Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana 2022

Aleksandr Vlasov wins Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana

Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana stage 5 – As it happened

Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) finished safely in the peloton on the stage 5 finale and so kept the leader’s yellow jersey and celebrated his first-ever stage race success at the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana. Remco Evenepoel (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) finished 32 seconds down, with talented young Spaniard Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers) third overall at 36 seconds.

The final day belonged to the sprinters with Fabio Jakobsen (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) winning the sprint stage 5 in Valencia. Elia Viviani (Ineos Grenadiers) and Alexander Kristoff (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux) finished second and third..

Matteo Moschetti takes sprint win on stage 4

Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana stage 4 – As it happened

Matteo Moschetti (Trek-Segafredo) won the high-speed sprint finish in Torrevieja, producing a perfectly-timed effort to emerge from the fight for the wheels. 

The Italian hit the front coming out of the final corner and had the power and speed to hold off his rivals. Manuel Penalver (Burgos-BH) finished second and Alexander Kristoff (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux) was third and Elia Viviani (Ineos Grenadiers) was fourth. 

Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) finished safely in the peloton after attacks in the crosswinds failed to happen along the coastline and during the final 33.5km loop of the Laguna de Torrevieja.

Vlasov wins stage 3 as Evenepoel meets his match on the Alto Antenas del Maigmó

Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana stage 3 – As it happened

Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) attacked on the fiercely-steep final climb that featured a tough gravel segment inside the final three kilometres and won stage 3 of the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana. The high-elevation drama on Friday threw attacks and dust to the summit finish at Antenas del Maigmó that saw Vlasov displace Remco Evenepoel (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) as the race leader.

Vlasov came off the gravel and passed beneath the flamme rouge for his first victory for his Bora-Hansgrohe squad. In the dust behind, Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers) made an impressive surge to take second on the stage, 14 seconds behind Vlasov, while Enric Mas (Movistar) placed third at 21 seconds. 

Behind, the favourites were scattered across the mountainside - Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) led Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) across the line at 29 seconds, just ahead of Jakob Fuglsang (Israel-Premier Tech) and Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo), then the labouring Evenepoel in eighth.

Evenepoel dropped to second overall, some 32 seconds down on Vlasov, while Rodriguez was in third, another four seconds behind the Belgian.

Fabio Jakobsen wins stage 2

Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana stage 2 – As it happened

Fabio Jakobsen (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) showed his dominance as a sprinter with a victory on stage 2 of the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana. He cleared the line in Torrent ahead of Juan Sebastián Molano (UAE Team Emirates) and Elia Viviani (Ineos Grenadiers), who took second and third, respectively. From the bunch sprint Matej Mohorič (Bahrain Victorious) took fourth place and Alexander Kristoff (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux) was fifth. 

Jakobsen grabbed the back of the Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert train in the final kilometre and used the wheel of Andrea Pasqualon in the final 200 metres to secure the victory

Stage 2 took in five categorised climbs from Bétera to Torrent for a hilly 171.5-kilometre route. Remco Evenepoel (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) stayed in yellow as the race leader, and the GC remained unchanged at the top with Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) in second by 19 seconds and Carlos Rodríguez (Ineos Grenadiers) in third at 37 seconds.

Remco Evenepoel wins opening stage

Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana stage 1 - As it happened

Remco Evenepoel (QuickStep-AlpaVinyl) blasted away from the front group of stage 1 near the summit of the difficult Torralba del Pinar climb to win the opening day of the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana on Wednesday. Aleksandr Vlasov finished second, 16 seconds back, in his debut for Bora-Hansgrohe, while Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers) finished third at 32 seconds. 

With time bonuses, Evenepoel leads Vlasov by 19 seconds in the overall standings, and Rodriguez is third at 37 seconds. 

Alejandro Valverde, who has won this race three times, crossed the line in seventh position, rolling across the line just behind three other rides including his Movistar teammate Enric Mas, who was fourth.

Running 166km from Les Alqueries to the tiny village of Torralba del Mar, stage 1 had plenty of undulating terrain, including the second category Remolcador climb in the middle and then the nasty, final climb just three kilometres from the finish. Evenepoel charged into the lead with one kilometre to go on that final climb.

News and features

• Rodriguez scores first pro stage race podium in Valenciana at age 21
• Evenepoel still uncertain about ability on steepest climbs after Valenciana
• Jakobsen promises to return to Valenciana after second sprint victory
• Ilnur Zakarin draws motivation from knowing 2022 is his final year
• Matteo Trentin: Gravel sectors have no place in stage racing or even Paris-Tours
• Moschetti keeps his cool in turbulent Valenciana sprint
• Jumbo-Visma and Team DSM withdraw from Volta Valenciana after COVID-19 cases
• Carlos Rodriguez impresses with second top-three on climbs in Valenciana
• Vlasov on fire on Valenciana's key summit finish
• Evenepoel left in the dust on Valenciana summit stage
• BikeExchange-Jayco withdraw from Valenciana after positive COVID-19 tests
• Human Powered Health keeps breakaway power on in 2022
• Evenepoel says three-for-three stage wins possible at Valenciana for QuickStep
• Jakobsen keeps QuickStep-AlphaVinyl on top in Valenciana
• Valenciana organisation rejects Evenepoel's criticism of crunch climb conditions
• Mohoric building solidly at Valenciana towards main season goals
• Remco Evenepoel lays down the law from the get-go in Valenciana
• Remco Evenepoel expects 'explosion' on Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana's off-road summit finish
• Lift-off for the 2022 European road season starts here
• Remco Evenepoel among headline stars at 2022 Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana – Preview
• How to watch Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana 2022 – live TV and streaming

Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana teams

• Groupama-FDJ
• Movistar Team
• QuickStep-AlphaVinyl
• Ineos Grenadiers
• UAE Team Emirates
• Jumbo-Visma
• Bahrain - Victorious
• Astana Qazaqstan 
• Team BikeExchange-Jayco
• AG2R Citroën Team
• Israel-Premier Tech
• Bora-Hansgrohe
• Trek-Segafredo
• Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
• Team DSM
• Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
• Burgos-BH
• Euskaltel-Euskadi
• Equipo Kern Pharma
• Human Powered Health
• Gazprom-RusVelo
• Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB
• B&B Hotels-KTM