Alejandro Valverde sealed the overall title in the Vuelta a Castilla y Leon after wining the final stage on Sunday. Valverde had won the previous day too but picked up the overall honours after his Movistar teammate and race leader Carlos Betancur cracked on the final climb.
Valverde responded to several attacks on the final climb after Betancur cracked and eventually outfought Joni Brandão (Efapel) for the win. Pello Bilbao (Caja Rural - Seguros RGA) finished second overall with Brandão rounding out the podium. Betancur dropped to ninth overall in the race.
“I’m leaving Castilla y León full of happiness. The race couldn’t have gone better -stage wins for Betancur and myself, the GC- and, above all, this is an excellent way to get the racing pace and start building up before the Giro, which I’m so excited about. I want to thank the whole team - they worked their heart out all weekend long and even more so today, from the very beginning,” Valverde said after the race.
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“At the final climb, my main priority was keeping Carlos into contention; there were several moves into the first slopes of the ascent and we could control them more or less comfortably, without him losing the wheel of the group. However, at some point he started to suffer, and we had to keep going so we could still stand a chance. I managed well that group with Brandao and the Caja Rural riders before going for the sprint with 100 meters to go.”
Valverde missed Amstel Gold race as he took part in Vuelta a Castilla y Leon but he will travel to Belgium for Fleche Wallonne and Liege-Bastogne-Liege – two races he won in 2015.
“Now it’s all about Flèche and Liège. Going for the win? Well, we will see. The field of contenders is completely different to what I had to face this weekend. Those are races I’ve really enjoyed for years, but my main goal at the moment is staying safe and keeping my form going up before the biggest goal of the early season for me, which is the Giro.”
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