Male Team 31 Jan - 04 Feb
V. Comunitat Valenciana
687 Kilometers 5 Stages
In its third season back following a long time away from the UCI calendar, the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana (69th edition) will repeat its structure from 2017, with two flat stages combined with two mountain routes and a team time trial – yet in a different order from last year.
Sprinters will have a first chance in Peñíscola (191.5km, Wednesday 31st January), as only one Cat-2 climb (La Bandereta) features in the day’s route. Stage two, 154km from Bétera to Albuixech (Thursday 1st February), will be quite more demanding: there will be three Cat-3 ascents combined with the Alto de Eslida (Cat-1; almost 6km with slopes around 7-8%) and the grueling Garbí (Cat-1), already included in the 2017 Vuelta a España, with three full kilometers above 10%. This final ascent will be completed 31km from the finish.
A fast TTT (Friday 2nd) from Poble Nou de Benitatxell to a tough finishing slope in Calpe (23km), always along the Costa Blanca in north Alicante, will preceed the Queen stage (Saturday 3rd), a 184km trek from Orihuela to the Alto de las Canteras (Cat-1) in Cocentaina, following a tough route with climbs which riders training here every winter know well, like Maigmó (Cat-2), Tibi (Cat-2), Carrasqueta (Cat-1) and 2x Benillup (Cat-3). The race will end with a 135km journey from Paterna to Valencia (Sunday 4th), with no finishing circuit compared to 2017, and climbing the Alt de l’Oronet (Cat-3) 35km from the arrival.