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February 15, 2017
Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta Ciclista Del Sol 2017 – Stage 1– Rincón de la Victoria – Granada – 155 km
The Vuelta a Andalucía (Tour of Andalusia) or Ruta del Sol (Route of the Sun) is a regional Spanish road bicycle race first held in 1925.
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Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta Ciclista Del Sol 2017 – Stage 1– Rincón de la Victoria – Granada – 155 km
February 15, 2017
Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta Ciclista Del Sol 2017 – Stage 1– Rincón de la Victoria – Granada – 155 km
The Vuelta a Andalucía (Tour of Andalusia) or Ruta del Sol (Route of the Sun) is a regional Spanish road bicycle race first held in 1925. Since 2005, it has been a 2.1 category race on the UCI Europe Tour. The nickname, Ruta del Sol, is in reference to the region’s popular tourist coastline the Costa del Sol.
Movistar’s Alejandro Valverde won the first stage of the Ruta del Sol Wednesday in Granada. The 36-year-old Spaniard triumphed in a six-man sprint ahead of Team Sky’s Wout Poels and Sebastian Reichenbach (FDJ) at the end of a mountainous 155-km day of racing in southern Spain.
Valverde attempted to solo clear of a select group going up and over the final climb of the day, but he adjusted his plan after being caught on the descent, taking a convincing win in the sprint.
Berden De Vries (Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij), Georg Preidler (Team Sunweb), Daniel Turek (Israel Cycling Academy), Florian Senechal (Cofidis, Solutions Crédits), Tosh Van der Sande (Lotto Soudal), Pablo Torres Muiño (Burgos BH) and Kirill Sveshnikov (Gazprom-Rusvelo) formed the day’s main early escape group shortly after the peloton set out from Málaga.
The breakers worked their advantage up to around four and half minutes before the bunch began gradually reeling them in. The climber-friendly terrain saw cohesion break down in the lead group, and all of the breakers were caught by the 34k to go mark, as the pack neared the foot of the decisive final climb of the stage.
Trek-Segafredo’s Alberto Contador unleashed a blistering attack on the early slopes of the ascent, initially opening up a gap before Valverde caught onto his wheel. Before long, they were joined by Poels, his Sky teammates Diego Rosa and Mikel Landa, Bahrain-Merida’s Ion Izagirre, and Cannondale-Drapac’s Rigoberto Urán.
Landa was the next to strike, but his attack was short-lived. Contador attempted to get clear once again with around 20km left to go, but couldn’t shake the others at the head of the race. Then it was Valverde’s turn. The Spaniard broke free of the rest of the lead group near the summit and then began to extend his advantage on the descent. Contador soloed away from the others in hot pursuit.
With a little over 10km left to race, Contador made the catch. Then Rosa and Izagirre caught up as well. From there, the four riders mostly eyed each other, allowing Poels and Reichenbach to join with around 3km to go, setting up a six-man battle for the win.
As the pace picked up for the final sprint, Valverde was already at the front of the group with 200 metres to go. Poels tried coming around on his left, but could not quite overtake the Movistar rider, allowing Valverde to nab his first win of 2017 at the finish line.
Valverde will take the race lead into a 177.9-km stage 2, which runs from Torredonjimeno to the Alto Peña del Águila climb.
Results :
1 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team 4:02:28
2 Wout Poels (Ned) Team Sky
3 Sébastien Reichenbach (Swi) FDJ
4 Diego Rosa (Ita) Team Sky
5 Ion Izagirre (Spa) Bahrain-Merida
6 Alberto Contador (Spa) Trek-Segafredo
7 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ 0:00:05
8 Mikel Landa (Spa) Team Sky
9 Rigoberto Uran (Col) Cannondale-Drapac
10 Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Sunweb
General Classification after stage 1
1 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team 4:02:28
2 Wout Poels (Ned) Team Sky
3 Sébastien Reichenbach (Swi) FDJ
4 Diego Rosa (Ita) Team Sky
5 Ion Izagirre (Spa) Bahrain-Merida
6 Alberto Contador (Spa) Trek-Segafredo
7 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ 0:00:05
8 Mikel Landa (Spa) Team Sky
9 Rigoberto Uran (Col) Cannondale-Drapac
10 Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Sunweb
 or Ruta del Sol (Route of the Sun) is a regional Spanish road bicycle race first held in 1925. Since 2005, it has been a 2.1 category race on the UCI Europe Tour. The nickname, Ruta del Sol, is in reference to the region's popular tourist coastline the Costa del Sol.
Movistar's Alejandro Valverde won the first stage of the Ruta del Sol Wednesday in Granada. The 36-year-old Spaniard triumphed in a six-man sprint ahead of Team Sky's Wout Poels and Sebastian Reichenbach (FDJ) at the end of a mountainous 155-km day of racing in southern Spain.
Valverde attempted to solo clear of a select group going up and over the final climb of the day, but he adjusted his plan after being caught on the descent, taking a convincing win in the sprint.
Berden De Vries (Roompot - Nederlandse Loterij), Georg Preidler (Team Sunweb), Daniel Turek (Israel Cycling Academy), Florian Senechal (Cofidis, Solutions Crédits), Tosh Van der Sande (Lotto Soudal), Pablo Torres Muiño (Burgos BH) and Kirill Sveshnikov (Gazprom-Rusvelo) formed the day's main early escape group shortly after the peloton set out from Málaga.
The breakers worked their advantage up to around four and half minutes before the bunch began gradually reeling them in. The climber-friendly terrain saw cohesion break down in the lead group, and all of the breakers were caught by the 34k to go mark, as the pack neared the foot of the decisive final climb of the stage.
Trek-Segafredo's Alberto Contador unleashed a blistering attack on the early slopes of the ascent, initially opening up a gap before Valverde caught onto his wheel. Before long, they were joined by Poels, his Sky teammates Diego Rosa and Mikel Landa, Bahrain-Merida's Ion Izagirre, and Cannondale-Drapac's Rigoberto Urán.
Landa was the next to strike, but his attack was short-lived. Contador attempted to get clear once again with around 20km left to go, but couldn't shake the others at the head of the race. Then it was Valverde's turn. The Spaniard broke free of the rest of the lead group near the summit and then began to extend his advantage on the descent. Contador soloed away from the others in hot pursuit.
With a little over 10km left to race, Contador made the catch. Then Rosa and Izagirre caught up as well. From there, the four riders mostly eyed each other, allowing Poels and Reichenbach to join with around 3km to go, setting up a six-man battle for the win.
As the pace picked up for the final sprint, Valverde was already at the front of the group with 200 metres to go. Poels tried coming around on his left, but could not quite overtake the Movistar rider, allowing Valverde to nab his first win of 2017 at the finish line.
Valverde will take the race lead into a 177.9-km stage 2, which runs from Torredonjimeno to the Alto Peña del Águila climb.
<strong>Results : </strong>
1 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team 4:02:28
2 Wout Poels (Ned) Team Sky
3 Sébastien Reichenbach (Swi) FDJ
4 Diego Rosa (Ita) Team Sky
5 Ion Izagirre (Spa) Bahrain-Merida
6 Alberto Contador (Spa) Trek-Segafredo
7 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ 0:00:05
8 Mikel Landa (Spa) Team Sky
9 Rigoberto Uran (Col) Cannondale-Drapac
10 Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Sunweb
<strong>General Classification after stage 1</strong>
1 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team 4:02:28
2 Wout Poels (Ned) Team Sky
3 Sébastien Reichenbach (Swi) FDJ
4 Diego Rosa (Ita) Team Sky
5 Ion Izagirre (Spa) Bahrain-Merida
6 Alberto Contador (Spa) Trek-Segafredo
7 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ 0:00:05
8 Mikel Landa (Spa) Team Sky
9 Rigoberto Uran (Col) Cannondale-Drapac
10 Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Sunweb
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