Tony Martin solos to stage 2 win in Valencia

Tony Martin (Katusha-Alpecin) took an impressive solo victory after a daring attack on stage 2 of the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana. After a disappointing team time trial on the opening day, Martin grabbed his first victory for his new squad and their second in less than an hour after his teammate Alexander Kristoff won at Etoile de Besseges.

"We received information that Kristoff also won today, so we knew we needed to do the same," Martin said. "I’m very happy that in my first road race for Katusha-Alpecin that I could get a victory and keep our morale high in the team for the next races."

Martin went off the front with a group of riders as they approached the final ascent but left them behind on the descent. The Katusha rider left it all out on the road, taking risks on the twisting route into the coastal town of Denia. The group behind were just seconds behind him as he reached the flat, but the multiple time trial world champion was in his element and there was nothing they could do to bring him back.

"I knew the final here from our training camps, and I knew I had good condition so I had a plan in my mind and the plan worked out," Martin said. "It’s nice to start the season for Katusha-Alpecin like this, especially after a bad day yesterday. This makes everything good. The team supported me 100 per cent on a stage that was kind of crazy with a lot of crashes and a lot of rain. I crashed two times myself. But I had a plan in my mind, and in wet conditions not so many riders can go with me. I took some risks but everything worked out to the plan. I usually win only in the time trial so it’s special to win in this road race."

Nairo Quintana (Movistar) launched a late attack but it was one for bonus seconds in the general classification rather than a true attempt for victory. The Colombian would roll through at the back of the chasing group, led by Pim Ligthart 12 seconds behind Martin, making up a handful of seconds on his rivals ahead of the more mountainous stages.

Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing), who brought home the third group at 19 seconds down on Martin, would take hold of the yellow jersey, while defending champion Wout Poels (Team Sky) lost out in the finale and gave away almost a minute to Martin.

How it happened

Under greyer skies than the opening stage, the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana set off from Alicante. BMC’s Manuel Senni was the centre of attention in the leader’s yellow jersey after he led his team across the line in the team time trial.

Attacks kept coming from kilometre zero but the bunch’s pace was high, and it seemed the peloton was being picky about who would be allowed up the road. With almost 30 kilometres under their belt, a break began to form with Johan van Zyl (Dimension Data), Cyril Gautier (AG2R La Mondiale) and Hector Saez (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) jumping clear. By the second ascent of the day, the Alto de Xixona, the trio had more than five minutes.

The skies had been threatening something since the start of the stage and they finally opened up on the peloton as the race left Benifallim, leading to a rush for rain gear in the peloton.

After maxing out at just over six minutes, the gap to the peloton was consistently shut down in the final 100km. As the leaders passed the Alto de Montgó for the first time, it was barely over 1:30 and it seemed that it would come together for a reduced bunch sprint. Sensing the peloton behind them, Gautier decided to attack and dispensed with the tiring Saez. The Spaniard was brought back to the bunch while Gautier and Van Zyl continued.

With 15 kilometres to go, however, it was all back together. A brief moment of calm was followed by a flurry of movement, which saw a group of riders, including Quintana, leave the peloton behind. They could only manage to build a small lead, but Martin took his chance as they reached the top of the third category Alto de Montgó. Suspending any sense of fear, Martin glided down the snaking descent. Taking risks everywhere possible, he had built up just enough of a lead to hold off the chasers and raise his arms aloft in victory.

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