Roadside PEZ: Stage 2 of the 2020 Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana finished only an hour away from our man in Spain, Alastair Hamilton, so we had to send him to the coastal town of Cullera to take in the action. 181 kilometres from Torrent to the summit finish in Cullera, the final 3 kilometres rises 173 meters to the line.
The finish line was high above the costal town of Cullera, but an even higher TV transmitter dish was needed
A fast drive north of about an hour took me to Cullera, which is a fairly normal coastal town in the winter, but a holiday resort in the summer with large hotels next to the sandy beach.
It was only a 2K climb, but it was expected to cause some fireworks
The stage 2 finish was on a short, steep climb on the edge of the town up to a weather station next to the old castle, and was bound to cause changes in the overall.
Glad I didn’t have to walk up!
Here is my choice of photos from the finish.
Not much room for a podium, but they managed to squeeze one in
New finish line equipment with built in TV screens on the sides and another over the line
The only warning was the sight of the helicopter at eye level and then Tadej Pogačar shot round the final uphill bend for the win
The young rider knew he had the better of the ‘old man’ Valverde
The Vuelta a Valencia is starting 2020 for Pogačar how the Vuelta a España finished 2019
Job done with Alejandro Valverde in second place and Dylan Teuns (Bahrain-McLaren) third
Van Avermaet had his climbing legs
James Knox wasn’t far behind the leaders – PEZ interview up soon
The usual chaos just after the finish line
Valverde was very close to the win
Interviews for Greg Van Avermaet – 10th place with the climbers
Tadej Pogačar – A happy young chap
Good to watch the replay of the finish we didn’t see from the wrong side of the finish line
A good finish for Dan Martin in 4th place
Philippe Gilbert had to find his way through the crowd
More interviews for the Olympic champion
GB champ Ben Swift
Alessandro De Marchi had been riding hard in the break all day, but they were caught before the final climb in Cullera – PEZ interview up soon
The heavier, non-climbing rider were still coming in
It was a hard day for Pascal Eenkhorn and his Jumbo-Visma team. Groenewegen lost the overall lead, which was expected, and the team lost Tobias Foss with a broken collar bone
Yellow jersey for Pogačar… and all the other jerseys
The team prize for the day went to Bahrain-McLaren and young Dutchman, Kevin Inklaar was up on the podium. He crashed on Friday, but good to go on Saturday
More from Valencia on stage 4 – The Queen stage – on Saturday.
Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana Stage 2 Result:
1. Tadej Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates in 4:14:26
2. Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar
3. Dylan Teuns (Bel) Bahrain-McLaren
4. Daniel Martin (Irl) Israel Start Up Nation
5. Jack Haig (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
6. Ion Izaguirre Insausti (Spa) Astana
7. Ruben Fernandez (Spa) Fundacion Euskadi-Orbea
8. Gianni Moscon (Ita) Ineos
9. Tao Geoghegan Hart (GB) Ineos
10. Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) CCC at 0:05.
Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana Overall After Stage 2:
1. Tadej Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates in 8:22:09
2. Jack Haig (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
3. Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar
4. Ruben Fernandez (Spa) Fundacion Euskadi-Orbea
5. Dylan Teuns (Bel) Bahrain-McLaren
6. Gianni Moscon (Ita) Ineos
7. Ion Izaguirre Insausti (Spa) Astana
8. Tao Geoghegan Hart (GB) Ineos
9. Daniel Martin (Irl) Israel Start Up Nation
10. Matej Mohoric (Slo) Bahrain-McLaren at 0:02.
Valencia’20 stage 2:
