The Spaniard finished fourth in stage 2 of Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana and made an important jump in the general classification, where he is now lying in sixth.
Many were expecting a rather quiet day in the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana (Alicante – Denia, 180.6 kilometers) after the tough opening team time trial, but it wasn't to be, as the rain, the slippery roads and a short third-category climb which came inside the final ten kilometers spiced up things and shattered the peloton, who was well stretched out after catching the remnants of the break just a few minutes earlier.
David De La Cruz was the first to launch a bid on Alto de Montgo, and his attack took many riders by surprise, sparking an important selection, as only five men were able to respond to this move. One of them was Tony Martin (Katusha-Alpecin), who accelerated over the top of the short climb and descended into Denia with a few seconds in hand, which proved enough to take the win on the main boulevard of the seaside resort which in the winter serves as training camp site for many cycling teams.
Denia eventually witnessed the victory of Martin, who rolled over the line with a 11-second gap on the chasing group, from which Pim Ligthart (Roompot-Oranje) and Primoz Roglic (LottoNL-Jumbo) rounded out the podium. David De La Cruz finished in the same time in fourth position, showing a good condition in what is his first race of the season, and jumped in the general classification top 10, where he is joined by teammates Philippe Gilbert, Zdenek Stybar and Daniel Martin, all less than 50 seconds behind the race leader.
Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele
