Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana (st. 1)

Danny Van Poppel (TLJ) wins bunch sprint finish in Peñíscola as Movistar Team stays away from crashes; Spanish outfit replaces Amador with Sütterlin in last-minute move

The Movistar Team enjoyed a calm start to the 2018 edition of the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana on Wednesday, as Dutchman Danny Van Poppel (TLJ) easily won the bunch sprint taking an otherwise calm day one (191.5km) to its end in Peñíscola.

The seven riders from the Telefónica-backed squad –including Jasha Sütterlin, who arrived on Wednesday at midnight to the team hotel after a late-minute absence by Andrey Amador, who left for his home in Barcelona to attend the birth of his first daughter– finished inside the bunch with no injuries after staying all day at the front of the bunch, supporting Alejandro Valverde.

Thursday’s stage two –154km from Bétera to Albuixech– will be quite a more mountainous one, with three early Cat-3 ascents plus the Puerto de Eslida (Cat-1) midway through and the demanding Garbí (Cat-1), including 3km at 10% average, just 31km from the finishing line

Pictures (c): Velon / Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana