Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana 2018 – Stage 3 [FULL STAGE – Team Time Trial]

February 2, 2018

Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana 2018 – Stage 3 – Benitatxell – Calpe (TTT) : 30,5 km

The Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana (Valencian pronunciation: [ˈvɔɫta a la komuniˈtad valensiˈana]; English: Tour of the Valencian Community or Tour of Valencia) is a road cycling stage race held in the Valencian Community (Comunitat Valenciana), Spain. Its position in the cycling calendar means it is often used as preparation for the spring classics or the grand tours which take place later in the season.

BMC Racing Team won the team time trial on stage 3 of the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana but the day’s real winner might yet prove to be Alejandro Valverde (Movistar). The Spaniard retains the overall lead after the race organisation decreed that the day’s stage would not count towards the general classification due to the inclement weather conditions in Calpe.

Having already stolen a march on most of his GC rivals by attacking to win stage 2, Valverde is now left in a commanding position ahead of Saturday’s pivotal mountain stage, with only Astana duo Luis Leon Sanchez and Jakob Fuglsang within 29 seconds of him on the overall standings.

Heavy rain and driving wind buffeted the time trial course along the Costa Blanca on Friday morning, leaving pools of standing water at some points on the parcours. Several teams voiced concerns and took to social media about the wisdom of squads riding in tight formation on time trial bikes in such conditions. Following consultation with the teams, the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana organisers and the UCI commissaires reached a compromise whereby the stage would still go ahead but the day’s result would not have any bearing on the general classification.

“Given how the weather was this morning, I think it was the right decision,” Valverde said after his Movistar team had safely negotiated the course without troubling BMC’s winning time.

“Of course, it changed in the afternoon once we started racing, but the second part of the course was still wet and a little bit dangerous. The decision had already been taken so we had to respect it.”

It was a decision always likely to raise debate – if the conditions mean a stage is too dangerous to be considered part of the general classification, then should the stage take place at all? The waters were muddied still further by the improvement in conditions as the afternoon progressed. By the time the later starters set out, the roads in the first half of the course had begun to dry off.

The decision was applauded by riders including Sep Vanmarcke (Education First-Drapac), who tweeted his support for the solution engineered by the commissaires and organisation. “This way, every team could decide if they wanted to take the risks for a good result, or keep it safe,” he wrote. “We rode in wet conditions, so we chose the last option.”

The debate was academic to BMC, who reiterated their team time trialling pedigree by scorching around the course at an average speed of 51kph and win the stage. They finished some 1:08 ahead of AG2R-La Mondiale and 1:12 up on Astana, and, with Stefan Küng and Brent Bookwalter among those driving the pace; they were full value for their win.

“It was a bit hard to make a good decision because it was raining a lot in the morning, but when it dried up we were able to keep it safe and go for victory,” Greg Van Avermaet said.

The race

Roadworks in the hinterland of Calpe had already seen the stage distance reduced to 23 kilometres from the originally planned 30.5km, and some teams treated the stage as something akin to a rest day, opting to soft-pedal around the course in leg warmers and on regular road bikes.

The early starters were the worst affected by the rain, but as the conditions improved and roads dried out, more teams began to compete for the stage honours. Understandably, local squads such as Team Euskadi and Polartec were keen to put on a show regardless of the status of the stage.

Nippo-Vini Fantini, Gazprom-Rusvelo and CCC-Sprandi Polkowice all opted to use their time trial machine, and went to be the early pace-setters, but once the BMC squad rolled down the start ramp – aboard their time trial bikes, with nary a legwarmer in sight – it was clear that they would be the team to beat.

Powered by Küng, Bookwalter, Michael Schar and Van Avermaet, BMC scorched around the course in 27:25, some 1:12 quicker than AG2R-La Mondiale’s provisional best mark. The French squad would finish the day in third on the stage.

Van Avermaet explained afterwards that the neutralisation of the stage from a GC perspective had not made one jot of difference to the BMC approach.

“No, not for us. We prepared the time trial as good as possible and we came here with the aim of winning the team time trial and going for victory,” he said.

“In the end, we’re not here for GC, we’re here for stage wins so we’re really happy. It was really technical, it wasn’t all about power it was also about technique. In the team we have a lot of experience, so it helped a lot to keep everyone together. It was really nice for us to get the win today.”

Astana, featuring Luis Leon Sanchez and Jakob Fuglsang, were the best of the late starters. The Kazakhstani squad caught a soft-pedalling Team Sky in the finishing straight and placed second on the stage, 1:01 down on BMC.

Valverde and his Movistar squad were the final starters, and they took no risks on the road to Calpe, charting a careful course around each of the corners as they came home in 29:49.

“We tried to do it fairly well ourselves even though the time didn’t count,” Valverde said. “I think we did a decent time. We weren’t fighting for the general but we gave it a good go and we did our job.”

The veteran carries a lead of 4 seconds over Luis Leon Sanchez, 6 over Fuglsang and 29 over Wout Poels (Team Sky) and everybody else into Saturday’s mountainous leg to Concentaina, where the organisers will hope a light covering of snow will soon melt and so not have a further impact on the decisive weekend stages.

Results :
1 BMC Racing Team 0:27:24
2 Astana Pro Team 0:01:08
3 AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:12
4 Gazprom – Rusvelo 0:01:36
5 CCC Sprandi Polkowice
6 Team Katusha Alpecin 0:01:43
7 Euskadi Basque Country – Murias 0:01:46
8 Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise 0:01:54
9 Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:02:14
10 Direct Energie 0:02:15
11 Movistar Team 0:02:31
12 Nippo – Vini Fantini – Europa Ovini 0:02:37
13 Burgos BH 0:02:45
14 Team Euskadi 0:02:58
15 Bahrain – Merida 0:03:00
16 Mitchelton – Scott 0:03:14
17 Polartec Kometa 0:03:20
18 Team Dimension Data 0:03:32
19 Team EF Education First – Drapac P/B Cannondale 0:03:44
20 Caja Rural – Seguros RGA 0:03:49
21 Team Sky 0:04:08
22 Team Lotto Nl – Jumbo 0:04:18
23 Rally Cycling 0:04:49
24 Inteja Dominican Cycling Team 0:05:52
25 Israel Cycling Academy 0:06:34

General Classification after Stage 3 :
1 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team 8:27:58
2 Luis Leon Sanchez (Spa) Astana Pro Team 00:00:04
3 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team 00:00:06
4 Wout Poels (Ned) Team Sky 00:00:29
5 Diego Rosa (Ita) Team Sky
6 Pello Bilbao (Spa) Astana Pro Team
7 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team
8 David De La Cruz (Spa) Team Sky
9 Primoz Roglic (Slo) LottoNL-Jumbo
10 Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team
11 Amaro Manuel Antunes (Por) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
12 Merhawi Kudus (Eri) Dimension Data
13 Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
14 Jaime Roson (Spa) Movistar Team
15 Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
16 Neilson Powless (USA) LottoNL-Jumbo
17 Jesus Herrada (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
18 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Mitchelton-Scott
19 Ben Hermans (Bel) Israel Cycling Academy
20 Gianni Moscon (Ita) Team Sky
21 Francois Bidard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
22 Mikel Bizkarra Etxegibel (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
23 Matteo Fabbro (Ita) Katusha-Alpecin
24 Kilian Frankiny (Swi) BMC Racing Team
25 Adam Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott
26 Luka Mezgec (Slo) Mitchelton-Scott 00:02:32
27 Clement Venturini (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 00:02:38
28 Oliver Naesen (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale
29 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky
30 Jose Joaquin Rojas (Spa) Movistar Team
31 Jordi Simon Casulleras (Spa) Burgos BH
32 Willem Jakobus Smit (RSA) Katusha-Alpecin
33 Ryan Anderson (Can) Rally Cycling
34 Scott Thwaites (GBr) Dimension Data
35 Luka Pibernik (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
36 Angelo Tulik (Fra) Direct Energie
37 Diego Rubio Hernandez (Spa) Burgos BH
38 Eduard Prades Reverter (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
39 Jesus Ezquerra Muela (Spa) Burgos BH
40 Stefan Kung (Swi) BMC Racing Team
41 Alex Aranburu Deba (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
42 Cyril Gautier (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
43 Jasha Sutterlin (Ger) Movistar Team
44 Kevin Deltombe (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
45 Benjamin Declercq (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
46 Marco Canola (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini
47 Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
48 Miguel Angel Ballesteros (Spa) Polartec-Kometa
49 Thomas Sprengers (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
50 Baptiste Planckaert (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin
51 Michael Schar (Swi) BMC Racing Team
52 Jan Tratnik (Slo) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
53 Rein TaaramŠe (Est) Direct Energie
54 Jose Herrada (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
55 Romain Sicard (Fra) Direct Energie
56 Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
57 Clement Chevrier (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
58 Axel Domont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
59 Preben Van Hecke (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
60 Reto Hollenstein (Swi) Katusha-Alpecin
61 Aleander Vlasov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
62 Jonas Koch (Ger) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
63 Sepp Kuss (USA) LottoNL-Jumbo
64 Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) BMC Racing Team
65 Michal Schlegel (Cze) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
66 Lukasz Owsian (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
67 Antonio Molina Canet (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
68 Stephane Rossetto (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
69 Colin Joyce (USA) Rally Cycling
70 Igor Anton (Spa) Dimension Data
71 Michel Ries (Lux) Polartec-Kometa
72 Marco Tizza (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini
73 Hermann Pernsteiner (Aut) Bahrain-Merida
74 Simon Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott
75 Hector Carretero (Spa) Movistar Team
76 Anthony Perez (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
77 Steff Cras (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin
78 Nicola Bagioli (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini
79 Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Astana Pro Team
80 Sergei Chernetckii (Rus) Astana Pro Team
81 Jose Joao Pimienta Costa Mendes (Por) Burgos BH
82 Emerson Oronte (USA) Rally Cycling
83 Domen Novak (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
84 Cristian Rodriguez Martin (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
85 Sergey Firsanov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
86 Artem Nych (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
87 Ivan Santaromita (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini
88 Serge Pauwels (Bel) Dimension Data
89 Sergio Pardilla Bellon (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
90 Garikoitz Bravo Oiarbide (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
91 Ruben Plaza (Spa) Israel Cycling Academy
92 Vasil Kiryienka (Blr) Team Sky
93 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
94 Pierre Rolland (Fra) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
95 Matti Breschel (Den) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
96 Oscar Cabedo Carda (Spa) Burgos BH
97 Moreno Moser (Ita) Astana Pro Team
98 Danny van Poppel (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo 00:05:55
99 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) BMC Racing Team 00:06:01
100 Alexander Porsev (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo 00:06:05
101 Jenthe Biermans (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin
102 Nikolay Trusov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
103 Ion Ander Insausti (Spa) Team Euskadi
104 Yevgeniy Gidich (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
105 Hideto Nakane (Jpn) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini
106 Gijs Van Hoecke (Bel) LottoNL-Jumbo
107 Danilo Celano (Ita) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
108 Kamil Gradek (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
109 Daniel Turek (Cze) Israel Cycling Academy
110 Mathias Van Gompel (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
111 Jorge Arcas (Spa) Movistar Team
112 Marc Buades (Spa) Team Euskadi
113 Ricardo Garcia (Spa) Team Euskadi
114 Paul Ourselin (Fra) Direct Energie
115 Evan Huffman (USA) Rally Cycling
116 Johann Van Zyl (RSA) Dimension Data
117 Nicolas Dougall (RSA) Dimension Data
118 Sacha Modolo (Ita) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 00:07:06
119 Matteo Trentin (Ita) Mitchelton-Scott 00:08:29
120 Kenneth Van Rooy (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 00:09:45
121 Dorian Godon (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
122 Egoitz Fernadez (Spa) Team Euskadi
123 Joan Bou Company (Spa) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini 00:11:04
124 Albert Torres (Spa) Inteja Dominican Cycling Team 00:12:41
125 Christophe Noppe (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
126 Daniel McLay (GBr) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
127 Enrique Sanz Unzue (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
128 Matteo Moschetti (Ita) Polartec-Kometa
129 Michele Gazzoli (Ita) Polartec-Kometa
130 Hugo Hofstetter (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
131 Hector Saez Benito (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
132 Sondre Holst Enger (Nor) Israel Cycling Academy
133 Nelson Andres Soto Martinez (Col) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
134 Maxim Belkov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin
135 Ramunas Navardauskas (Ltu) Bahrain-Merida
136 Simone Ponzi (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini
137 Adrien Petit (Fra) Direct Energie
138 Ian Stannard (GBr) Team Sky
139 Marko Kump (Slo) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
140 Igor Boev (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
141 Ibai Salas Zorrozua (Spa) Burgos BH
142 Kevin Inkelaar (Ned) Polartec-Kometa
143 Patrick Gamper (Aut) Polartec-Kometa
144 Juan Camacho (Spa) Polartec-Kometa
145 Txomin Juaristi (Spa) Team Euskadi
146 Jesus Alberto Rubio (Spa) Inteja Dominican Cycling Team
147 Julen Irizar Laskurain (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
148 Nuno Bico (Por) Movistar Team
149 Stepan Kurianov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
150 Guy Niv (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy
151 Bryan Nauleau (Fra) Direct Energie
152 Jos van Emden (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
153 Michael Albasini (Swi) Mitchelton-Scott
154 Sam Bewley (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott
155 Koen Bouwman (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
156 Robert Britton (Can) Rally Cycling
157 Damien Gaudin (Fra) Direct Energie
158 Mikel Alonso (Spa) Team Euskadi
159 Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
160 Peio Goikoetxea (Spa) Team Euskadi
161 Sergio Samitier Samitier (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
162 Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
163 Diego Milan (Dom) Inteja Dominican Cycling Team 00:15:05
164 Ignacio Sarabia (Mex) Inteja Dominican Cycling Team
165 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Dimension Data
166 Adam De Vos (Can) Rally Cycling 00:15:50
167 Jose Alfredo Aguirre (Mex) Inteja Dominican Cycling Team 00:16:30
168 Jose Manuel Diaz (Spa) Israel Cycling Academy 00:17:14
169 Francisco Mancebo (Spa) Inteja Dominican Cycling Team 00:18:24
170 Adrian Santiago Nuñez (Spa) Inteja Dominican Cycling Team 00:18:54
171 Dennis van Winden (Ned) Israel Cycling Academy 00:19:10