Les Woodland's book Tour of Flanders: The Inside Story - The rocky roads of the Ronde van Vlaanderen is available in print, Kindle eBook and audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.
The race:
The Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana is a stage race with a venerable history, dating back to its first edition in 1929 (won by Salvador Cardona).
Since the last recession, the race has has been plagued with financial problems.
The last edition until 2016 was run in 2008. Organizers tried to run the race in 2010 and 2011, but were unsuccessful.
Former racing pro Angel Casero tried to get the race going again in 2015, but was unsuccessful. But in 2016 the race found its legs.
It is currently an early season race, occupying a place on the February racing calender.
Recent podium history:
Year |
1st Place |
2nd Place |
3rd Place |
Distance |
Average Speed |
1965 | José Perez Frances 32hr 9min 22sec |
José Suria @ 35sec |
Sebastian Elorza @ 53sec |
1,131 km | 35.172 km/hr |
1966 | Angelino Soler 28hr 0min 14sec |
José Antonio Momene @ 6sec |
José Suria @ 34sec |
1,018 km | 36.352 km/hr |
1967 | José Perez Frances 24hr 26min 37sec |
Angelino Soler @ 5sec |
Eugenio Lisarde @ 22sec |
907 km | 37.106 km/hr |
1968 | Mariano Diaz 25hr 5min 49sec |
Andres Gandarias @ 9sec |
Daniel Varela @ s.t |
926 km | 36.897 km/hr |
1969 | Eddy Merckx 27hr 24min 17sec |
José Manuel Lopez @ s.t. |
Gabriel Mascaro @ s.t |
999 km | 36.454 km/hr |
1970 | Ventura Diaz 29hr 49min 44sec |
Jesus Manzaneque @ 5sec |
Joaquin Galera @ 6sec |
1,051 km | 35.234 km/hr |
1971 | José Manuel Lopez 23hr 43min 18sec |
Luis Ocaña @ 1sec |
Juan Santiago Zurano @ 50sec |
827.5 km | 34.883 km/hr |
1972 | Domingo Perurena 19hr 48min 0sec |
Santiago Lazcano @ s.t. |
Tino Tabak @ 8sec |
711.5 km | 39.934 km/hr |
1973 | José Antonio Gonzales Linares 23hr 38min 1sec |
José Manuel Fuentes @ 6sec |
José Luis Abilleira @ 8sec |
949 km | 40.154 km/hr |
1974 | Marcello Bergamo | José Luis Abilleira | Pedro Torres | ||
1975 | Vicente Lopez Carril 25hr 40min 59sec |
Santiago Lazcano @ 3min 0sec |
Nemesio Jimenez @ 5min 17sec |
916 km | 35.665 km/hr |
1976 | Gonzalo Aja | José Luis Viejo | Joaquim Agostinho | ||
1977 | Bernt Johansson | René Leuenberger | Custodio Mazuela | ||
1978 | No race held | ||||
1979 | Vicente Belda | Bernardo Alfonsel | Eulalio Garcia | ||
1980 | Klaus-Peter Thaler | Eduardo Chozas | Jorge Fortia | ||
1981 | Alberto Fernandez 20hr 57min 48sec |
Pedro Munoz @ 9sec |
Antonio Coll @ 19sec |
774 km | 36.922 km/hr |
1982 | Pedro Munoz 20hr 34min 59sec |
Faustino Ruperez @ 4sec |
Bernardo Alfonsel @ 8sec |
813.1 km | 39.533 km/hr |
1983 | Raimund Dietzen 18hr 40min 3sec |
Stefan Mutter @ 41sec |
Julian Gorospe @ 1min 24sec |
763.3 km | 40.889 km/hr |
1984 | Bruno Cornillet 20hr 33min 1sec |
Pello Ruiz-Cabestany @ 2sec |
Angel Camarillo @ 45sec |
773.7 km | 37.649 Km/hr |
1985 | Jesus Blanco-Villar 21hr 17min 34sec |
Frits Pirard @ 1sec |
Sean Kelly @ 10sec |
754.4 km | 35.430 km/hr |
1986 | Bernard Hinault | Jesus Blanco-Villar | Jorg Muller | ||
1987 | Stephen Roche | Jesus Blanco-Villar | Julian Gorospe | ||
1988 | Erich Maechler 17hr 55min 20sec |
Julian Gorospe @ 13sec |
Jose Blanco-Villar @ 25sec |
695.7 km | 38.817 km/hr |
1989 | Pello Ruiz Cabestany 24hr 40min 39sec |
Remig Stumpf @ 14sec |
Charly Mottet @ s.t. |
903 km | 38.137 km/hr |
1990 | Tom Cordes 24hr 10min 13sec |
Erich Maechler @ 10sec |
Rolf Golz @ 14sec |
950.9 km | 39.342 km/hr |
1991 | Melchor Mauri 23hr 56min 14sec |
Steven Rooks @ 7sec |
Peter Hilse @ 49sec |
938.5 km | 39.207 km/hr |
1992 | Melchor Mauri 17hr 30min 52sec |
Erik Breukink @ 10sec |
Andrea Chiurato @ 13sec |
703 km | 40.138 km/hr |
1993 | Julian Gorospe 23hr 3min 51sec |
Stefano Della-Santa @ 6sec |
Miguel Indurain @ 21sec |
859.6 km | 37.270 km/hr |
1994 | Viatcheslav Ekimov 24hr 34min 6sec |
Miguel Indurain @ 10sec |
Tony Rominger @ 11sec |
907 km | 36.905 km/hr |
1995 | Alex Zülle 20hr 36min 30sec |
Laurent Jalabert @ 10sec |
Abraham Olano @ 31sec |
818.8 km | 39.732 km/hr |
1996 | Laurent Jalabert 21hr 8min 33sec |
Inigo Cuesta @ 20sec |
Mariano Rojas @ 28sec |
812 km | 38.406 km/hr |
1997 | Juan-Carlos Dominguez 20hr 42min 44sec |
Armand De las Cuevas @ 24sec |
Christophe Moreau @ 26sec |
828 km | 39.976 km/hr |
1998 | Pascal Chanteur 21h 50min 19sec |
Bo Hamburger @ s.t. |
Santos Gonzalez @ s.t. |
853 km | 39.059 km/hr |
1999 | Alexandre Vinokourov 19hr 50min 14sec |
Wladimir Belli @ 8sec |
Javier Pascual-Rodriguez @ 35sec |
768.6 km | 38.745 km/hr |
2000 | Abraham Olano 20hr 9min 42sec |
Juan-Carlos Dominguez @ 21sec |
Alberto Martinez @ 47sec |
797.8 km | 39.570 km/hr |
2001 | Fabian Jeker 16hr 22min 48sec |
Michael Boogerd @ 13sec |
Alexandre Vinokourov @ 32sec |
672.5 km | 41.056 km/hr |
2002 | Alex Zulle 17hr 7min 6sec |
Ivan Basso @ 9sec |
Claus Michael Muller @ 48sec |
668.2 km | 39.320 km/hr |
2003 | Dario Frigo 15hr 34min 7sec |
David Bernabeu @ 15sec |
Javier Pascual-Llorente @ s.t. |
650.2 km | 41.795 km/hr |
2004 | Alejandro Valverde 20hr 4min 45sec |
Antonio Colom @ 9sec |
David Blanco @ 22sec |
818.4 km | 40.758 km/hr |
2005 | Alessandro Petacchi 19hr 7min 31sec |
Aitor Perez @ 34sec |
Antonio Colom @ 38sec |
787.4 km | 41.170 km/hr |
2006 | Antonio Colom 19hr 19min 17sec |
Ricardo Serrano @ 11sec |
David Bernabeu @ 12sec |
799.5 km | 41.739 km/hr |
2007 | Alejandro Valverde 18hr 7min 2sec |
Tadej Valjavec @ 8sec |
Frank Schleck @ 12sec |
774.1 km | 42.727 km/hr |
2008 | Ruben Plaza 19hr 54min 49sec |
Manuel Vazquez @ 5sec |
Xavier Florencio @ 21sec |
826.5 km | 41.504 |
2009 - 2015 No race held | |||||
2016 | Wouter Poels 14hr 15min 51sec |
Luis Leon Sanchez @ 46sec |
Benat Intxausti @ 56sec |
599.7 km | 42.042 |
2017 | Nairo Quintana 15hr 21min 49sec |
Ben Hermans @ 13sec |
Manuel Senni @ 32sec |
609 km | 39.639 km/hr |
2018 | Alejandro Valverde 16hr 14min 53sec |
Luis Leon Sanchez @ 14sec |
Jakob Fuglsang @ 26sec |
661.6 km | 40.719 km/hr |
2019 | Ion Izagirre 16hr 8min 44sec |
Alejandro Valverde @ 7sec |
Pello Bilbao @ s.t. |
647 km | 40.073 km/hr |
2020 | Tadej Pogacar 18hr 43min 0sec |
Jack Haig @ 6sec |
Tao Geoghegan Hart @ s.t. |
803.7 km | 42.753 km/hr |
2021 | Stefan Küng 14hr 49min 50sec |
Nelson Oliveira @ 6sec |
Enric Mas @ 36sec |
608.8 km | 41.050 km/hr |
2022 | Aleksandr Vlasov 18hr 56min 45sec |
Remco Evenpoel @ 32sec |
Carlos Rodriguez @ 36sec |
779 km | 41.117 km/hr |
2023 | Rui Costa 19hr 10min 6sec |
Giulio Ciccone @ 16sec |
Tao Geoghegan Hart @ 19sec |
787.5 km |
41.083 km/hr |
2024 | Brandon McNulty 17hr 52min 34sec |
Santiago Buitrago @ 14sec |
Aleksandr Vlasov @ 17sec |
743.4 km | 41.586 km/hr |