Valverde takes the reins of the “Volta”
March 20 th 2018 - 10:00
Alejandro Valverde (Movistar Team) is now leader of the “Volta” a Catalunya after winning the second stage of the race this Tuesday, on a 175.6 kilometre long course from Mataró to Valls. The rider from Murcia was the quickest out of the large group battling it out for victory. As is customary in finishes in the capital of Alt Camp, the Coll de Lilla climb separates those ones with a chance of winning from the rest of the pack, and facilitated the sprint for Valverde, who thanks to time bonuses will be wearing the white and green leader’s jersey tomorrow, in which he finished the past edition of the “Volta”.
The day started with a breakaway made up of three riders, Igor Merino (Burgos-BH), Antonio Molina (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) and Mikel Bizkarra (Euskadi Basque Country-Murias), who grouped prior to the Port de la Font de la Cera, the third category climb which marked the beginning of the stage. Nevertheless, the riders from the three Spanish Continental Pro teams never managed to increase the gap beyond the three-minute mark as the Quick Step Floors team controlled the rhythm to defend their leader, the Colombian Álvaro Hodeg, who eventually lost some precious time in the first ramps of Lilla.
Not even the attack from the Ukrainian rider Andriy Grivko (Astana), who managed to catch up with the breakaway group, was enough to keep the spark alive, and was neutralised in the last climb of the day, the Coll de Lilla, a second category climb 10.6 kilometres short of the finish line, with a subsequent attempt by Cyril Barthe (Euskadi Basque Country-Murias). There the rhythm imposed by the Mitchelton-Scott and Movistar teams, as well as an attack by Pierre-Roger Latour (Ag2r La Mondiale), selected a group which ended up without any sprinters like the leader or Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe), the two first riders to cross the line in Calella yesterday.
That is how Valverde, winner in Valls in an identical finish in 2015, managed to be faster than the South-African champion Daryl Impey (Mitchelton-Scott) and the Australian Jay McCarthy (Bora-Hansgroe). In addition, and thanks to the bonuses awarded on the finish line and the intermediate sprint, the winner of the 2009 and 2017 editions of the “Volta” is now the new leader of the general classification before heading into the mountains.
“It wasn’t part of our plan at all to battle for the stage win, but at the end Mischelton-Scott put their foot down on the last climb, it cut a lot of people out of a potential win and made for an easier positioning. It was an uphill finish that I know really well and that I knew wasn’t too troublesome” declared Valverde, who raised his hands for a stage win on the “Volta” for the eighth time in his career. Moreover, Valverde really appreciates his triumph in Valls, where he stated that he is “always really happy to win because it’s in memory of our friend Xavi Tondo.”
The “Volta” will continue tomorrow with a course that has had to undergo modifications due to adverse weather conditions forecast. In the end, it will be 153.2 kilometres between Sant Cugat del Vallès and Camprodon, with the Coll de Bracons (1st category climb), and the Port de Collabós (2nd category climb).“Now it’s time for the really tough days and taking the leader’s jersey so early on for the team is always difficult, but if we are at the front, all the better. There was already pressure before getting here. Things have gone well so far, and from now on we need to take one day at a time”, said Valverde about becoming leader of the Volta.