Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana (st. 3)

Bala on the attack, stays with main contenders despite late puncture as Enric finishes only behind Vlasov (BOH), Rodríguez (IGD) at demanding Queen stage in Alicante province.

It was another day in the mix for the men’s Movistar Team’s two main references during the Queen stage of the 2022 Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana, held on Friday over 155 kilometers in the interior of the Alicante province and up to the Antenas del Maigmó, a brutal 5.5km, 10% avg. climb including a gravel section near the top.

Supported by Iñigo Elosegui, Jorge Arcas and Gregor Mühlberger, who ‘multiply’ themselves these days to make up for the reduced team in Spain, Enric and Alejandro reached the foot of the ascent inside an already very much reduced GC group. While Alejandro soon went on the move -just over 4km from the finish- and later struggled due to an ill-timed puncture on the ‘sterrato’, Enric Mas quietly rose to take a nice 3rd spot, just 21″ off the new leader of the race, Alexander Vlasov (BOH), and right behind fellow countryman Carlos Rodríguez (IGD).

Valverde (5th), 29″ off the winner despite his completely deflated rear wheel, also places 5th in a GC where Mas now sits in fourth, 14″ off a podium which shouldn’t change much in the two expected bunch sprint finishes of the weekend. Riders should, though, pay much attention to the coastal area near the end of Saturday’s stage four, further south from Orihuela to Torrevieja (193km).