Van Vleuten storms to victory in Setmana Ciclista Valenciana

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Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar), true to character, attacked the mountainous third stage of the Setmana Ciclista Valenciana, attacking on the final climb, the Alto del Collao, and powering away to a commanding victory and the race lead.

Van Vleuten finished almost a minute ahead of FDJ Nouvelle Aquitaine Futuroscope's Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig, with Ludwig's teammate Marta Cavalli not far behind.

"I knew that it got steeper with 17km to go inside the penultimate climb, with a 7% gradient while the following part was 5%," Van Vleuten said. "That, combined with block headwind, made it more easy for the other girls to sit on my wheel. I hesitated a bit about attacking from that far, but then again, I thought that the longer the effort, it would be the better for me. 

"I asked Paula (Patiño) to set the pace, Katrine (Aalerud) then took over and on the 7% part, I went and only [Mavi] García, Uttrup and Cavalli were with me.

"I stayed for 4-5 kilometers full gas, with them in my wheel, then I asked them to take over, and Cavalli and Uttrup followed suit, while García did not. There was one moment when Cavalli left a gap for Uttrup Ludwig to try an attack. It was 1.5km from the top, I went to close the gap and took advantage from that steeper corner and thought it would be the time to make the effort and try to give them a harder time. 

"And so I was alone already! It was perfect because otherwise, it would have been easier for them in the following part to follow the wheel.

"Something I can do well is time trialling towards the finish, and that's what I tried to did for the end of the ascent and the following climb. The radio didn't work over the last climb, but with 2km to go, the car came to coach me and encourage me, and it gave me goosebumps. I'm confident tomorrow that we can defend this.

"With such a GC, and tomorrow's course, it should be easier. For sure we need to be super focused for tomorrow, but we can also expect to have some help from sprinters' teams. One more day and hopefully we can get that orange home again!

"In general, it was a good test of my legs, I did so much training over the winter and I'm so happy that it pays off. People know that I train a lot, and on a day like this, over longer climbs, one-hour efforts, which I simulate on my training, and so it helps me to have done that."

With the category 1 Alto de Remolcador crested in the first 50km of racing, the peloton stayed mainly together, although a 20-rider split threatened to form in the rolling first 20km from Vila-Real.

With riders like world champion Elisa Balsamo (Trek-Segafredo) in the move, it was quickly closed down after gaining 20 seconds.

Erica Magnaldi (UAE Team ADQ) led Kasia Niewiadoma and Elise Chabbey (Canyon-Sram) over the top but Elisa Longo Borghini (Trek-Segafredo) came to the front on the descent.

As the road leveled, Anouska Koster (Jumbo-Visma) put in an attack but was brought back before the intermediate sprint in La Barona, where her teammate Karijn Swinkels led the peloton across the line.

Silke Smulders (Liv Racing Xstra), Marie Le Net (FDJ Nouvelle Aquitaine Futuroscope), Alexandra Manly (BikeExchange-Jayco) and Matilde Vitillo (BePink) escaped soon after, and built up a lead of over a minute, but could not resist the furious chase that ensued ahead on the early slopes of the final climb and were brought back with 16km to go.

Van Vleuten, Mavi Garcia, Uttrup Ludwig and Cavalli formed a leading quartet before the Dutch former world champion powered clear and continued on solo to victory.