Defending Champion Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar) will make her season's debut in an attempt to win for a second year in a row, but she will face one of the best fields ever assembled at the four-day race.
Although the early-season stage race is not part of the Women's WorldTour, it annually attracts a world-class field because of its position following many of the top-tier teams training camps held in the area and directly ahead of the spring classics Opening Weekend at Omloop Het Nieuwsbald on February 26 in Belgium.
The sixth edition of the stage race, classed as a UCI 2.1 event, is organised by Club Ciclista Escapada have invited 25 teams and will take place throughout Castellón, Valencia and Alicante.
Setmana Ciclista Valenciana is a stage race that has made its mark as one of the most important early-season stage races in Europe.
It has traditionally been held in February, but it was postponed to May due to COVID-19 last year, which ended up coinciding with a compelling 12 days of racing in Spain that culminated at the Women's WorldTour Vuelta a Burgos Feminas.
The race caters to the best climbs in the field due to the challenging terrain held across all four stages, and traditionally also includes on GC-deciding queen stage.
Riders to Watch
While only four top-tier teams took part in last year's event, this year's team roster boast 13 Women's WorldTeams: Movistar, Roland Cogeas Edelweiss, Uno-X, Liv Racing Xstra, BikeExchange-Jayco, FDJ Nouvelle Aquitaine Futuroscope, Canyon-SRAM, Trek-Segafredo, EF Education-TIBCO-SVB, UAE Team QDQ, Human Powered Health and Team DSM, along with 11 Continental Teams.
Defending Champion Annemiek van Vleuten is a self-professed lover of the Spanish one-day and stage races on the calendar. She annually makes a point of racing her heart out over their notoriously steep ascents. She will be the outright favourite to watch for the overall victory again in 2022.
Trek-Segafredo boast a strong squad with three-pronged approach in Elisa Longo Borghini for the mountains and time trial world champion Ellen van Dijk for the flatter stages, along with road race world champion Elisa Balsamo for the sprint stages.
Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig will take the start line as a prime GC contender and Grace Brown will make her debut with FDJ Nouvelle Aquitaine Futuroscope where she will no doubt aim to make the most of breakaway opportunities in her quest for top GC placing. She arrives to Europe fresh off a victory at in the time trial at the Australian National Championships.
Perfect terrain for Spanish Champion Mavi Garcia (UAE Team ADQ), who is well known for her aggressive racing style and her powerful climbing. Watch for her to disrupt the status quo and stake a claim on her home race.
Kaia Schmid will also make her debut on the pro circuit for Human Powered Health, and while she may not be a contender for the overall classification, she will be one to watch in breakaways and on sprint stages. The American was second in the junior women's World Championships in Flanders and will be testing herself against the elite field.
Canyon-SRAM, a team that has also been training in the area, bring a GC card in Kasia Niewiadoma. The Polish talent recently told Cyclingnews that after an off-season of gravel riding, she is motivated to attack the 2022 season.
Team DSM also have a series of cards to play with climbers Juliette Labous and British Champion Pfeiffer Georgi for the GC along with Lorena Wiebes and Charlotte Kool for the sprints.
EF Education-TIBCO-SVB line up with Lizzy Banks and American Champion Lauren Stephens as their strongest riders, and look out for Omer Shapira on the queen stage.
Another rider making her first appearance on a top-tier team is the women's UCI Hour Record holder Joscelin Lowden, making her debut with Uno-X Pro Cycling. Former winner Clara Koppenburg will also be returning to the race with her new team Cofidis looking for an early-season result.
Ane Santesteban, a favourite to contest her home race, and Ruby Roseman-Gannon, fresh off a winning start to her season in Australia, will be riders to watch in Valencia.
The route
Setmana Ciclista Valenciana's parcours boast some of the most challenging terrain on the international calendar. This year's four-day race covers eight categorized ascents before concluding in Valencia on Sunday.
Stage 1: Tavernes de la Valldigna to Gandia, 114km
The race will kick off with a 114km stage between Tavernes de la Valldigna and Gandia, with the same finish line as last year.
There is one intermediate sprint at Barxeta (80km) and three categorised climbs at Alto Serra Grossa (53km, Cat 3), Alto Barxeta (87km, Cat 4) and then Alto Barx (99km, Cat 2), followed by a descent and then a flat 3km to the finish line in Gandia.
The second day of racing offers the field 117k between Altea, where many of the WorldTeams hosted their early-season training camps, to Cocentaina. It's a lumpy stage but it only includes on category 1 ascent at Alto Confrides at 30km into the race. The rest of the stage is undulating with an intermediate sprint at Cocentaina (74km), followed by a second loop of a 29km regional circuit before finishing in Cocentaina.
Stage 3: Vila-Real to Vistabella del Maestrat, 135km
The queen stage 3 is held in the province of Castellón with 135km between Vila-Real to Vistabella del Maestrat. There is one intermediate sprint at La Barona (94km), and three category 1 ascents; Alto Remolcador (50km), and two that are back-to-back at the finale, Alto Collao (124km) and to the summit at Vistabella (135km).
The stage will close out the Setmana Ciclista Valenciana with 118km between Sagunt and Valencia. It is by no means a flat stage with an opening two laps of a 29km circuit between Sagunt, Cuartell, Estivella, Gilet and Sagunt, where two intermediate sprints are located at 30km and 60km. The peloton them races to the only ascent of the day, a category 2 climb over Alto de l'Oronet, before descending into Valencia.
Kirsten Frattini is the Deputy Editor of Cyclingnews, overseeing the global racing content plan.
Kirsten has a background in Kinesiology and Health Science. She has been involved in cycling from the community and grassroots level to professional cycling's biggest races, reporting on the WorldTour, Spring Classics, Tours de France, World Championships and Olympic Games.
She began her sports journalism career with Cyclingnews as a North American Correspondent in 2006. In 2018, Kirsten became Women's Editor – overseeing the content strategy, race coverage and growth of women's professional cycling – before becoming Deputy Editor in 2023.
