Tour of Valencia beats the Covid blues
THE 72ND edition of La Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana Gran Premi Banc Sabadell (tour of Valencia) cycle race should have been done and dusted on February 7, and the overall winner would have already been bathing in some early-season glory.
However, as we have come to expect over the last 12 months, nothing can be taken for granted in this present climate, and the race was postponed at the last minute.
Fortunately for cycling fans, the ‘postponed’ sign was not replaced with a ‘cancelled’ notice, which has been the unfortunate case with many events – and it was announced in mid-March that the rescheduled race would take place from April 14-18.
A total of 15 world class teams will cross the starting line in Elche for a race which has been growing in stature since its return from a seven year hiatus in 2015.
Although the full starting list for the UCI ProSeries-race had not been announced at the time of going to press, teams such Movistar, Cofidis, Équipe cycliste Groupama-FDJ, and Lotto Soudal Cycling Team have revealed that they will be taking part.
The five-stage race starts in
Elche on Wednesday (April 14) and sees the peloton covering a total of 160 kilometres to the finish line in Ondara.
The second stage will see the riders covering a 179km circular route leaving from and finishing in Alicante city.
Next up on stage three is a day for the climbers as the peloton covers 160km from Torrent to a hilltop finish at Alto de la Reina in Dos Aguas.
Saturday’s stage four is a 21km time trial that should help to bring some clarity to the general classification and give people an idea who will be gracing the podium after the final day’s 95km stage from Paterna to Valencia city.
Eurosport will be broadcasting the race from14.00-15.30 on the first four stages, and from 17.00-18.30 on the final day (Sunday).