BMC Racing Team won the team time trial on stage 3 of the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana but the day’s real winner might yet prove to be Alejandro Valverde (Movistar). The Spaniard retains the overall lead after the race organisation decreed that the day’s stage would not count towards the general classification due to the inclement weather conditions in Calpe.
Having already stolen a march on most of his GC rivals by attacking to win stage 2, Valverde is now left in a commanding position ahead of Saturday’s pivotal mountain stage, with only Astana duo Luis Leon Sanchez and Jakob Fuglsang within 10 seconds of him on the overall standings.
Heavy rain and driving wind buffeted the time trial course along the Costa Blanca on Friday morning, leaving pools of standing water at some points on the parcours. Several teams voiced concerns and took to social media about the wisdom of squads riding in tight formation on time trial bikes in such conditions. Following consultation with the teams, the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana organisers and the UCI commissaires reached a compromise whereby the stage would still go ahead but the day’s result would not have any bearing on the general classification.
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“Given how the weather was this morning, I think it was the right decision,” Valverde said after his Movistar team had safely negotiated the course without troubling BMC’s winning time.
“Of course, it changed in the afternoon once we started racing, but the second part of the course was still wet and a little bit dangerous. The decision had already been taken so we had to respect it.”
It was a decision always likely to raise debate – if the conditions mean a stage is too dangerous to be considered part of the general classification, then should the stage take place at all? The waters were muddied still further by the improvement in conditions as the afternoon progressed. By the time the later starters set out, the roads in the first half of the course had begun to dry off.
The race
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest Race Results http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/volta-a-la-comunitat-valenciana-2018/stage-3/results
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