Aleksandr Vlasov wins Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana

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Fabio Jakobsen (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) won the final sprint stage 5 of the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana, with Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) securing overall victory.  

After being blocked-in during Saturday’s sprint, QuickStep-AlphaVinyl doubled their efforts and lead-out the sprint with even Remco Evenepoel and Yves Lampaert playing a key role in the final three kilometres. Lead-out man Michael Morkov then positioned Jakobsen perfectly in the final 500 metres. The Dutchman opened up his sprint in the final 150 metres, giving his rivals little chance of matching his speed. 

Elia Viviani (Ineos Grenadiers) and Alexander Kristoff (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux) finished second and third. 

Vlasov finished carefully in the peloton and so kept the leader’s yellow jersey and celebrated his first ever stage race success. Evenepoel finished 32 seconds down, with talented young Spaniard Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers) third overall at 36 seconds.

Vlasov dethroned Evenepoel on the dirt road climb to the Antenas del Maigmó hilltop finish on stage 3 and then Bora-Hansgrohe rode carefully on the two remaining sprint stages to protect his lead.

The final stage of the Volta a la Ciclista Valenciana was a blistering 92km from Paterna to Valencia, on a route raced on by the women's peloton and won by Marta Bastianelli (UAE Team ADQ) earlier in the morning at Vuelta CV Feminas. 

There were a couple of small climbs on route but in general the day was meant for the sprinters in the field.

Vincenzo Nibali and Manuele Boaro, teammates at Astana Qazaqstan, lead an early breakaway that also included Jonathan Lastra (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) and Gotzon Martin (Euskaltel-Euskadi), pushing their lead out to a minute after the first 15km of racing, and then stretching out to nearly two minutes at the halfway point of the race.

Overall leader Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-hansgrohe) sat comfortably behind in the main field as rival teams Intermarche, QuickStep-AlphaVinyl and Trek-Segafredo led the peloton. As the race headed south back toward Valencia, the gap to the breakaway narrowed to under 45 seconds on the fast roads toward the finish.

Boaro led the break onto the city streets inside 15km to go, but with a gap down to 20 seconds, and Bora-Hansgrohe helping to pick up the chase behind, their efforts seems almost futile during the closing portion of the race.

The quartet rode as hard as they could, and continued to work together, but the gap was slashed in half with 13km out from the finish line, and then they were swarmed by the field a short time later, paving the way for a fast bunch sprint.

Bora-Hansgrohe lead the race in to Valencia and then Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux, QuickStep and Trek-Segafredo took control. 

However when Evenepoel and then Lampaert hit the front, their rivals could only stay in the wheels, allowing Morkov and Jakobsen to produce a textbook lead and and victorious sprint. 

“It’s an honour to be part of this team. I think everybody saw today what a textbook lead is. I’m happy to have the legs to finish it off,” Jakobsen explained. 

“Yesterday I was boxed-in and couldn’t sprint. That’s frustrating for a sprinter but we had a talk and today we made a plan and stuck to it. I have to thank all the guys, we controlled the stage and did the lead out and I was the fastest. 

Jakobsen’s success and 2022 form confirmed he has put his Tour de Pologne crash injuries behind him. 

“I enjoyed a normal winter preparation like in the years before I crashed and so I guess I’m now at this level and now we go on. I ride the Volta ao Algarve next, then Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne and then Paris-Nice," he said. 

Jakobsen was also praising of Remco Evenepoel, who failed to win overall but who finished second and worked for Jakobsen in the sprints. 

“He’s a special kid. He’s like a little brother to me. We have a special bond. Him helping me says a lot about him. He’s a perfect teammate and look forward to racing with him together.”