Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana: Vlasov wins stage 3

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Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) divested Remco Evenepoel (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) of the yellow jersey at the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana after he delivered a rasping attack on the gravel to win the stage 3 summit finish at Antenas del Maigmó.

The wickedly-steep final climb featured a tough gravel segment inside the final three kilometres, and this was where Vlasov unleashed his winning move. The Russian first hit the front with 2km remaining, when his seated acceleration splintered an already stretched yellow jersey group.

After allowing Evenepoel come through and take a turn, Vlasov resumed his onslaught with 1500 metres remaining, and this time nobody could follow. Vlasov came off the gravel and passed beneath the flamme rouge with a small lead over the chasers and he never once relented in the final kilometre.

His ease was in stark contrast with Evenepoel’s travails on the final approach the line. The Belgian initially led the pursuit of Vlasov after coming off the gravel, but he struggled to keep his gear turning over in the final kilometre as the chasing group fragmented, and he eventually crossed the finish line 41 seconds down in 8th place on the stage.

Twenty-one-year-old Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers), who had been seemingly distanced on the gravel, made a late and 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), though once Vlasov crested the summit, all eyes were on the labouring Evenepoel.

To his credit, Evenepoel managed to tread water after it initially looked as though he was floundering, but he still coughed up 41 seconds and he drops to second overall, some 32 seconds down on Vlasov.

It marked the first time in his professional career that Evenepoel had lost the overall lead in a stage race. He has also the last six stages races he has completed, a sequence dating back to the 2020 Vuelta a San Juan, but he now finds himself in the unfamiliar position of trying to overhaul a leader.

Vlasov, for his part, was full value for his victory here. His Bora-Hansgrohe squad had set out their stall by helping QuickStep-AlphaVinyl police the break of the day and he was present and current at every critical juncture on the steep, 6km haul to the line.

The pivotal moment came when tarmac gave way to gravel inside the final 3km and the front group was down to its bare bones. Fuglsang’s muscle memory as a mountain biker saw him take up the reins and his sustained acceleration was matched by just five riders: Vlasov, Valverde, Mas, Evenepoel and Ciccone.

After withstanding that initial show of force from Fuglsang, Vlasov tested the waters with 2km remaining. He then swung over briefly to allow Evenepoel dictate the tempo before unfurling his decisive attack with a little under a mile of climbing remaining.

“Today was super tough. Also, the final climb was pretty steep but I know this is my kind of climb so I was concentrating on it to save as much as possible for the final and just the last kilometres, I did my best,” said Vlasov, who had not reconnoitered the gravel sector in person beforehand.

“I saw it only on the video, this section. It’s pretty hard because there are some parts of the road with big stones. I decided to make the difference on that section.”

It was Vlasov’s first victory in Bora-Hansgrohe colours since he joined from Asana this winter, and it augurs well for a season in which he will make his Tour de France debut. Already 4th overall at last year’s Giro d’Italia, Vlasov is now in pole position to claim his first GC victory as a professional.

“This is my first race and it’s already going very well,” he said. “Now I’m really part of the team and we can achieve big goals together.”

How it unfolded

The stage was always going to be decided on the 10.1 per cent haul up Antenas del Maigmó, but there was no shortage of action in the early part of the day. Indeed, before the stage got underway at all, BikeExchange-Jayco announced they had withdrawn from the race after reporting two COVID-19 cases, while Vlasov’s teammate Kelderman was a non-starter after crashing on stage 2.

The flat opening phase of the stage led to a rapid start, with some 48km covered in the first hour of racing, and it was some time before the 11-man break of the day forged its way clear, with the first ascents of the Coll de Rates and Sa Creueta eventually providing a degree of separation.

Valentin Paret-Peintre, Nicolas Prodhomme (AG2R Citroën), Sven Erik Bystrøm (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux), Jan Tratnik (Bahrain Victorious), Lars van den Berg and Attila Valter (Groupama-FDJ), Dimitri Claeys (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux), Kenny Molly (Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB), Jan Polanc (UAE Team Emirates), Dani Navarro (Burgos-BH) and Fernando Barcelo (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) were the escapees, and they built a maximum lead of 2:40 on the long climb to Benifallim before QuickStep and Bora-Hansgrohe began to claw them back.

By then, the break’s unity was already fraying, and Tratnik would force his way clear alone with 19km remaining on the penultimate ascent of Tibi. Only Valter could initially track the Slovenian’s forcing, but he, too, was distanced on the climb.

Although Valter continued to stalk Tratnik over the other side, he could get no closer to the Slovenian, who began the steep, 6km finishing climb with a lead of 1:29 on the peloton, where Ineos and Movistar had joined in the pace-making.

The first attack from the yellow jersey group came from Valverde, whose acceleration with 4.5km remaining whittled it down to a dozen or so riders, and also brought Tratnik back to within touching distance just as the gravel sector began with 3km remaining.

As the gradient stiffened, the yellow jersey group fragmented still further, but the strongmen came to the fore on the gravel. Vlasov delivered his winning attack there, while Rodriguez underscored his talent by catching and passing some lofty names in the final kilometre to lie third overall at 36 seconds.

With two stages seemingly suited to sprinters still to come, Vlasov would ordinarily look to have a winning advantage, but Evenepoel’s sheer force means he will remain a factor regardless of the terrain.