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In an exciting opening stage in Valencia, the Bardiani duo outshined both the breakaway riders and the main peloton!
CyclingWednesday, 31 January 2024 at 14:06
Alessandro Tonelli won the first stage of the Tour of Valencia in Castellón after a crazy day. The Italian, along with his Bardiani-CSF teammate Manuele Tarozzi, was the best in a breakaway group of seven, which the peloton gave too much room to.
Castellón, that has already been involved in a race this year, right? Indeed, because last Sunday marked the first edition of the Ruta de la Céramica - Gran Premio Castellón, which was ultimately won by Michael Matthews of Jayco AlUla. The Aussie also started in the opening stage of the Tour of Valencia on Wednesday, although he stated before the start that he had been suffering from a cold last week.
Well, the peloton set off just after midday for a 167-kilometer stage in the province of Valencia, where many teams also organize their winter camps. Those roads are very familiar, and thus seven riders were willing to join the early breakaway of the day: Jetse Bol (Burgos-BH) and Molenaar (Illes Balears) were the Dutch riders present, along with Gorka Sorarrain (Caja Rural), Tonelli, Tarozzi (Bardiani), Fransisco Munoz (Polti-Kometa), and Inigo Elosegui (Equipo Kern Pharma).
Peloton underestimates breakaway riders
This septet was generously given a nine-minute head start by the peloton, where cooperation seemed somewhat lacking. However, with the Desert de la Palmes climb (7.7 km at 5.1%, peaking fifteen kilometers from the finish) still to come, the peloton had a strategy up their sleeve. As they approached the base of this decisive climb, teams BORA-hansgrohe, UAE-Team Emirates, Lidl-Trek, Bingoal-WB, Q36.5, Bahrain Victorious, and Euskaltel-Euskadi finally united, significantly cutting down the breakaway's lead to three minutes at the start of the climb.
The leaders sensed the pressure and it immediately caused a split, with the Bardiani duo of Tonelli and Tarozzi instigating the move. They powered ahead, miraculously maintaining a three-minute lead for a long time. Molenaar and Bol, trailing behind, joined forces, but the Italian duo proved to be too strong. They reached the summit over two minutes ahead of the main group, while Molenaar was half a minute behind.
Bahrain Victorious tried everything to minimize the gap, eventually sending downhill specialist Matej Mohoric ahead in the descent. However, even for the Slovenian, bridging up to the Italian leaders was an impossible task, allowing Bardiani-CSF to celebrate a fantastic victory. There was a moment of uncertainty when the leading pair took a wrong turn in the final kilometer. However, Tarozzi waited for Tonelli, allowing his teammate to take the win, while Lazkano surged past Molenaar. Jonathan Milan won the sprint from the peloton, despite the climb near the end.
Results of stage 1 in the Tour of Valencia 2024
Results powered by FirstCycling.com
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Latest Comments
- Well explained, thanks for the clarity! Daniel DantasDanieldantas20-12-2024
- This is the kind of 'news' that belongs in a cheap tabloid. No matter how boring the offseason gets, nobody wants to read this.
santiagobenites19-12-2024 - I wish we could have seen him try. He'd absolutely get dropped before Pogi overtakes his domestiquesVeganpotter10-12-2024
- Talk is cheap! Next year barring crashes with a healthy team... all well be on track! Some need to talk to make a headline!mootman27-11-2024
- I do not see this event listed on HBO Max Sports Online? Can anyone confirm? Thanks!
MrYuck23-11-2024 - It seemed that he was focusing forward at the time of the crash, after seeing a quick video snippet. But one thing I think he should focus on more intently is breaking a bad habit he has, right now. And that is his constant looking over his shoulders. He does that so much, that I am very sure it is not good for him. Simply watch videos of the greats of CX and you will see very little of that constant looking over their shoulders. That is a behavior that betrays a bit of insecurity on his part. He shouldn't be so concerned, incessantly, about what is over his shoulder. He needn't worry they didn't all disappear. He neds to keep his focus more ahead of himself, and he needs to pay a bit more attention to himself, in a confident manner. It is very frustrating to watch, because it is apparent that he has a lot of potential, and is in much better shape thwan many of his competitors, but the mental game needs to be sharpened more, because that part of strategy plays a huge part in the final results
reemmo022-11-2024 - hahahaha love this shit! I didnt even watched the race, but reading all the gossip articles of how stupid this is!Zatoichi19-11-2024
- Van Aert is really handsome. He can influence me all day! Ditto for Philipsen. Why do you think many of us love cycling?: to see heroic attempts at climbing mountains at high altitudes or to watch speedsters sprint for the finish line or to watch a human being ride at break neck speed down a tricky descent? No, it's all about their lean physiques and muscular legs. (apologies for objectifying these dedicated and amazing athletes).BarwonHeadsUp25-10-2024
- It is unfortunate that the author can't feel the joy that Pogacar brings to the sport and his fans who are legion and I for one feel lucky to have watched such a memorable performance and historic season From the Strada until yesterday with multiple wins in stages in both tours and beyond dominance in the World's. He is proud to wear the Rainbow stripes, shows his leadership to protect his fellows and is as courteous and sportsman-like as the sport allows. He goes early to not have to respond to each attack as all the rest would make him do it. Any racer who could would do the same. Don't "grow tired" of greatness as it is always fleeting.ccrider13-10-2024
- What load of rubbish. Pog is likely a once in a generation cyclist, the like of which hasn't been seen since 'the Cannibal '. How many people were complaining that Merckx was making racing predictable? I remember this year's World RR as one of the most exciting I've watched. Mainly BECAUSE Pog was the favourite and launched what everyone thought (Pog included) was a suicidal attack with 80km to go. For the next 2 hours, I was on the edge of my seat thinking "this is too much, even for Pog". Maybe Zonnefeld prefers the snooze-fest that is a bunch sprint? Like most people I know, I can't watch two hours of the bunch riding very fast... I wait for the final 5km and watch just the sprint. In any event, most races are won from a sprint or lone break. What difference does it make who makes the lone break? Ultimately, the other contenders will have to figure out a way to beat Pog. Even if that means collaboration between teams. It's going to be an exciting few seasons, until the next Pog arrives on the scene. If this is boring, heaven knows what exciting looks like!Michael513-10-2024