Tony Martin (Katusha-Alpecin) took an impressive solo victory after a daring attack on stage 2 of the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana. After a disappointing team time trial on the opening day, Martin grabbed his first victory for his new squad and their second in less than an hour after his teammate Alexander Kristoff won at Etoile de Besseges.
"We received information that Kristoff also won today, so we knew we needed to do the same," Martin said. "I’m very happy that in my first road race for Katusha-Alpecin that I could get a victory and keep our morale high in the team for the next races."
Martin went off the front with a group of riders as they approached the final ascent but left them behind on the descent. The Katusha rider left it all out on the road, taking risks on the twisting route into the coastal town of Denia. The group behind were just seconds behind him as he reached the flat, but the multiple time trial world champion was in his element and there was nothing they could do to bring him back.
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"I knew the final here from our training camps, and I knew I had good condition so I had a plan in my mind and the plan worked out," Martin said. "It’s nice to start the season for Katusha-Alpecin like this, especially after a bad day yesterday. This makes everything good. The team supported me 100 per cent on a stage that was kind of crazy with a lot of crashes and a lot of rain. I crashed two times myself. But I had a plan in my mind, and in wet conditions not so many riders can go with me. I took some risks but everything worked out to the plan. I usually win only in the time trial so it’s special to win in this road race."
Nairo Quintana (Movistar) launched a late attack but it was one for bonus seconds in the general classification rather than a true attempt for victory. The Colombian would roll through at the back of the chasing group, led by Pim Ligthart 12 seconds behind Martin, making up a handful of seconds on his rivals ahead of the more mountainous stages.
Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing), who brought home the third group at 19 seconds down on Martin, would take hold of the yellow jersey, while defending champion Wout Poels (Team Sky) lost out in the finale and gave away almost a minute to Martin.
How it happened
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