Warming down outside the Bahrain Victorious team bus in a quiet country road after a hard-fought, very hilly first stage of the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana, Matej Mohoric could afford to be philosophical about his 2022 debut.
Ninth on the stage, the 27-year-old finished just behind a select group of five that in turn were chasing down stage winner Remco Evenepoel (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl), and podium finishers Alexandre Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers).
But that relatively anonymous result was nonetheless preceded by some impressive teamwork on the last, tough climb of the day from Bahrain Victorious.
After a strong showing by Pello Bilbao, Jan Tratnik and Dylan, Mohoric’s bright white jersey of Slovenian National Champion could be seen hovering close behind the front line of favourites and domestiques. But in the end, while co-leader Luis León Sanchez finished just ahead in fifth place, Mohoric fell off the pace, although by no means out of the running altogether.
“We were looking for the stage win, I guessed today was our best shot,” Mohoric told Cyclingnews afterwards.
“We had a plan for that last climb and we executed it perfectly, but we lacked just a little bit of strength in the legs on the last part to stay with the best. Remco was the best and he deserves the stage win.”
Mohoric emphasised that his goals, in any case, are much deeper into the season and that year-on-year, he’s definitely where he wants to be.
“I think I’m slightly better than this time last season, I just need to fine-tune the last details and then I’m ready for the Spring Campaign.
“We did good training camps in December and January so we were expecting this and we’re looking forward to the important goals of the season starting with Strade Bianche and Sanremo and all the other Classics.”
Back in Valenciana, Mohoric is not throwing in the towel, but he recognises that in the five-day Spanish stage race, a certain Belgian is the man to beat.
“It’s still early in the season but he’s proved that he’s the strongest here. It’s his race to lose.”
However, Mohoric immediately qualified that by adding: “But there’s also the third stage to go, of course.”
And on the tough sterrato uphill finish in southern Valencia, when the final battle ensues, to judge by Wednesday’s performance, Mohoric will surely be in the thick of the action once again.
