Costa roared with La Vuelta
Expats joined in cheering the peloton through the province
THE COSTA Blanca roared at the weekend with the first three stages of the Vuelta Ciclista a España.
Tens of thousands turned up at start and finish lines while many others cheered the peloton along as the competitors toured the province around Torrevieja, from Benidorm to Calpe and from Ibi to Alicante on Saturday, Sunday and Monday respectively.
Thousands filled the streets of Torrevieja to experience the official start of the 74th La Vuelta a España cycle race on Saturday.
Not only was there an exceptional atmosphere but also a unique setting by the pink salt lake in the municipality’s natural park.
The ceremonial cutting of the ribbon was performed by provincial government president, Carlos Mazón; provincial deputy and Torrevieja mayor Eduardo Dolón; and professional cyclists Sandra Alonso and Manuel Peñalver.
Sr Mazón emphasised the importance of the first three stages covering ‘practically the entirety’ of Alicante province.
The start was unprecedented, taking place on a specially made ramp fashioned from one of the salt ‘mountains’ that are created by the company which extracts this mineral resource from the lake.
Much of the first stage, a 13.4-kilometre time trial, also enjoyed views of the Mediterranean Sea.
The first part of the route passed through the centre of the town as far as La Mata, then turned and rode back along streets parallel to the sea until the finish line in the port.
The Costa Blanca tourist board took advantage of this to promote the local landscapes to the world.
It also set up a tourist information point in the ‘Vuelta’ park area, offering promotional information about the province, especially places and activities related to cycling.
Aside from the drama of the race itself, another notable incident took place during the practice run-through of the route, when the Euskadi Murias team car failed to make a turn and crashed at quite some speed into the barriers.
The front of the car was severely damaged but fortunately no-one was injured and the four team members inside were able to get out.
The first team to set off, at 18.56, was Dimension Data, followed at four-minute intervals until the final team, Movistar started at 20.20. Since last year’s winner, British cyclist Simon Yates, is not competing in the race, the final start of the day was delegated to the Movistar team.
The winning team was Astana and Colombian Miguel Angel 'Superman' López became the first red-jersey wearer of this year's Vuelta. The Astana members clocked 14'51" after completing the stage.
Stage two
Like a whirlwind, the second stage of La Vuelta - Benidorm to Calpe, covering a distance of 199.6km sped through on Sunday morning, with plenty of fans lining much of the route to cheer them on.
The neutralised stage start set off just after midday from the centre of Benidorm, the route took the 22 teams down along the Poniente beach front then up towards Terra Mitica, before the flag went down on the race proper at the roundabout on the CV-70.
The race then went inland touring Callosa and reaching Confrides peak before racing through the streets of Alcoy and Cocentaina to head back towards the coast via Castell de Castells, Benichembla, Llíber, Jalón and Benissa.
Once they arrived in Calpe for the first time, the race again veered north to the Puig Llorença climb on the Cumbre del Sol (where the stage ended last year) and then back to the finishing line alongside the salt lakes.
It was a huge logistical operation which involved 3,000 people from the participants to the organisers, support staff and plenty of police - 60 local police, 20 Protección Civil volunteers, 80 National Police and 140 Guardia Civil plus a helicopter ensured the safe passage of the cyclists and entourage.
The winner of stage 2 was Nairo Quintana riding for Movistar Team with a time of 5hr 11 min 17 sec.
The red jersey changed ownership and went to Ireland’s Nicolas Roche of Team Sunweb.
Stage three
The last of the Costa stages took place on Monday with teams gathering at the starting line in Ibi and getting on the road towards Castalla and Agost.
The race carried on to Villena and the Biar third-category climb followed by the Tibi ascent. Then the peloton raced down towards Alicante for a spectacular sprint finish along the promenade won by Irishman Sam Bennett who clocked a time of 4.25'02"
This iconic cycle race will finish in Madrid on September 15 having covered 3272.2 km.
For further details of the race itself so far, turn to Cycle Clips on p48.