February 4, 2026
We have had a few friendly matches in Spain up to this point but the real action begins today in Segorbe for the start of the Volta Comunitat Valenciana. With 160KM on the menu from Segorbe to Torreblanca, the sprinters should be in for opportunity number one but they won't have it all their own way. The route is quite lumpy as it heads North, not on the coast, but inland, where the roads constantly roll up and down. The only classified climb comes with 40KM to go on the Puerto Los Madroños, a 4.5KM, 4% climb with the last half pushing 6.5%. There are bonus seconds on top which could ignite the race if it hasn't already. Off the descent and into Benicàssim, there will be an intermediate sprint near the foot of the Mirador d'Orpesa, a 1.4KM uphill that averages 6%. If the sprinters can stay within touching distance of the peloton here, they will be home free because the final 20KM are flat along the coast into Torreblanca.
Highlighted Riders
Sprinters: Arne Marit, Ben Turner, Mads Pedersen, Biniam Girmay, Giovanni Lonardi, Alberto Bruttomesso
GC: Brandon McNulty, João Almeida, Antonio Tiberi, Magnus Sheffield, Remco Evenepoel, Cian Uijtdebroeks, Johannes Kulset
Race Summary
High sweeping clouds made the sunshine intermittent but the weather was fair and perfect for racing. The peloton took advantage of the conditions and decided to race nearly every meter from the start which pushed the speed over 45KM/HR with just 40KM to go. The peloton was battling for position as the Mirador d'Orpesa approached with a break of four up the road which included Danny van der Tuuk of Euskatel-Euskadi, Diego Pablo Sevilla of Polti-VisitMalta, Mats Wenzel of Equipo Kern Pharma, and Adam Lewis of APS Pro Cycling. The road into the climb was barely wide enough for a single car to get through which is why the teams were fighting so hard to position beforehand.
Movistar led on to the climb and were pushing hard to string out the peloton on the narrow road. We didn't have time checks but the gap was coming down and team cars and neutral service were having a hard time getting passed the break because there was no extra space on the road. Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe took over but Movistar were intent on keeping the pace as high as possible. By the top, the gap looked to be around 30 seconds and, at the bottom in Benicàssim, it was half that.
The catch was made with 26KM to go but the peloton was significantly reduced to around 30 riders. There were a few probing attacks by UAE-XRG but Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe got control and started to set the pace. None of the highlighted sprinters were in the group and we didn't have time checks on where they were. Also missing was João Almeida who seemed to be the one GC name not present.
UAE-XRG, particularly Marc Soler, was not happy to just and ride behind Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe so he began attacking again. Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe weren't interested in playing that game so they countered with Giulio Pellizzari. UAE-XRG did not follow which put the pressure on them and Movistar to fix the situation. A large group rejoined to swell the peloton to over 60 riders. Uno-X Mobility started to ride and the stage was starting to feel more like a sprint. From what we could see, Mads Pedersen of Lidl-Trek was the only sprinter to not be in the peloton. Ineos joined in the chase along with multiple riders from NSN Cycling. Pellizzari persisted and was only caught with 1KM to go.
Under the banner, Ineos and Uno-X Mobility had dualling trains on opposite sides of the road but it was the Norwegian squad that had the edge in manpower. Ben Turner of Ineos slotted into fourth wheel but he was the first to open the sprint with at least 250M to go. Biniam Girmay of NSN Cycling came up to challenge and found himself in the lead but a surging Arne Marit of Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe drew level with Girmay right on the line and the pair threw their bikes forward. In the end, Marit came up just short and the win went to Girmay on the first day of racing for his new team after the transfer from Intermarché. Giovanni Lonardi of Polti-VisitMalta rounded out the final podium spot in third place with Turner fading all the way down to 11th on the day
After the stage, we found out that Mads Pedersen had crashed during the day and did not finish. He went to the hospital for further assessment.