Alessandro Tonelli is the surprising first leader of the Tour of Valencia. The VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè Italian won the 167km opening stage to Castellón in the morning break on Wednesday after surviving with teammate Manuele Tarozzi after the toughest climb of the day.
Surprise escape of the day
At the beginning of the day, it took just 21 km for the escape to form, with Tonelli pulling away with Gorka Sorarrain (Caja Rural – Seguros RGA), Jetse Bol (Burgos – BH), Francisco Muñoz (Team Polti Kometa) and Alex Molenaar ( Illes Balears Arabay Cycling), with Manuele Tarozzi (VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè) and Iñigo Elosegui (Equipo Kern Pharma).
With just 30km to go, the gap between the peloton and the breakaway group had fallen to less than 3min 30sec, with several WorldTour teams coming to the front of the pack.
Difference keeps shrinking
With 25 km to go and a three-minute gap, attacks on the breakaway began, while Tonelli and Tarozzi managed to pull away with Sorarrain bridging the gap to them, before the final categorized climb of the day.
When the breakaway reached the foot of the 2nd category climb Desert de las Palmes, the two VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè cyclists pressed on the front and Sorarrain fell behind. The gap to the field appeared to be starting to stabilize, before Bahrain Victorious came to the front to increase the group’s pace.
Little nightmare on the final path to victory
It was a long road to the finish in Castellón, with Tonelli and Tarozzi’s gap to the field behind not decreasing as the race entered the final km. When crossing the 1km sign for the finish, the two cyclists looked comfortable for victory, but as they rounded a roundabout (roundabout in Portugal), they took the wrong exit, with Tonelli getting stuck in a sticky tape.
Results of the 1st stage of the Tour of the Valencian Community 2024
