João Almeida battles towards podium as Volta Valenciana heats up

João Almeida fought to a strong third place in a brutally tough last climb on stage 2 of the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana in Spain today from La Nucía to Benifato (166km).

In a thrilling finale to the day’s action, UAE Team Emirates-XRG produced a plethora of moves to animate the final climb and attack the heavily reduced group before the final steep slopes to Font de Partegat. With third place across the line, Almeida also moves to second in the general classification ahead of stage 3, trailing race leader Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek) by just two seconds.

Joined by Pavel Sivakov and Brandon McNulty on the offensive, Almeida rode in trademark style on the final climb, producing a high tempo which was enough to distance many of his rivals. Winding up the pace throughout the final kilometres, the Portuguese made the most of his teammates’ softening blows and did not look back as he advanced to the line.

With 3,348m of climbing on the agenda across three categorised ascents, stage 2 had promised to be one of the hardest days of the race, and it did not disappoint. Often used by riders on their winter training camps, the 5.3km Coll de Rates was the first to take its toll, before a tough climb to Benimantell and the final test of La Font de Partegat.

Taking the riders to the highest peak in the province of Alicante, the final climb averaged 9.5% for 4.3km and provided the ideal hunting ground for UAE Team Emirates-XRG’s trifecta of talented climbers.

As Almeida, McNulty and Sivakov each took their moments to push the pace, Bahrain Victorious played their hand well in the closing kilometres, putting Pello Bilbao up the road who was then joined by Ivan Romeo (Movistar). The pressure from Almeida would force the group behind to almost close the gap, before stage winner Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious) made a stinging attack at under 1km to go, arriving solo to the finish.

Almeida, meanwhile, kept his rhythm and crossed the line in third place at 13 seconds down on Buitrago. The Portuguese climber narrowly misses out on the yellow jersey which continues to be worn by Vacek with a slender advantage of two seconds.

“It is disappointing to miss out on the win but today the guys were so impressive,” Almeida said after the finish. “We knew that we had to set a good pace to make things hard for the leader, and into the final, both Filippo [Baroncini] and Felix [Großschartner] rode super well.

“It was always the plan in the final to use our numbers and with Pavel and Brandon, we did this well. Once I got into my rhythm, I could ride hard and this gives us optimism for the next stages.”

Behind Almeida, defending champion McNulty rode strongly to the line, finishing in seventh at 34″ down on the day’s winner. With three stages remaining, UAE Team Emirates-XRG are well placed through both Almeida and McNulty, with the latter positioned sixth overall, just 25 seconds behind his teammate.

There will be no let up on Friday’s stage, with an undulating test promised between Algemesí and Alpuente. Totalling 180.8km, the route will challenge the peloton with another 3,000m of climbing, including the final 1.3km punch to the line. With an average of 7.2%, the final ramps come just 20km after the peak of Pico del Remedio, which serves as the day’s last categorised climb.

Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana Stage 2 results

1. Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious) 4:07:54
2. Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) +9″
3. João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +13″
7. Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +34″

General classification after Stage 2

1. Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek)4:48:10
2. João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +2″
3. Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious) +5″