Both Remco Evenepoel and Fabio Jakobsen will be in action next week
After being postponed to April in 2021, Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana returns at the beginning of February this year as one of the early stage races of the season. The first three days will be the most important in terms of the general classification fight, with the peloton set to take on a total of 14 classified climbs. The toughest of these will come at the end of stage 3, Alto de las Antenas de Maigmo, at the bottom of which the riders will arrive having previously tackled a 3km stretch of gravel roads.
The last two days of the race – finishing in Torrevieja and Valencia – are expected to come down to a bunch sprint, although in the past the fast men’s plans got spoiled by the attackers, one of the most recent examples being Stijn Vandenbergh, who upset the sprinters on the local circuit in Valencia back in 2016, despite a plastic bag getting stuck in his rear wheel with just a couple of kilometers to go.
Next week’s race will mark Remco Evenepoel’s first presence in Spain since August 2020, when he captured the Vuelta a Burgos overall standings, taking what at that time was the fourth GC win of his career. The Belgian will be joined by another rider who has tasted success in Spain on several occasions – Fabio Jakobsen – a five-time stage victor and points classification winner at La Vuelta. Rounding out our team will be Mattia Cattaneo, Josef Cerny, Mikkel Honoré, Yves Lampaert and Olympic Madison Champion Michael Mørkøv.
“Looking at the team for Valencia, we can definitely get some chances, especially with Fabio, as some of the stages should end in a bunch sprint. But also with Remco, Mikkel and Mattia we can do something nice. The route is a demanding one, with two hard uphill finishes; one of these has a few kilometers of gravel roads, which will make things even more difficult. We would like to get a stage victory and, if possible, do a good general classification. But the race is tough and we know it won’t be easy”, said Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl sports director Tom Steels.
Photo credit: ©Wout Beel
