | s.t. |
| 116 | VAN ZYL Johann | Dimension Data | s.t. |
| 117 | DOUGALL Nick | Dimension Data | s.t. |
| 118 | MODOLO Sacha | EF Education First-Drapac | 7:06 |
| 119 | TRENTIN Matteo | Mitchelton-Scott | 8:29 |
| 120 | VAN ROOY Kenneth | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | 9:45 |
| 121 | GODON Dorian | Cofidis | s.t. |
| 122 | FERNÁNDEZ Egoitz | Team Euskadi | s.t. |
| 123 | BOU Joan | Vini Fantini-Nippo | 11:04 |
| 124 | TORRES Albert | Inteja Dominica | 12:41 |
| 125 | NOPPE Christophe | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 126 | MCLAY Daniel | EF Education First-Drapac | s.t. |
| 127 | SANZ Enrique | Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | s.t. |
| 128 | MOSCHETTI Matteo | Polartec-Kometa | s.t. |
| 129 | GAZZOLI Michele | Polartec-Kometa | s.t. |
| 130 | HOFSTETTER Hugo | Cofidis | s.t. |
| 131 | SAEZ Héctor | Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | s.t. |
| 132 | ENGER Sondre Holst | Israel Cycling Academy | s.t. |
| 133 | SOTO Nelson Andres | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | s.t. |
| 134 | BELKOV Maxim | Katusha-Alpecin | s.t. |
| 135 | NAVARDAUSKAS Ramunas | Bahrain-Merida | s.t. |
| 136 | PONZI Simone | Vini Fantini-Nippo | s.t. |
| 137 | PETIT Adrien | Direct Energie | s.t. |
| 138 | STANNARD Ian | Sky | s.t. |
| 139 | KUMP Marko | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | s.t. |
| 140 | BOEV Igor | Gazprom-RusVelo | s.t. |
| 141 | SALAS Ibai | Burgos-BH | s.t. |
| 142 | INKELAAR Kevin | Polartec-Kometa | s.t. |
| 143 | GAMPER Patrick | Polartec-Kometa | s.t. |
| 144 | CAMACHO Juan | Polartec-Kometa | s.t. |
| 145 | JUARISTI Txomin | Team Euskadi | s.t. |
| 146 | RUBIO Jesus Alberto | Inteja Dominica | s.t. |
| 147 | IRIZAR Julen | Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | s.t. |
| 148 | BICO Nuno | Movistar | s.t. |
| 149 | KURIANOV Stepan | Gazprom-RusVelo | s.t. |
| 150 | NIV Guy | Israel Cycling Academy | s.t. |
| 151 | NAULEAU Bryan | Direct Energie | s.t. |
| 152 | VAN EMDEN Jos | LottoNL-Jumbo | s.t. |
| 153 | ALBASINI Michael | Mitchelton-Scott | s.t. |
| 154 | BEWLEY Sam | Mitchelton-Scott | s.t. |
| 155 | BOUWMAN Koen | LottoNL-Jumbo | s.t. |
| 156 | BRITTON Rob | Rally Cycling | s.t. |
| 157 | GAUDIN Damien | Direct Energie | s.t. |
| 158 | LOPEZ FUENTES Diego | Team Euskadi | s.t. |
| 159 | LANGEVELD Sebastian | EF Education First-Drapac | s.t. |
| 160 | GOIKOETXEA Peio | Team Euskadi | s.t. |
| 161 | SAMITIER Sergio | Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | s.t. |
| 162 | VAN ASBROECK Tom | EF Education First-Drapac | s.t. |
| 163 | MILAN Diego | Inteja Dominica | 15:05 |
| 164 | SARABIA Ignacio | Inteja Dominica | s.t. |
| 165 | EISEL Bernhard | Dimension Data | s.t. |
| 166 | DE VOS Adam | Rally Cycling | 15:50 |
| 167 | AGUIRRE Jose Alfredo | Inteja Dominica | 16:30 |
| 168 | DÍAZ José Manuel | Israel Cycling Academy | 17:14 |
| 169 | MANCEBO Francisco | Inteja Dominica | 18:24 |
| 170 | NUÑEZ Adrian | Inteja Dominica | 18:54 |
| 171 | VAN WINDEN Dennis | Israel Cycling Academy | 19:10 |
Thursday, February 1: Stage 2, Betera - Albuixech, 153.9 km
Alejandro Valverde wins the stage and takes over the GC lead.
The race: Here's the report from new race leader Alejandro Valverde's movistar team.
276 days after his last victory to date –Liège-Bastogne-Liège– and 215 long days of suffering after his crash and serious leg injuries on stage one of the 2017 Tour de France, Alejandro Valverde got back to winning ways on Thursday. The Spanish superstar from the Movistar Team claimed honours on stage two of the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana, 154km from Bétera to Albuixech, with a display of power on all terrains which also awarded him the yellow jersey as provisional GC leader.
Valverde split the main group with a brutal acceleration with two kilometers before the summit of Garbí –the final Cat-1 ascent of today’s route, 31km from the finish– and crested it alongside Dane Jakob Fuglsang (AST), a handful of seconds ahead of a peloton from which Luis León Sánchez jumped across into the downhill. Cooperation was perfect into both the descent and the flat after the climb, and despite furious attempts by Sky and BMC to bring the gap down, the trio reached the finishing straight together and ahead, with Valverde completing his exhibition with a superb sprint for his 109th pro victory.
The pursuit group, including an excellent Jaime Rosón, crossed the line 19 seconds behind, which means that Valverde has 29″ on all other main contenders in the overall standings -the Astana duo now at 4″ and 6″– before the decisive weekend of this year’s Volta. Friday will bring a likely decisive team time trial, 23km from Poble Nou de Benitatxell to Calpe, before Saturday settles things down on a brutal route before the finish atop the Alto de Las Canteras (Cocentaina).
REACTION, Alejandro Valverde:
“At the Garbí climb I was feeling like I had good legs and decided to attack, profiting from the fact that Fuglsang had moved meters before. Luisle bridged back into the downhill and we really got on well with each other afterwards. That good cooperation and the fact that we three were all strong riders made it possible to reach the finish, even if Sky and other squads pushed with all they had. Surprised? Well, I was feeling great training before the first races, and last week in Mallorca I saw I was on the pace of the strongest ones and knew that it’d be possible to try and win a stage here. I got this chance and didn’t want to wait for another one – the sooner the better.
"It makes me so, so happy to get this victory after everything I had to go through during the last few months. The seconds we put on the rest today might become decisive, too. It’s not a bad TTT for us tomorrow, but it’s a dangerous one, so we must stay focused as well as cautious, trying to lost not too much time so we can stand a chance on Saturday. Let’s see what we can do after today’s win and tomorrow’s result.”
Complete results:
153.9 kilometers raced at an average speed of 39.476 km/hr
| 1 | VALVERDE Alejandro | Movistar | 3hr 53min 55sec |
| 2 | SANCHEZ Luis Leon | Astana | s.t. |
| 3 | FUGLSANG Jakob | Astana | s.t. |
| 4 | VISCONTI Giovanni | Bahrain-Merida | @ 19sec |
| 5 | VAN AVERMAET Greg | BMC | s.t. |
| 6 | KUDUS Merhawi | Dimension Data | s.t. |
| 7 | BILBAO Pello | Astana | s.t. |
| 8 | VUILLERMOZ Alexis | AG2R La Mondiale | s.t. |
| 9 | HERMANS Ben | Israel Cycling Academy | s.t. |
| 10 | YATES Adam | Mitchelton-Scott | s.t. |
| 11 | POELS Wout | Sky | s.t. |
| 12 | HERRADA Jesús | Cofidis | s.t. |
| 13 | BIDARD François | AG2R La Mondiale | s.t. |
| 14 | KREUZIGER Roman | Mitchelton-Scott | s.t. |
| 15 | FABBRO Matteo | Katusha-Alpecin | s.t. |
| 16 | ROSA Diego | Sky | s.t. |
| 17 | BOOKWALTER Brent | BMC | s.t. |
| 18 | DE LA CRUZ David | Sky | s.t. |
| 19 | ROGLIC Primoz | LottoNL-Jumbo | s.t. |
| 20 | BIZKARRA Mikel | Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | s.t. |
| 21 | POWLESS Neilson | LottoNL-Jumbo | s.t. |
| 22 | ANTUNES Amaro Manuel | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | s.t. |
| 23 | MOSCON Gianni | Sky | s.t. |
| 24 | ROSON Jaime | Movistar | s.t. |
| 25 | FRANKINY Kilian | BMC | s.t. |
| 26 | SPRENGERS Thomas | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | 2:28 |
| 27 | RUBIO Diego | Burgos-BH | s.t. |
| 28 | BALLESTEROS Miguel Angel | Polartec-Kometa | s.t. |
| 29 | SIMÓN Jordi | Burgos-BH | s.t. |
| 30 | DECLERCQ Benjamin | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 31 | RIES Michel | Polartec-Kometa | s.t. |
| 32 | SMIT Willie | Katusha-Alpecin | s.t. |
| 33 | DELTOMBE Kevin | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 34 | DOMONT Axel | AG2R La Mondiale | s.t. |
| 35 | EZQUERRA Jesus | Burgos-BH | s.t. |
| 36 | ROJAS José Joaquín | Movistar | s.t. |
| 37 | NAESEN Oliver | AG2R La Mondiale | s.t. |
| 38 | VENTURINI Clément | AG2R La Mondiale | s.t. |
| 39 | KÜNG Stefan | BMC | s.t. |
| 40 | GAUTIER Cyril | AG2R La Mondiale | s.t. |
| 41 | ANDERSON Ryan | Rally Cycling | s.t. |
| 42 | ARANBURU Alex | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | s.t. |
| 43 | PEREZ Anthony | Cofidis | s.t. |
| 44 | KWIATKOWSKI Michal | Sky | s.t. |
| 45 | SCHAR Michael | BMC | s.t. |
| 46 | SICARD Romain | Direct Energie | s.t. |
| 47 | SÜTTERLIN Jasha | Movistar | s.t. |
| 48 | PRADES Eduard | Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | s.t. |
| 49 | MEZGEC Luka | Mitchelton-Scott | s.t. |
| 50 | PIBERNIK Luka | Bahrain-Merida | s.t. |
| 51 | CARRETERO Héctor | Movistar | s.t. |
| 52 | NOVAK Domen | Bahrain-Merida | s.t. |
| 53 | PERNSTEINER Hermann | Bahrain-Merida | s.t. |
| 54 | HOLLENSTEIN Reto | Katusha-Alpecin | s.t. |
| 55 | MOLINA Antonio | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | s.t. |
| 56 | THWAITES Scott | Dimension Data | s.t. |
| 57 | DE MARCHI Alessandro | BMC | s.t. |
| 58 | ANTON Igor | Dimension Data | s.t. |
| 59 | TAARAMÄE Rein | Direct Energie | s.t. |
| 60 | HERRADA José | Cofidis | s.t. |
| 61 | GRIVKO Andrei | Astana | s.t. |
| 62 | CRAS Steff | Katusha-Alpecin | s.t. |
| 63 | VAN HECKE Preben | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 64 | RODRÍGUEZ Cristian | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | s.t. |
| 65 | VANMARCKE Sep | EF Education First-Drapac | s.t. |
| 66 | SCHLEGEL Michal | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | s.t. |
| 67 | CABEDO Óscar | Burgos-BH | s.t. |
| 68 | VLASOV Aleksandr | Gazprom-RusVelo | s.t. |
| 69 | PAUWELS Serge | Dimension Data | s.t. |
| 70 | MENDES José | Burgos-BH | s.t. |
| 71 | ROSSETTO Stephane | Cofidis | s.t. |
| 72 | SANTAROMITA Ivan | Vini Fantini-Nippo | s.t. |
| 73 | PELLIZOTTI Franco | Bahrain-Merida | s.t. |
| 74 | ORONTE Emerson | Rally Cycling | s.t. |
| 75 | ROLLAND Pierre | EF Education First-Drapac | s.t. |
| 76 | YATES Simon | Mitchelton-Scott | s.t. |
| 77 | FIRSANOV Sergey | Gazprom-RusVelo | s.t. |
| 78 | GASPAROTTO Enrico | Bahrain-Merida | s.t. |
| 79 | TULIK Angelo | Direct Energie | s.t. |
| 80 | CHERNETCKII Sergei | Astana | s.t. |
| 81 | PARDILLA Sergio | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | s.t. |
| 82 | PLAZA Rubén | Israel Cycling Academy | s.t. |
| 83 | JOYCE Colin | Rally Cycling | s.t. |
| 84 | OWSIAN Lukasz | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | s.t. |
| 85 | CHEVRIER Clément | AG2R La Mondiale | s.t. |
| 86 | KOCH Jonas | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | s.t. |
| 87 | KIRYIENKA Vasil | Sky | s.t. |
| 88 | NYCH Artem | Gazprom-RusVelo | s.t. |
| 89 | BRAVO Garikoitz | Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | s.t. |
| 90 | BRESCHEL Matti | EF Education First-Drapac | s.t. |
| 91 | KUSS Sepp | LottoNL-Jumbo | s.t. |
| 92 | PLANCKAERT Baptiste | Katusha-Alpecin | s.t. |
| 93 | TRATNIK Jan | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | s.t. |
| 94 | CANOLA Marco | Vini Fantini-Nippo | s.t. |
| 95 | BAGIOLI Nicola | Vini Fantini-Nippo | s.t. |
| 96 | MOSER Moreno | Astana | s.t. |
| 97 | TIZZA Marco | Vini Fantini-Nippo | s.t. |
| 98 | MODOLO Sacha | EF Education First-Drapac | s.t. |
| 99 | VAN HOECKE Gijs | LottoNL-Jumbo | 5:55 |
| 100 | INSAUSTI Jon Ander | Team Euskadi | s.t. |
| 101 | OURSELIN Paul | Direct Energie | s.t. |
| 102 | NAKANE Hideto | Vini Fantini-Nippo | s.t. |
| 103 | LOPEZ COZAR Juan Antonio | Team Euskadi | s.t. |
| 104 | TRENTIN Matteo | Mitchelton-Scott | s.t. |
| 105 | VAN ZYL Johann | Dimension Data | s.t. |
| 106 | CELANO Danilo | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | s.t. |
| 107 | GRADEK Kamil | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | s.t. |
| 108 | MARTIN Gotzon | Team Euskadi | s.t. |
| 109 | TUREK Daniel | Israel Cycling Academy | s.t. |
| 110 | VAN GOMPEL Mathias | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 111 | VAN POPPEL Danny | LottoNL-Jumbo | s.t. |
| 112 | TRUSOV Nikolay | Gazprom-RusVelo | s.t. |
| 113 | PORSEV Alexander | Gazprom-RusVelo | s.t. |
| 114 | GIDICH Yevgeniy | Astana | s.t. |
| 115 | DOUGALL Nick | Dimension Data | s.t. |
| 116 | BIERMANS Jenthe | Katusha-Alpecin | s.t. |
| 117 | HUFFMAN Evan | Rally Cycling | s.t. |
| 118 | ROELANDTS Jurgen | BMC | s.t. |
| 119 | ARCAS Jorge | Movistar | s.t. |
| 120 | GODON Dorian | Cofidis | 9:35 |
| 121 | VAN ROOY Kenneth | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 122 | FERNÁNDEZ Egoitz | Team Euskadi | s.t. |
| 123 | BOU Joan | Vini Fantini-Nippo | 10:54 |
| 124 | MANCEBO Francisco | Inteja Dominica | 12:31 |
| 125 | RUBIO Jesus Alberto | Inteja Dominica | s.t. |
| 126 | TORRES Albert | Inteja Dominica | s.t. |
| 127 | PONZI Simone | Vini Fantini-Nippo | s.t. |
| 128 | DÍAZ José Manuel | Israel Cycling Academy | s.t. |
| 129 | SALAS Ibai | Burgos-BH | s.t. |
| 130 | KUMP Marko | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | s.t. |
| 131 | SAEZ Héctor | Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | s.t. |
| 132 | SANZ Enrique | Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | s.t. |
| 133 | IRIZAR Julen | Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | s.t. |
| 134 | NOPPE Christophe | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 135 | VAN WINDEN Dennis | Israel Cycling Academy | s.t. |
| 136 | MOSCHETTI Matteo | Polartec-Kometa | s.t. |
| 137 | GAZZOLI Michele | Polartec-Kometa | s.t. |
| 138 | BOEV Igor | Gazprom-RusVelo | s.t. |
| 139 | BICO Nuno | Movistar | s.t. |
| 140 | MILAN Diego | Inteja Dominica | s.t. |
| 141 | GOIKOETXEA Peio | Team Euskadi | s.t. |
| 142 | SOTO Nelson Andres | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | s.t. |
| 143 | MCLAY Daniel | EF Education First-Drapac | s.t. |
| 144 | VAN ASBROECK Tom | EF Education First-Drapac | s.t. |
| 145 | INKELAAR Kevin | Polartec-Kometa | s.t. |
| 146 | ALBASINI Michael | Mitchelton-Scott | s.t. |
| 147 | VAN EMDEN Jos | LottoNL-Jumbo | s.t. |
| 148 | BEWLEY Sam | Mitchelton-Scott | s.t. |
| 149 | LOPEZ FUENTES Diego | Team Euskadi | s.t. |
| 150 | JUARISTI Txomin | Team Euskadi | s.t. |
| 151 | KURIANOV Stepan | Gazprom-RusVelo | s.t. |
| 152 | NAULEAU Bryan | Direct Energie | s.t. |
| 153 | CAMACHO Juan | Polartec-Kometa | s.t. |
| 154 | BELKOV Maxim | Katusha-Alpecin | s.t. |
| 155 | GAMPER Patrick | Polartec-Kometa | s.t. |
| 156 | SARABIA Ignacio | Inteja Dominica | s.t. |
| 157 | HOFSTETTER Hugo | Cofidis | s.t. |
| 158 | LANGEVELD Sebastian | EF Education First-Drapac | s.t. |
| 159 | NIV Guy | Israel Cycling Academy | s.t. |
| 160 | ENGER Sondre Holst | Israel Cycling Academy | s.t. |
| 161 | EISEL Bernhard | Dimension Data | s.t. |
| 162 | STANNARD Ian | Sky | s.t. |
| 163 | GAUDIN Damien | Direct Energie | s.t. |
| 164 | PETIT Adrien | Direct Energie | s.t. |
| 165 | SAMITIER Sergio | Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | s.t. |
| 166 | NAVARDAUSKAS Ramunas | Bahrain-Merida | s.t. |
| 167 | BRITTON Rob | Rally Cycling | s.t. |
| 168 | DE VOS Adam | Rally Cycling | s.t. |
| 169 | BOUWMAN Koen | LottoNL-Jumbo | s.t. |
| 170 | NUÑEZ Adrian | Inteja Dominica | 16:20 |
| 171 | AGUIRRE Jose Alfredo | Inteja Dominica | s.t. |
GC after Stage 2:
345.4 kilometers raced so far at an average speed of 40.798 km/hr
| 1 | VALVERDE Alejandro | Movistar | 8hr 27min 58sec |
| 2 | SANCHEZ Luis Leon | Astana | @ 4sec |
| 3 | FUGLSANG Jakob | Astana | 0:06 |
| 4 | POELS Wout | Sky | 0:29 |
| 5 | ROSA Diego | Sky | s.t. |
| 6 | BILBAO Pello | Astana | s.t. |
| 7 | VAN AVERMAET Greg | BMC | s.t. |
| 8 | DE LA CRUZ David | Sky | s.t. |
| 9 | ROGLIC Primoz | LottoNL-Jumbo | s.t. |
| 10 | BOOKWALTER Brent | BMC | s.t. |
| 11 | ANTUNES Amaro Manuel | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | s.t. |
| 12 | KUDUS Merhawi | Dimension Data | s.t. |
| 13 | VUILLERMOZ Alexis | AG2R La Mondiale | s.t. |
| 14 | ROSON Jaime | Movistar | s.t. |
| 15 | VISCONTI Giovanni | Bahrain-Merida | s.t. |
| 16 | POWLESS Neilson | LottoNL-Jumbo | s.t. |
| 17 | HERRADA Jesús | Cofidis | s.t. |
| 18 | KREUZIGER Roman | Mitchelton-Scott | s.t. |
| 19 | HERMANS Ben | Israel Cycling Academy | s.t. |
| 20 | MOSCON Gianni | Sky | s.t. |
| 21 | BIDARD François | AG2R La Mondiale | s.t. |
| 22 | BIZKARRA Mikel | Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | s.t. |
| 23 | FABBRO Matteo | Katusha-Alpecin | s.t. |
| 24 | FRANKINY Kilian | BMC | s.t. |
| 25 | YATES Adam | Mitchelton-Scott | s.t. |
| 26 | MEZGEC Luka | Mitchelton-Scott | 2:32 |
| 27 | VENTURINI Clément | AG2R La Mondiale | 2:38 |
| 28 | NAESEN Oliver | AG2R La Mondiale | s.t. |
| 29 | KWIATKOWSKI Michal | Sky | s.t. |
| 30 | ROJAS José Joaquín | Movistar | s.t. |
| 31 | SIMÓN Jordi | Burgos-BH | s.t. |
| 32 | SMIT Willie | Katusha-Alpecin | s.t. |
| 33 | ANDERSON Ryan | Rally Cycling | s.t. |
| 34 | THWAITES Scott | Dimension Data | s.t. |
| 35 | PIBERNIK Luka | Bahrain-Merida | s.t. |
| 36 | TULIK Angelo | Direct Energie | s.t. |
| 37 | RUBIO Diego | Burgos-BH | s.t. |
| 38 | PRADES Eduard | Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | s.t. |
| 39 | EZQUERRA Jesus | Burgos-BH | s.t. |
| 40 | KÜNG Stefan | BMC | s.t. |
| 41 | ARANBURU Alex | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | s.t. |
| 42 | GAUTIER Cyril | AG2R La Mondiale | s.t. |
| 43 | SÜTTERLIN Jasha | Movistar | s.t. |
| 44 | DELTOMBE Kevin | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 45 | DECLERCQ Benjamin | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 46 | CANOLA Marco | Vini Fantini-Nippo | s.t. |
| 47 | VANMARCKE Sep | EF Education First-Drapac | s.t. |
| 48 | BALLESTEROS Miguel Angel | Polartec-Kometa | s.t. |
| 49 | SPRENGERS Thomas | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 50 | PLANCKAERT Baptiste | Katusha-Alpecin | s.t. |
| 51 | SCHAR Michael | BMC | s.t. |
| 52 | TRATNIK Jan | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | s.t. |
| 53 | TAARAMÄE Rein | Direct Energie | s.t. |
| 54 | HERRADA José | Cofidis | s.t. |
| 55 | SICARD Romain | Direct Energie | s.t. |
| 56 | GASPAROTTO Enrico | Bahrain-Merida | s.t. |
| 57 | CHEVRIER Clément | AG2R La Mondiale | s.t. |
| 58 | DOMONT Axel | AG2R La Mondiale | s.t. |
| 59 | VAN HECKE Preben | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 60 | HOLLENSTEIN Reto | Katusha-Alpecin | s.t. |
| 61 | VLASOV Aleksandr | Gazprom-RusVelo | s.t. |
| 62 | KOCH Jonas | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | s.t. |
| 63 | KUSS Sepp | LottoNL-Jumbo | s.t. |
| 64 | DE MARCHI Alessandro | BMC | s.t. |
| 65 | SCHLEGEL Michal | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | s.t. |
| 66 | OWSIAN Lukasz | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | s.t. |
| 67 | MOLINA Antonio | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | s.t. |
| 68 | ROSSETTO Stephane | Cofidis | s.t. |
| 69 | JOYCE Colin | Rally Cycling | s.t. |
| 70 | ANTON Igor | Dimension Data | s.t. |
| 71 | RIES Michel | Polartec-Kometa | s.t. |
| 72 | TIZZA Marco | Vini Fantini-Nippo | s.t. |
| 73 | PERNSTEINER Hermann | Bahrain-Merida | s.t. |
| 74 | YATES Simon | Mitchelton-Scott | s.t. |
| 75 | CARRETERO Héctor | Movistar | s.t. |
| 76 | PEREZ Anthony | Cofidis | s.t. |
| 77 | CRAS Steff | Katusha-Alpecin | s.t. |
| 78 | BAGIOLI Nicola | Vini Fantini-Nippo | s.t. |
| 79 | GRIVKO Andrei | Astana | s.t. |
| 80 | CHERNETCKII Sergei | Astana | s.t. |
| 81 | MENDES José | Burgos-BH | s.t. |
| 82 | ORONTE Emerson | Rally Cycling | s.t. |
| 83 | NOVAK Domen | Bahrain-Merida | s.t. |
| 84 | RODRÍGUEZ Cristian | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | s.t. |
| 85 | FIRSANOV Sergey | Gazprom-RusVelo | s.t. |
| 86 | NYCH Artem | Gazprom-RusVelo | s.t. |
| 87 | SANTAROMITA Ivan | Vini Fantini-Nippo | s.t. |
| 88 | PAUWELS Serge | Dimension Data | s.t. |
| 89 | PARDILLA Sergio | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | s.t. |
| 90 | BRAVO Garikoitz | Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | s.t. |
| 91 | PLAZA Rubén | Israel Cycling Academy | s.t. |
| 92 | KIRYIENKA Vasil | Sky | s.t. |
| 93 | PELLIZOTTI Franco | Bahrain-Merida | s.t. |
| 94 | ROLLAND Pierre | EF Education First-Drapac | s.t. |
| 95 | BRESCHEL Matti | EF Education First-Drapac | s.t. |
| 96 | CABEDO Óscar | Burgos-BH | s.t. |
| 97 | MOSER Moreno | Astana | s.t. |
| 98 | VAN POPPEL Danny | LottoNL-Jumbo | 5:55 |
| 99 | ROELANDTS Jurgen | BMC | 6:01 |
| 100 | PORSEV Alexander | Gazprom-RusVelo | 6:05 |
| 101 | BIERMANS Jenthe | Katusha-Alpecin | s.t. |
| 102 | TRUSOV Nikolay | Gazprom-RusVelo | s.t. |
| 103 | INSAUSTI Jon Ander | Team Euskadi | s.t. |
| 104 | GIDICH Yevgeniy | Astana | s.t. |
| 105 | NAKANE Hideto | Vini Fantini-Nippo | s.t. |
| 106 | VAN HOECKE Gijs | LottoNL-Jumbo | s.t. |
| 107 | CELANO Danilo | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | s.t. |
| 108 | GRADEK Kamil | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | s.t. |
| 109 | TUREK Daniel | Israel Cycling Academy | s.t. |
| 110 | VAN GOMPEL Mathias | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 111 | ARCAS Jorge | Movistar | s.t. |
| 112 | LOPEZ COZAR Juan Antonio | Team Euskadi | s.t. |
| 113 | MARTIN Gotzon | Team Euskadi | s.t. |
| 114 | OURSELIN Paul | Direct Energie | s.t. |
| 115 | HUFFMAN Evan | Rally Cycling | s.t. |
| 116 | VAN ZYL Johann | Dimension Data | s.t. |
| 117 | DOUGALL Nick | Dimension Data | s.t. |
| 118 | MODOLO Sacha | EF Education First-Drapac | 7:06 |
| 119 | TRENTIN Matteo | Mitchelton-Scott | 8:29 |
| 120 | VAN ROOY Kenneth | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | 9:45 |
| 121 | GODON Dorian | Cofidis | s.t. |
| 122 | FERNÁNDEZ Egoitz | Team Euskadi | s.t. |
| 123 | BOU Joan | Vini Fantini-Nippo | 11:04 |
| 124 | TORRES Albert | Inteja Dominica | 12:41 |
| 125 | NOPPE Christophe | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 126 | MCLAY Daniel | EF Education First-Drapac | s.t. |
| 127 | SANZ Enrique | Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | s.t. |
| 128 | MOSCHETTI Matteo | Polartec-Kometa | s.t. |
| 129 | GAZZOLI Michele | Polartec-Kometa | s.t. |
| 130 | HOFSTETTER Hugo | Cofidis | s.t. |
| 131 | SAEZ Héctor | Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | s.t. |
| 132 | ENGER Sondre Holst | Israel Cycling Academy | s.t. |
| 133 | SOTO Nelson Andres | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | s.t. |
| 134 | BELKOV Maxim | Katusha-Alpecin | s.t. |
| 135 | NAVARDAUSKAS Ramunas | Bahrain-Merida | s.t. |
| 136 | PONZI Simone | Vini Fantini-Nippo | s.t. |
| 137 | PETIT Adrien | Direct Energie | s.t. |
| 138 | STANNARD Ian | Sky | s.t. |
| 139 | KUMP Marko | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | s.t. |
| 140 | BOEV Igor | Gazprom-RusVelo | s.t. |
| 141 | SALAS Ibai | Burgos-BH | s.t. |
| 142 | INKELAAR Kevin | Polartec-Kometa | s.t. |
| 143 | GAMPER Patrick | Polartec-Kometa | s.t. |
| 144 | CAMACHO Juan | Polartec-Kometa | s.t. |
| 145 | JUARISTI Txomin | Team Euskadi | s.t. |
| 146 | RUBIO Jesus Alberto | Inteja Dominica | s.t. |
| 147 | IRIZAR Julen | Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | s.t. |
| 148 | BICO Nuno | Movistar | s.t. |
| 149 | KURIANOV Stepan | Gazprom-RusVelo | s.t. |
| 150 | NIV Guy | Israel Cycling Academy | s.t. |
| 151 | NAULEAU Bryan | Direct Energie | s.t. |
| 152 | VAN EMDEN Jos | LottoNL-Jumbo | s.t. |
| 153 | ALBASINI Michael | Mitchelton-Scott | s.t. |
| 154 | BEWLEY Sam | Mitchelton-Scott | s.t. |
| 155 | BOUWMAN Koen | LottoNL-Jumbo | s.t. |
| 156 | BRITTON Rob | Rally Cycling | s.t. |
| 157 | GAUDIN Damien | Direct Energie | s.t. |
| 158 | LOPEZ FUENTES Diego | Team Euskadi | s.t. |
| 159 | LANGEVELD Sebastian | EF Education First-Drapac | s.t. |
| 160 | GOIKOETXEA Peio | Team Euskadi | s.t. |
| 161 | SAMITIER Sergio | Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | s.t. |
| 162 | VAN ASBROECK Tom | EF Education First-Drapac | s.t. |
| 163 | MILAN Diego | Inteja Dominica | 15:05 |
| 164 | SARABIA Ignacio | Inteja Dominica | s.t. |
| 165 | EISEL Bernhard | Dimension Data | s.t. |
| 166 | DE VOS Adam | Rally Cycling | 15:50 |
| 167 | AGUIRRE Jose Alfredo | Inteja Dominica | 16:30 |
| 168 | DÍAZ José Manuel | Israel Cycling Academy | 17:14 |
| 169 | MANCEBO Francisco | Inteja Dominica | 18:24 |
| 170 | NUÑEZ Adrian | Inteja Dominica | 18:54 |
| 171 | VAN WINDEN Dennis | Israel Cycling Academy | 19:10 |
Wednesday, January 31: Stage 1, Oropesa del Mar - Peniscola, 191.5 km
Danny van Poppel takes the first Valenciana stage.
The race: Here's the story from stage winner Danny van Poppel's LottoNL-Jumbo team.
Danny van Poppel immediately showed his prowess during his first race for Team LottoNL-Jumbo. The 24-year-old Dutchman was victorious in the first stage of the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana. In the bunch sprint he was by far the strongest. This didn’t only result in a stage win, he became the leader in the general classification.
It meant Van Poppel’s thirteenth career victory and the first stage victory for Team LottoNL-Jumbo in 2018. He did not expect to seize his first victory during his first race for his new team. "I was very nervous at the start of the race, because everything is new; the team, the teammates, but everything immediately fell into place. The lead-out was perfect. I am very happy with this victory. Before, I had put my mind to this stage and to the last of this stage race", said Van Poppel, who immediately looked ahead to the next goal.
Sports director Grischa Niermann was very pleased with the victory of one of the newcomers to Team LottoNL-Jumbo. "This went exactly as we had planned. We were confident about Danny and with this victory he showed we were right about him. He did not do it alone, because we controlled the race throughout the day. Koen Bouwman was in front of the peloton for a long time to give the lead-out plenty of space afterwards." That lead-out consisted of regular sprint preparers Jos van Emden and Gijs Van Hoecke. Later, Robert Wagner was also added to the lead-out group. This season, team LottoNL-Jumbo presents itself even more as a formidable protagonist in the mass sprint with their top sprinters Danny van Poppel and Dylan Groenewegen.
Tomorrow, Van Poppel will start in the yellow leader's jersey. Niermann wants to defend the jersey, but he remained realistic. "It will be a difficult stage that is not necessarily perfect for Danny. It is probably better suited to Primoz Roglic. But we are going to enjoy the lead and that is something we should be very happy about now”, Niermann said.
Complete results:
191.5 kilometers raced at an average speed of 41.901 km/hr
| 1 | Poppel, Danny van | LottoNL-Jumbo | 4hr 34min 13sec |
| 2 | Mezgec, Luka | Mitchelton-Scott | s.t. |
| 3 | Roelandts, Jürgen | BMC | s.t. |
| 4 | McLay, Daniel | EF Education First-Drapac | s.t. |
| 5 | Venturini, Clément | Ag2r La Mondiale | s.t. |
| 6 | Hofstetter, Hugo | Cofidis | s.t. |
| 7 | Kwiatkowski, Michał | Sky | s.t. |
| 8 | Naesen, Oliver | Ag2r La Mondiale | s.t. |
| 9 | Canola, Marco | Vini Fantini-Nippo | s.t. |
| 10 | Tulik, Angélo | Direct Energie | s.t. |
| 11 | Noppe, Christophe | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 12 | Torres, Albert | Inteja Dominican Cycling | s.t. |
| 13 | Navardauskas, Ramunas | Bahrain-Merida | s.t. |
| 14 | Enger, Sondre | Israel Cycling Academy | s.t. |
| 15 | Moschetti, Matteo | Polartec-Kometa | s.t. |
| 16 | Thwaites, Scott | Dimension Data | s.t. |
| 17 | Rojas, José Joaquin | Movistar | s.t. |
| 18 | Sanz, Enrique | Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | s.t. |
| 19 | Planckaert, Baptiste | Katusha-Alpecin | s.t. |
| 20 | Porsev, Alexander | Gazprom-RusVelo | s.t. |
| 21 | Gazzoli, Michele | Polartec-Kometa | s.t. |
| 22 | Rosa, Diego | Sky | s.t. |
| 23 | Poels, Wout | Sky | s.t. |
| 24 | Anderson, Ryan | Rally Cycling | s.t. |
| 25 | Belkov, Maxim | Katusha-Alpecin | s.t. |
| 26 | Tratnik, Jan | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | s.t. |
| 27 | Simón, Jordi | Burgos-BH | s.t. |
| 28 | Biermans, Jenthe | Katusha-Alpecin | s.t. |
| 29 | Pibernik, Luka | Bahrain-Merida | s.t. |
| 30 | De La Cruz, David | Sky | s.t. |
| 31 | Roglič, Primož | LottoNL-Jumbo | s.t. |
| 32 | Bilbao, Pello | Astana | s.t. |
| 33 | Smit, Willie | Katusha-Alpecin | s.t. |
| 34 | Trusov, Nikolay | Gazprom-RusVelo | s.t. |
| 35 | Soto, Nelson | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | s.t. |
| 36 | Antunes, Amaro | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | s.t. |
| 37 | Sáez, Héctor | Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | s.t. |
| 38 | Bookwalter, Brent | BMC | s.t. |
| 39 | Petit, Adrien | Direct Energie | s.t. |
| 40 | Vanmarcke, Sep | EF Education First-Drapac | s.t. |
| 41 | Van Rooy, Kenneth | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 42 | Chevrier, Clément | Ag2r La Mondiale | s.t. |
| 43 | Van Avermaet, Greg | BMC | s.t. |
| 44 | Prades, Eduard | Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | s.t. |
| 45 | Sánchez, Luis León | Astana | s.t. |
| 46 | Gidich, Yevgeniy | Astana | s.t. |
| 47 | Gasparotto, Enrico | Bahrain-Merida | s.t. |
| 48 | Valverde, Alejandro | Movistar | s.t. |
| 49 | Kuss, Sepp | LottoNL-Jumbo | s.t. |
| 50 | Sütterlin, Jasha | Movistar | s.t. |
| 51 | Fuglsang, Jakob | Astana | s.t. |
| 52 | Aranburu, Álex | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | s.t. |
| 53 | Insausti, Jon Ander | Team Euskadi | s.t. |
| 54 | Koch, Jonas | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | s.t. |
| 55 | Küng, Stefan | BMC | s.t. |
| 56 | Stannard, Ian | Sky | s.t. |
| 57 | Gautier, Cyril | Ag2r La Mondiale | s.t. |
| 58 | Róson, Jaime | Movistar | s.t. |
| 59 | Ezquerra, Jesús | Burgos-BH | s.t. |
| 60 | Godon, Dorian | Cofidis | s.t. |
| 61 | Herrada, José | Cofidis | s.t. |
| 62 | Taaramäe, Rein | Direct Energie | s.t. |
| 63 | Rubio, Diego | Burgos-BH | s.t. |
| 64 | Kudus, Merhawi | Dimension Data | s.t. |
| 65 | Ponzi, Simone | Vini Fantini-Nippo | s.t. |
| 66 | Deltombe, Kevin | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 67 | Van Hecke, Preben | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 68 | Vuillermoz, Alexis | Ag2r La Mondiale | s.t. |
| 69 | Tizza, Marco | Vini Fantini-Nippo | s.t. |
| 70 | Owsian, Łukasz | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | s.t. |
| 71 | Vlasov, Aleksandr | Gazprom-RusVelo | s.t. |
| 72 | Declercq, Benjamin | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 73 | Powless, Neilson | LottoNL-Jumbo | s.t. |
| 74 | Schär, Michael | BMC | s.t. |
| 75 | Bagioli, Nicola | Vini Fantini-Nippo | s.t. |
| 76 | Nakane, Hideto | Vini Fantini-Nippo | s.t. |
| 77 | Joyce, Colin | Rally Cycling | s.t. |
| 78 | Sicard, Romain | Direct Energie | s.t. |
| 79 | Ballesteros, Miguél | Polartec-Kometa | s.t. |
| 80 | Hollenstein, Reto | Katusha-Alpecin | s.t. |
| 81 | Moscon, Gianni | Sky | s.t. |
| 82 | Sprengers, Thomas | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 83 | Schlegel, Michal | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | s.t. |
| 84 | Bou, Joan | Vini Fantini-Nippo | s.t. |
| 85 | De Marchi, Alessandro | BMC | s.t. |
| 86 | Kreuziger, Roman | Mitchelton-Scott | s.t. |
| 87 | Herrada, Jesús | Cofidis | s.t. |
| 88 | Rossetto, Stéphane | Cofidis | s.t. |
| 89 | Visconti, Giovanni | Bahrain-Merida | s.t. |
| 90 | Kump, Marko | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | s.t. |
| 91 | Yates, Simon | Mitchelton-Scott | s.t. |
| 92 | Chernetski, Sergei | Astana | s.t. |
| 93 | Bidard, François | Ag2r La Mondiale | s.t. |
| 94 | Domont, Axel | Ag2r La Mondiale | s.t. |
| 95 | Hermans, Ben | Israel Cycling Academy | s.t. |
| 96 | Boev, Igor | Gazprom-RusVelo | s.t. |
| 97 | Reis, Rafael | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | s.t. |
| 98 | Celano, Danilo | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | s.t. |
| 99 | Van Hoecke, Gijs | LottoNL-Jumbo | s.t. |
| 100 | Molina, Antonio | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | s.t. |
| 101 | Nych, Artem | Gazprom-RusVelo | s.t. |
| 102 | Oronte, Emerson | Rally Cycling | s.t. |
| 103 | Mendes, José | Burgos-BH | s.t. |
| 104 | Bravo, Garikoitz | Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | s.t. |
| 105 | Firsanov, Sergey | Gazprom-RusVelo | s.t. |
| 106 | Antón, Igor | Dimension Data | s.t. |
| 107 | Cras, Steff | Katusha-Alpecin | s.t. |
| 108 | Kiryienka, Vasil | Sky | s.t. |
| 109 | Gradek, Kamil | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | s.t. |
| 110 | Grivko, Andrei | Astana | s.t. |
| 111 | Pardilla, Sergio | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | s.t. |
| 112 | Plaza, Rubén | Israel Cycling Academy | s.t. |
| 113 | Bizkarra, Mikel | Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | s.t. |
| 114 | Pernsteiner, Hermann | Bahrain-Merida | s.t. |
| 115 | Frankiny, Kilian | BMC | s.t. |
| 116 | Rodríguez, Cristian | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | s.t. |
| 117 | Carretero, Héctor | Movistar | s.t. |
| 118 | Santaromita, Ivan | Vini Fantini-Nippo | s.t. |
| 119 | Turek, Daniel | Israel Cycling Academy | s.t. |
| 120 | Gamper, Patrick | Polartec-Kometa | s.t. |
| 121 | Inkelaar, Kevin | Polartec-Kometa | s.t. |
| 122 | Fabbro, Matteo | Katusha-Alpecin | s.t. |
| 123 | Pauwels, Serge | Dimension Data | s.t. |
| 124 | Camacho, Juan | Polartec-Kometa | s.t. |
| 125 | Arcas, Jorge | Movistar | s.t. |
| 126 | Perez, Anthony | Cofidis | s.t. |
| 127 | Breschel, Matti | EF Education First-Drapac | s.t. |
| 128 | Novak, Domen | Bahrain-Merida | s.t. |
| 129 | Juaristi, Txomin | Team Euskadi | s.t. |
| 130 | Van Gompel, Mathias | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 131 | Pellizotti, Franco | Bahrain-Merida | s.t. |
| 132 | Salas, Ibai | Burgos-BH | s.t. |
| 133 | Bouwman, Koen | LottoNL-Jumbo | s.t. |
| 134 | Niv, Guy | Israel Cycling Academy | s.t. |
| 135 | Ries, Michel | Polartec-Kometa | s.t. |
| 136 | Rolland, Pierre | EF Education First-Drapac | s.t. |
| 137 | Britton, Rob | Rally Cycling | s.t. |
| 138 | Moser, Moreno | Astana | s.t. |
| 139 | Huffman, Evan | Rally Cycling | s.t. |
| 140 | Kuriyanov, Stepan | Gazprom-RusVelo | s.t. |
| 141 | Yates, Adam | Mitchelton-Scott | s.t. |
| 142 | Gaudin, Damien | Direct Energie | s.t. |
| 143 | Nauleau, Bryan | Direct Energie | s.t. |
| 144 | Bico, Nuno | Movistar | s.t. |
| 145 | Lopez, Juan | Team Euskadi | s.t. |
| 146 | Aguirre, José | Inteja Dominican Cycling | s.t. |
| 147 | Martín, Gotzon | Team Euskadi | s.t. |
| 148 | Samitier, Sergio | Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | s.t. |
| 149 | Langeveld, Sebastian | EF Education First-Drapac | s.t. |
| 150 | Irizar, Julen | Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | s.t. |
| 151 | Emden, Jos van | LottoNL-Jumbo | s.t. |
| 152 | Dougall, Nic | Dimension Data | s.t. |
| 153 | Bewley, Sam | Mitchelton-Scott | s.t. |
| 154 | Albasini, Michael | Mitchelton-Scott | s.t. |
| 155 | Ourselin, Paul | Direct Energie | s.t. |
| 156 | Rubio, Jesús | Inteja Dominican Cycling | s.t. |
| 157 | Cabedo, Óscar | Burgos-BH | s.t. |
| 158 | López, Diego | Team Euskadi | s.t. |
| 159 | Van Zyl, Johann | Dimension Data | s.t. |
| 160 | Fernández, Egoitz | Team Euskadi | s.t. |
| 161 | Eisel, Bernhard | Dimension Data | @ 2min 24sec |
| 162 | Trentin, Matteo | Mitchelton-Scott | s.t. |
| 163 | Milán, Diego | Inteja Dominican Cycling | s.t. |
| 164 | Dal-Cin, Matteo | Rally Cycling | s.t. |
| 165 | Sarabia, Ignacio | Inteja Dominican Cycling | s.t. |
| 166 | Nuñez, Adrián | Inteja Dominican Cycling | s.t. |
| 167 | Goikoetxea, Peio | Team Euskadi | + 00' 00'' |
| 168 | De Vos, Adam | Rally Cycling | + 03' 09'' |
| 169 | Mamykin, Matvei | Burgos-BH | + 04' 02'' |
| 170 | Modolo, Sacha | EF Education First-Drapac | + 04' 28'' |
| 171 | Diaz, José | Israel Cycling Academy | + 04' 33'' |
| 172 | Mancebo, Francisco | Inteja Dominican Cycling | + 05' 43'' |
| 173 | Winden, Dennis van | Israel Cycling Academy | + 06' 29'' |
| 174 | Van Asbroeck, Tom | EF Education First-Drapac | + 00' 00'' |
GC after Stage 1:
| 1 | Poppel, Danny van | LottoNL-Jumbo | 4hr 34min 3sec |
| 2 | Mezgec, Luka | Mitchelton-Scott | @ 4sec |
| 3 | Roelandts, Jürgen | BMC | + 00' 06'' |
| 4 | McLay, Daniel | EF Education First-Drapac | + 00' 10'' |
| 5 | Venturini, Clément | Ag2r La Mondiale | s.t. |
| 6 | Hofstetter, Hugo | Cofidis | s.t. |
| 7 | Kwiatkowski, Michał | Sky | s.t. |
| 8 | Naesen, Oliver | Ag2r La Mondiale | s.t. |
| 9 | Canola, Marco | Vini Fantini-Nippo | s.t. |
| 10 | Tulik, Angélo | Direct Energie | s.t. |
| 11 | Noppe, Christophe | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 12 | Torres, Albert | Inteja Dominican Cycling | s.t. |
| 13 | Navardauskas, Ramunas | Bahrain-Merida | s.t. |
| 14 | Enger, Sondre | Israel Cycling Academy | s.t. |
| 15 | Moschetti, Matteo | Polartec-Kometa | s.t. |
| 16 | Thwaites, Scott | Dimension Data | s.t. |
| 17 | Rojas, José Joaquin | Movistar | s.t. |
| 18 | Sanz, Enrique | Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | s.t. |
| 19 | Planckaert, Baptiste | Katusha-Alpecin | s.t. |
| 20 | Porsev, Alexander | Gazprom-RusVelo | s.t. |
| 21 | Gazzoli, Michele | Polartec-Kometa | s.t. |
| 22 | Rosa, Diego | Sky | s.t. |
| 23 | Poels, Wout | Sky | s.t. |
| 24 | Anderson, Ryan | Rally Cycling | s.t. |
| 25 | Belkov, Maxim | Katusha-Alpecin | s.t. |
| 26 | Tratnik, Jan | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | s.t. |
| 27 | Simón, Jordi | Burgos-BH | s.t. |
| 28 | Biermans, Jenthe | Katusha-Alpecin | s.t. |
| 29 | Pibernik, Luka | Bahrain-Merida | s.t. |
| 30 | De La Cruz, David | Sky | s.t. |
| 31 | Roglič, Primož | LottoNL-Jumbo | s.t. |
| 32 | Bilbao, Pello | Astana | s.t. |
| 33 | Smit, Willie | Katusha-Alpecin | s.t. |
| 34 | Trusov, Nikolay | Gazprom-RusVelo | s.t. |
| 35 | Soto, Nelson | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | s.t. |
| 36 | Antunes, Amaro | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | s.t. |
| 37 | Sáez, Héctor | Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | s.t. |
| 38 | Bookwalter, Brent | BMC | s.t. |
| 39 | Petit, Adrien | Direct Energie | s.t. |
| 40 | Vanmarcke, Sep | EF Education First-Drapac | s.t. |
| 41 | Van Rooy, Kenneth | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 42 | Chevrier, Clément | Ag2r La Mondiale | s.t. |
| 43 | Van Avermaet, Greg | BMC | s.t. |
| 44 | Prades, Eduard | Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | s.t. |
| 45 | Sánchez, Luis León | Astana | s.t. |
| 46 | Gidich, Yevgeniy | Astana | s.t. |
| 47 | Gasparotto, Enrico | Bahrain-Merida | s.t. |
| 48 | Valverde, Alejandro | Movistar | s.t. |
| 49 | Kuss, Sepp | LottoNL-Jumbo | s.t. |
| 50 | Sütterlin, Jasha | Movistar | s.t. |
| 51 | Fuglsang, Jakob | Astana | s.t. |
| 52 | Aranburu, Álex | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | s.t. |
| 53 | Insausti, Jon Ander | Team Euskadi | s.t. |
| 54 | Koch, Jonas | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | s.t. |
| 55 | Küng, Stefan | BMC | s.t. |
| 56 | Stannard, Ian | Sky | s.t. |
| 57 | Gautier, Cyril | Ag2r La Mondiale | s.t. |
| 58 | Róson, Jaime | Movistar | s.t. |
| 59 | Ezquerra, Jesús | Burgos-BH | s.t. |
| 60 | Godon, Dorian | Cofidis | s.t. |
| 61 | Herrada, José | Cofidis | s.t. |
| 62 | Taaramäe, Rein | Direct Energie | s.t. |
| 63 | Rubio, Diego | Burgos-BH | s.t. |
| 64 | Kudus, Merhawi | Dimension Data | s.t. |
| 65 | Ponzi, Simone | Vini Fantini-Nippo | s.t. |
| 66 | Deltombe, Kevin | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 67 | Van Hecke, Preben | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 68 | Vuillermoz, Alexis | Ag2r La Mondiale | s.t. |
| 69 | Tizza, Marco | Vini Fantini-Nippo | s.t. |
| 70 | Owsian, Łukasz | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | s.t. |
| 71 | Vlasov, Aleksandr | Gazprom-RusVelo | s.t. |
| 72 | Declercq, Benjamin | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 73 | Powless, Neilson | LottoNL-Jumbo | s.t. |
| 74 | Schär, Michael | BMC | s.t. |
| 75 | Bagioli, Nicola | Vini Fantini-Nippo | s.t. |
| 76 | Nakane, Hideto | Vini Fantini-Nippo | s.t. |
| 77 | Joyce, Colin | Rally Cycling | s.t. |
| 78 | Sicard, Romain | Direct Energie | s.t. |
| 79 | Ballesteros, Miguél | Polartec-Kometa | s.t. |
| 80 | Hollenstein, Reto | Katusha-Alpecin | s.t. |
| 81 | Moscon, Gianni | Sky | s.t. |
| 82 | Sprengers, Thomas | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 83 | Schlegel, Michal | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | s.t. |
| 84 | Bou, Joan | Vini Fantini-Nippo | s.t. |
| 85 | De Marchi, Alessandro | BMC | s.t. |
| 86 | Kreuziger, Roman | Mitchelton-Scott | s.t. |
| 87 | Herrada, Jesús | Cofidis | s.t. |
| 88 | Rossetto, Stéphane | Cofidis | s.t. |
| 89 | Visconti, Giovanni | Bahrain-Merida | s.t. |
| 90 | Kump, Marko | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | s.t. |
| 91 | Yates, Simon | Mitchelton-Scott | s.t. |
| 92 | Chernetski, Sergei | Astana | s.t. |
| 93 | Bidard, François | Ag2r La Mondiale | s.t. |
| 94 | Domont, Axel | Ag2r La Mondiale | s.t. |
| 95 | Hermans, Ben | Israel Cycling Academy | s.t. |
| 96 | Boev, Igor | Gazprom-RusVelo | s.t. |
| 97 | Reis, Rafael | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | s.t. |
| 98 | Celano, Danilo | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | s.t. |
| 99 | Van Hoecke, Gijs | LottoNL-Jumbo | s.t. |
| 100 | Molina, Antonio | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | s.t. |
| 101 | Nych, Artem | Gazprom-RusVelo | s.t. |
| 102 | Oronte, Emerson | Rally Cycling | s.t. |
| 103 | Mendes, José | Burgos-BH | s.t. |
| 104 | Bravo, Garikoitz | Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | s.t. |
| 105 | Firsanov, Sergey | Gazprom-RusVelo | s.t. |
| 106 | Antón, Igor | Dimension Data | s.t. |
| 107 | Cras, Steff | Katusha-Alpecin | s.t. |
| 108 | Kiryienka, Vasil | Sky | s.t. |
| 109 | Gradek, Kamil | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | s.t. |
| 110 | Grivko, Andrei | Astana | s.t. |
| 111 | Pardilla, Sergio | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | s.t. |
| 112 | Plaza, Rubén | Israel Cycling Academy | s.t. |
| 113 | Bizkarra, Mikel | Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | s.t. |
| 114 | Pernsteiner, Hermann | Bahrain-Merida | s.t. |
| 115 | Frankiny, Kilian | BMC | s.t. |
| 116 | Rodríguez, Cristian | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | s.t. |
| 117 | Carretero, Héctor | Movistar | s.t. |
| 118 | Santaromita, Ivan | Vini Fantini-Nippo | s.t. |
| 119 | Turek, Daniel | Israel Cycling Academy | s.t. |
| 120 | Gamper, Patrick | Polartec-Kometa | s.t. |
| 121 | Inkelaar, Kevin | Polartec-Kometa | s.t. |
| 122 | Fabbro, Matteo | Katusha-Alpecin | s.t. |
| 123 | Pauwels, Serge | Dimension Data | s.t. |
| 124 | Camacho, Juan | Polartec-Kometa | s.t. |
| 125 | Arcas, Jorge | Movistar | s.t. |
| 126 | Perez, Anthony | Cofidis | s.t. |
| 127 | Breschel, Matti | EF Education First-Drapac | s.t. |
| 128 | Novak, Domen | Bahrain-Merida | s.t. |
| 129 | Juaristi, Txomin | Team Euskadi | s.t. |
| 130 | Van Gompel, Mathias | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 131 | Pellizotti, Franco | Bahrain-Merida | s.t. |
| 132 | Salas, Ibai | Burgos-BH | s.t. |
| 133 | Bouwman, Koen | LottoNL-Jumbo | s.t. |
| 134 | Niv, Guy | Israel Cycling Academy | s.t. |
| 135 | Ries, Michel | Polartec-Kometa | s.t. |
| 136 | Rolland, Pierre | EF Education First-Drapac | s.t. |
| 137 | Britton, Rob | Rally Cycling | s.t. |
| 138 | Moser, Moreno | Astana | s.t. |
| 139 | Huffman, Evan | Rally Cycling | s.t. |
| 140 | Kuriyanov, Stepan | Gazprom-RusVelo | s.t. |
| 141 | Yates, Adam | Mitchelton-Scott | s.t. |
| 142 | Gaudin, Damien | Direct Energie | s.t. |
| 143 | Nauleau, Bryan | Direct Energie | s.t. |
| 144 | Bico, Nuno | Movistar | s.t. |
| 145 | Lopez, Juan | Team Euskadi | s.t. |
| 146 | Aguirre, José | Inteja Dominican Cycling | s.t. |
| 147 | Martín, Gotzon | Team Euskadi | s.t. |
| 148 | Samitier, Sergio | Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | s.t. |
| 149 | Langeveld, Sebastian | EF Education First-Drapac | s.t. |
| 150 | Irizar, Julen | Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | s.t. |
| 151 | Emden, Jos van | LottoNL-Jumbo | s.t. |
| 152 | Dougall, Nic | Dimension Data | s.t. |
| 153 | Bewley, Sam | Mitchelton-Scott | s.t. |
| 154 | Albasini, Michael | Mitchelton-Scott | s.t. |
| 155 | Ourselin, Paul | Direct Energie | s.t. |
| 156 | Rubio, Jesús | Inteja Dominican Cycling | s.t. |
| 157 | Cabedo, Óscar | Burgos-BH | s.t. |
| 158 | López, Diego | Team Euskadi | s.t. |
| 159 | Van Zyl, Johann | Dimension Data | s.t. |
| 160 | Fernández, Egoitz | Team Euskadi | s.t. |
| 161 | Goikoetxea, Peio | Team Euskadi | s.t. |
| 162 | Van Asbroeck, Tom | EF Education First-Drapac | s.t. |
| 163 | Eisel, Bernhard | Dimension Data | + 02' 34'' |
| 164 | Trentin, Matteo | Mitchelton-Scott | s.t. |
| 165 | Milán, Diego | Inteja Dominican Cycling | s.t. |
| 166 | Dal-Cin, Matteo | Rally Cycling | s.t. |
| 167 | Sarabia, Ignacio | Inteja Dominican Cycling | s.t. |
| 168 | Nuñez, Adrián | Inteja Dominican Cycling | s.t. |
| 169 | De Vos, Adam | Rally Cycling | + 03' 19'' |
| 170 | Mamykin, Matvei | Burgos-BH | + 04' 12'' |
| 171 | Modolo, Sacha | EF Education First-Drapac | + 04' 38'' |
| 172 | Diaz, José | Israel Cycling Academy | + 04' 43'' |
| 173 | Mancebo, Francisco | Inteja Dominican Cycling | + 05' 53'' |
| 174 | Winden, Dennis van | Israel Cycling Academy | + 06' 39'' |
Start list with back numbers, January 30, 2018:
| MOVISTAR | |
| 1 | VALVERDE Alejandro |
| 2 | AMADOR Andrey |
| 3 | ARCAS Jorge |
| 4 | BICO Nuno Miguel |
| 5 | CARRETERO Hector |
| 6 | ROJAS Jose Joaquin |
| 7 | ROSON Jaime |
| SKY | |
| 11 | POELS Wouter |
| 12 | DE LA CRUZ David |
| 13 | KIRYIENKA Vasil |
| 14 | KWIATKOWSKI Michal |
| 15 | MOSCON Gianni |
| 16 | ROSA Diego |
| 17 | STANNARD Ian |
| BMC | |
| 21 | VAN AVERMAET Greg |
| 22 | BOOKWALTER Brent |
| 23 | DE MARCHI Alessandro |
| 24 | FRANKINY Kilian |
| 25 | KÜNG Stefan |
| 26 | ROELANDTS Jurgen |
| 27 | SCHÄR Michael |
| MITCHELTON-SCOTT | |
| 31 | ALBASINI Michael |
| 32 | MEZGEC Luka |
| 33 | KREUZIGER Roman |
| 34 | YATES Adam |
| 35 | YATES Simon |
| 36 | BEWLEY Sam |
| 37 | TRENTIN Matteo |
| AG2R LA MONDIALE | |
| 41 | BIDARD François |
| 42 | CHEVRIER Clement |
| 43 | DOMONT Axel |
| 44 | GAUTIER Cyril |
| 45 | NAESEN Oliver |
| 46 | VENTURINI Clément |
| 47 | VUILLERMOZ Alexis |
| EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC | |
| 51 | BRESCHEL Matti |
| 52 | LANGEVELD Sebastian |
| 53 | MCLAY Daniel |
| 54 | MODOLO Sacha |
| 55 | ROLLAND Pierre |
| 56 | VAN ASBROECK Tom |
| 57 | VANMARCKE Sep |
| KATUSHA-ALPECIN | |
| 61 | BELKOV Maxim |
| 62 | BIERMANS Jenthe |
| 63 | CRASS Steff |
| 64 | FABBRO Matteo |
| 65 | HOLLENSTEIN Reto |
| 66 | PLANCKAERT Baptiste |
| 67 | SMIT Willie |
| BAHRAIN-MERIDA | |
| 71 | NAVARDAUSKAS Ramunas |
| 72 | NOVAK Domen |
| 73 | PELLIZOTTI Franco |
| 74 | GASPAROTTO Enrico |
| 75 | PERNSTEINER Hermann |
| 76 | PIBERNIK Luka |
| 77 | VISCONTI Giovanni |
| ASTANA | |
| 81 | FUGLSANG Jakob |
| 82 | SANCHEZ Luis Leon |
| 83 | BILBAO Pello |
| 84 | CHERNETSKY Sergey |
| 85 | GIDICH Yevgeniy |
| 86 | MOSER Moreno |
| 87 | GRIVKO Andriy |
| LOTTO NL-JUMBO | |
| 91 | BOUWMAN Koen |
| 92 | VAN EMDEN Jos |
| 93 | VAN HOECKE Gijs |
| 94 | KUSS Sepp |
| 95 | VAN POPPEL Danny |
| 96 | POWLESS Neilson |
| 97 | ROGLIC Primoz |
| DIMENSION DATA | |
| 101 | ANTON Igor |
| 102 | EISEL Bernhard |
| 103 | DOUGALL Nick |
| 104 | RUDUS Merhawi |
| 105 | PAUWELS Serge |
| 106 | THWAITES Scott |
| 107 | VAN ZYL Johann |
| COFIDIS | |
| 111 | HERRADA Jesús |
| 112 | GODON Dorian |
| 113 | HERRADA José |
| 114 | HOFSTETTER Hugo |
| 115 | MATE Luis Anguel |
| 116 | PEREZ Anthony |
| 117 | ROSSETTO Stéphane |
| CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA | |
| 121 | PARDILLA Sergio |
| 122 | SOTO Nelson Andres |
| 123 | RODRÍGUEZ Cristian |
| 124 | MOLINA Antonio |
| 125 | CELANO Danilo |
| 126 | REIS Rafael Ferreira |
| 127 | ARANBURU Alex |
| DIRECT ENERGIE | |
| 131 | GAUDIN Damien |
| 132 | NAULEAU Bryan |
| 133 | OURSELIN Paul |
| 134 | PETIT Adrien |
| 135 | SICARD Romain |
| 136 | TAARAMAE Rein |
| 137 | TULIK Angelo |
| ISRAEL CYCLING ACADEMY | |
| 141 | DÍAZ José Manuel |
| 142 | HERMANS Ben |
| 143 | NIV Guy |
| 144 | PLAZA Ruben |
| 145 | SAGIV Guy |
| 146 | TUREK Daniel |
| 147 | VAN WINDEN Dennis |
| BURGOS-BH | |
| 151 | CABEDO Oscar |
| 152 | MAMYKIN Matvei |
| 153 | HERKLOTZ Silvio |
| 154 | SIMON Jordi |
| 155 | EZQUERRA Jesús |
| 156 | SALAS Ibai |
| 157 | TORRES Pablo |
| EUSKADI BASQUE COUNTRY-MURIAS | |
| 161 | IRIZAR Julen |
| 162 | BIZKARRA Mikel |
| 163 | SAMITIER Sergio |
| 164 | PRADES Eduard |
| 165 | SÁEZ Hector |
| 166 | SANZ Enrique |
| 167 | BRAVO OIARBIDE Garikoitz |
| GAZPROM-RUSVELO | |
| 171 | FIRSANOV Serguei |
| 172 | BOEV Igor |
| 173 | VLASOV Aleksander |
| 174 | NYCH Artem |
| 175 | KURIANOV Stepan |
| 176 | PORSEV Alexander |
| 177 | TRUSOV Nikolai |
| VINI FANTINI-NIPPO | |
| 181 | CANOLA Marco |
| 182 | PONZI Simone |
| 183 | BAGIOLI Nicola |
| 184 | NAKANE Hideto |
| 185 | SANTAROMITA Ivan |
| 186 | BOU Joan |
| 187 | TIZZA Marco |
| RALLY CYCLING | |
| 191 | ANDERSON Ryan |
| 192 | BRITTON Rob |
| 193 | DAL-CIN Matteo |
| 194 | DE VOS Adam |
| 195 | HUFFMAN Evan |
| 196 | JOYCE Colin |
| 197 | ORONTE Emerson |
| SPORT VLAANDEREN-BALOISE | |
| 201 | SPRENGERS Thomas |
| 202 | NOPPE Christophe |
| 203 | VAN GOMPEL Matthias |
| 204 | DECLERCQ Benjamin |
| 205 | VAN HECKE Preben |
| 206 | DELTOMBE Kevin |
| 207 | VAN ROOY Kenneth |
| CCC SPRANDI POLKOWICE | |
| 211 | AMARO Manuel |
| 212 | GRADEK Kamil |
| 213 | KOCH Jonas |
| 214 | KUMP Marko |
| 215 | OWSIAN Lukasz |
| 216 | SCHLEGEL Michal |
| 217 | TRATNIK Jan |
| INTEJA DOMINICA | |
| 221 | MANCEBO Francisco |
| 222 | NUÑEZ Adrián |
| 223 | AGUIRRE Jose Alfredo |
| 224 | SARABIA Ignacio |
| 225 | MILAN Diego |
| 226 | TORRES Albert |
| 227 | RUBIO Jesús Alberto |
| POLARTEC KOMETA | |
| 231 | GAZZOLI Michele |
| 232 | MOSCHETTI Matteo |
| 233 | GAMPER Patrick |
| 234 | RIES Michel |
| 235 | CAMACHO Juan |
| 236 | BALLESTEROS Miguel Angel |
| 237 | INKELAAR Kevin |
| TEAM EUSKADI | |
| 241 | INSAUSTI Jon Ander |
| 242 | FERNÁNDEZ Egoitz |
| 243 | GARCIA Ricardo |
| 244 | GOIKOETXEA Peio |
| 245 | JUARISTI Txomin |
| 246 | ALONSO Mikel |
| 247 | BUADES Marc |