From today until Sunday the 74th edition of the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana-GP Banc Sabadell will be held. World cycling will look towards the Valencian Community in three intense days that promise a great show. The organization of the VCV, with professional ex-cyclist Ángel Casero at the helm, has designed a tougher and more mountainous route than in previous editions that will be able to test the international peloton. La Volta, one of the first major events on the UCI calendar, brings together 19 World Tour and Pro Tour category teams. La Volta presents a route in which, a priori, climbers start with an advantage since there will be no CRI either individually or by teams and there will be a good repertoire of climbs, some of them unprecedented such as the mythical La Frontera. Today, Wednesday, the first stage is celebrated with departure from Orihuela and finish line in Altea and 189 km of route with passes through the ports of Coll de Rates and Bèrnia. A first opportunity right from the start for climbers.
Stage 2 will also pass through the province of Alicante, starting in Novelda and ending in Alto de Pinos de Benissa. Almost 180 kilometers of route and up to seven mountain passes. On Friday, February 3, the third stage will take place between Bétera and Sagunto, already in the province of Valencia. Another mid-mountain stage that will climb well-known ports such as Oronet and Garbí.
The main course arrives on Saturday, February 4, with the queen stage through the province of Castellón. Departure in Burriana and finish, also unprecedented, in the Sanctuary of the Holy Cave, in Altura. Five mountain passes well distributed among the 181 kilometer stage that should be decisive for the general classification. On Sunday the 5th the Volta will conclude with the classic stage between Paterna and Valencia but hardened compared to other years with the climbs to Oronet and, above all, to La Frontera. Another attraction of this last stage will be its unprecedented final against l’Oceanogràfic de València. Parallel to the men’s event, on Sunday 5 with the same route the Volta Comunitat Valenciana Féminas will be held, which will be held in a single stage.
Carlos Rodríguez (Ineos) from Granada starts as one of the favorites to win along with his compatriots Mikel Landa and Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) or the current champion of the Valencian round, the Russian Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) who defends the crown. Among the participating teams stand out. With Juan Ayuso notably absent, the Valencian representation will correspond to Joan Bou (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and Óscar Pelegrí (Burgos BH)
In this seventieth edition, the Spanish teams from the World Tour and Pro Tour categories, Movistar Team, Burgos BH, Euskaltel Euskadi and Caja Rural Seguros RGA will be present.
The teams passed the pertinent accreditation controls yesterday and today they will start at 12:20 p.m. from Orihuela to Altea where the first stage is expected to end around 5:25 p.m. Altea will dress the first leader.
