2025 Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana (2.Pro), Spain

76th edition: February 5 - 9, 2025

Friday, February 7: Stage 3, Algemesí - Alpuente, 180.3 km

Course map & profile

Ivan Romeo takes a solo win in Alpuente.

Les Woodland's book Cycling Heroes: The Golden Years is available in the print, Kindle eBook & audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.

Weather at the finish city of Alpuente at 1:30 PM, local time: 11C (51F). partly cloudy, with the wind from the southwest at 13 km/hr (7 mph). There is a 44% chance of rain.

The race: Here's the race organizer's stage three summayr.

Iván Romeo completes a great attack and wins solo in the third stage of the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana

The Movistar Team cyclist resisted the final attacks and crossed the finish line ahead of the group of favorites. João Almeida takes the overall lead.

Alpuente, february 6, 2025. The third stage of the 2025 Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana was marked by an aggressive breakaway and an exciting finale on the final climb. Iván Romeo (Movistar Team) secured a prestigious victory after launching an attack 16 kilometers from the finish and resisting the chase attempts of the favorites on the demanding climb to El Remedio (1st category).

The Spanish rider crossed the finish line solo with a time of 4:26:16, also earning a 10-second time bonus. Behind him, Colombian Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious) led the chasing group, finishing 10 seconds behind the winner and earning an 8-second bonus, while João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates XRG) completed the day’s podium and added 7 additional seconds.

The group of favorites, including riders such as Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious), Jefferson Cepeda (Movistar Team), and Jai Hindley (Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe), arrived compact at the finish, 10 seconds behind the winner.

The stage, featuring a hilly profile with three categorized climbs, favored breakaway specialists. A group of six riders animated the break of the day, including Francisco Muñoz (Team Polti VisitMalta) and Matteo Scalco (VF Group Bardiani-CSF Faizanè), reaching a maximum lead of nearly six minutes. However, the control exerted by Bahrain Victorious and UAE Team Emirates gradually reduced the gap, catching the breakaway riders on the ascent to El Remedio, the most significant climb of the stage.

At that moment, decisive moves began. João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates XRG) and Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious) attempted a surprise attack but were caught on the descent. Meanwhile, race leader Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek), who had suffered a crash earlier in the stage, lost contact with the group of favorites. Seizing a moment of hesitation in the main group, Iván Romeo launched his decisive move. The Movistar Team rider quickly opened a gap, extending his lead beyond 20 seconds. Behind him, Tobias Foss (INEOS Grenadiers) led the chase, but Romeo managed his effort intelligently, maintaining his advantage in the final kilometers.

In the overall classification, João Almeida claims the leader’s jersey with a total time of 9:14:31, closely followed by Santiago Buitrago, just 2 seconds behind. Pello Bilbao sits in third place, 21 seconds behind the Portuguese rider.

The day was also marked by an emotional tribute in Algemesí to the victims of the DANA storm, attended by authorities and representatives of the security and emergency services. Among those present were Luis Cervera (General Director of Sports of the Generalitat Valenciana), Vicente Mompó (President of the Valencia Provincial Council), José Javier Sanchis (Mayor of Algemesí), Fernando Canós (Deputy General Director of Banco Sabadell), Nuria Codina (Regional Director for Southern Valencia of Banco Sabadell), Ángel Casero (General Director of the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana), and Juan Enrique Ribes (Sports Councillor of Algemesí)

Complete results:

180.3 kilometers raced at an average speed of 40.631 km/hr

1	Iván Romeo	Movistar Team	4hr 26min 15sec
2	Santiago Buitrago	Bahrain Victorious	@ 10sec
3	Joao Almeida	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
4	Pello Bilbao	Bahrain Victorious	s.t.
5	Jefferson Cepeda	Movistar Team	s.t.
6	Pablo Castrillo	Movistar Team	s.t.
7	Davide Piganzoli	Team Polti-VisitMalta	s.t.
8	Jai Hindley	Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
9	Thymen Arensman	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
10	Ben O'Connor	Team Jayco-AlUla	s.t.
11	Carlos Rodriguez	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
12	Brandon McNulty	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
13	Lenny Martinez	Bahrain Victorious	0:28
14	Tobias Foss	INEOS Grenadiers	0:57
15	Jack Haig	Bahrain Victorious	2:10
16	Andrew August	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
17	Aleksandr Vlasov	Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
18	Alexey Lutsenko	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
19	Pavel Sivakov	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
20	Txomin Juaristi	Euskaltel-Euskadi	3:03
21	Jose Manuel Diaz	Burgos Burpellet BH	3:06
22	Milan Vader	Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team	3:08
23	Iñigo Elosegui	Equipo Kern Pharma	3:11
24	Ivan Cobo	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
25	Clément Alleno	Burgos Burpellet BH	3:13
26	Luca Paletti	VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè	3:15
27	Floris De Tier	Wagner Bazin WB	s.t.
28	Andrii Ponomar	Petrolike	s.t.
29	Luca Covili	VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè	3:17
30	Ivan Sosa	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
31	Edgar Cadena	Petrolike	s.t.
32	Alex Tolio	VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè	3:21
33	Christopher Juul-Jensen	Team Jayco-AlUla	3:24
34	Jon Agirre	Euskaltel-Euskadi	s.t.
35	Henri Uhlig	Alpecin-Deceuninck	3:25
36	Jonathan Caicedo	Petrolike	s.t.
37	Filippo Zana	Team Jayco-AlUla	s.t.
38	Louis Meintjes	Intermarché-Wanty	s.t.
39	Jaume Guardeño	Caja Rural-Seguros RGA	s.t.
40	Mikel Bizkarra	Euskaltel-Euskadi	3:30
41	Jokin Murguialday	Euskaltel-Euskadi	s.t.
42	Edoardo Zambanini	Bahrain Victorious	3:35
43	Jose Maria Garcia	Illes Balears Arabay	3:38
44	José Félix Parra	Equipo Kern Pharma	3:42
45	Diego Uriarte	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
46	William Barta	Movistar Team	4:06
47	Mark Donovan	Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
48	Giovanni Aleotti	Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe	4:23
49	Nico Denz	Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
50	Kevin Colleoni	Intermarché-Wanty	4:26
51	Jake Stewart	Israel-Premier Tech	4:54
52	Joe Blackmore	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
53	Riley Sheehan	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
54	Felix Grossschartner	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
55	Mathias Vacek	Lidl-Trek	s.t.
56	Hugo Houle	Israel-Premier Tech	5:21
57	Louka Matthys	Wagner Bazin WB	7:16
58	Daan Hoole	Lidl-Trek	7:18
59	Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier	Lidl-Trek	s.t.
60	Jakob Söderqvist	Lidl-Trek	s.t.
61	Filippo Baroncini	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
62	David González	Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
63	Michiel Lambrecht	Wagner Bazin WB	s.t.
64	Davide Bais	Team Polti-VisitMalta	s.t.
65	Joan Bou	Caja Rural-Seguros RGA	s.t.
66	Jelte Krijnsen	Team Jayco-AlUla	s.t.
67	Bob Jungels	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
68	Jasha Sütterlin	Team Jayco-AlUla	s.t.
69	Tyler Stites	Caja Rural-Seguros RGA	s.t.
70	Nelson Oliveira	Movistar Team	s.t.
71	Matteo Sobrero	Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
72	Huub Artz	Intermarché-Wanty	s.t.
73	Vicente Rojas	VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè	9:35
74	Kieran Haug	Project Echelon Racing	s.t.
75	Robert Donaldson	Team Jayco-AlUla	9:54
76	Frederik Wandahl	Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
77	Laurent Gervais	Project Echelon Racing	10:18
78	Mirco Maestri	Team Polti-VisitMalta	s.t.
79	Asier Pablo Gonzalez	Illes Balears Arabay	14:33
80	Hugo de la Calle	Burgos Burpellet BH	s.t.
81	Jorge Arcas	Movistar Team	s.t.
82	Sente Sentjens	Alpecin-Deceuninck	14:47
83	Ethan Vernon	Israel-Premier Tech	16:39
84	Miguel Angel Fernandez	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
85	Rory Townsend	Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
86	Michael Hepburn	Team Jayco-AlUla	s.t.
87	Loic Vliegen	Wagner Bazin WB	s.t.
88	Quentin Bezza	Wagner Bazin WB	s.t.
89	Gerben Thijssen	Intermarché-Wanty	s.t.
90	Johan Meens	Wagner Bazin WB	s.t.
91	Gijs Van Hoecke	Intermarché-Wanty	s.t.
92	Cesar Macias	Petrolike	s.t.
93	Gianni Moscon	Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
94	Jonathan Castroviejo	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
95	Adrien Petit	Intermarché-Wanty	s.t.
96	Riley Pickrell	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
97	Edward Planckaert	Alpecin-Deceuninck	s.t.
98	Kaden Groves	Alpecin-Deceuninck	16:49
99	Samuele Zoccarato	Team Polti-VisitMalta	17:06
100	Giovanni Lonardi	Team Polti-VisitMalta	18:01
101	Lorenzo Milesi	Movistar Team	s.t.
102	Declan Irvine	Team Novo Nordisk	s.t.
103	Filippo Fiorelli	VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè	s.t.
104	Julius Johansen	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
105	Ivo Oliveira	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
106	Iúri Leitão	Caja Rural-Seguros RGA	s.t.
107	Antonio Polga	Team Novo Nordisk	s.t.
108	Unai Iribar	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
109	Kamil Gradek	Bahrain Victorious	s.t.
110	Alex Molenaar	Caja Rural-Seguros RGA	s.t.
111	Samuel Boardman	Project Echelon Racing	s.t.
112	Caleb Classen	Project Echelon Racing	s.t.
113	Walter Calzoni	Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
114	Matyas Kopecky	Team Novo Nordisk	s.t.
115	Simone Consonni	Lidl-Trek	s.t.
116	Jonathan Milan	Lidl-Trek	s.t.
117	Vojtech Kminek	Burgos Burpellet BH	s.t.
118	Marton Dina	Euskaltel-Euskadi	s.t.
119	Gianni Vermeersch	Alpecin-Deceuninck	s.t.
120	Xabier Berasategi	Euskaltel-Euskadi	s.t.
121	Francisco Muñoz	Team Polti-VisitMalta	s.t.
122	Rainer Kepplinger	Bahrain Victorious	s.t.
123	Matteo Scalco	VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè	s.t.
124	Hamish Armitt	Team Novo Nordisk	s.t.
125	Michael Leonard	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
126	Pau Llaneras	Illes Balears Arabay	s.t.
127	Xabier Isasa	Euskaltel-Euskadi	s.t.
128	Oscar Riesebeek	Alpecin-Deceuninck	s.t.
129	Hugo Scala Jr	Project Echelon Racing	s.t.
130	Filippo Ridolfo	Team Novo Nordisk	s.t.
131	Juan Prieto José	Petrolike	s.t.
132	Alexander Kamp	Intermarché-Wanty	s.t.
133	Nathan Smith	Team Novo Nordisk	s.t.
134	Gonzalo Ariño Bolinches	Illes Balears Arabay	s.t.
135	Bailey McDonald	Team Novo Nordisk	s.t.
136	Alessio Martinelli	VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè	s.t.
137	Jose Marin Aragón	Illes Balears Arabay	s.t.
138	Alvaro Sagrado Perez	Illes Balears Arabay	s.t.
139	Sinuhé Fernandez	Burgos Burpellet BH	s.t.
140	Sebastian Berwick	Caja Rural-Seguros RGA	s.t.
141	Cade Bickmore	Project Echelon Racing	s.t.
142	Edward Theuns	Lidl-Trek	s.t.
143	Lars Boven	Alpecin-Deceuninck	s.t.

 

GC after stage 3:

• GC leader: Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates)
• Mountains classification leader: Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious)
• Points classification leader: Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious)
• Best young rider: Icvan Romer (Movistar)
• Teams classification leader: Bahrin Victorious

380.6 kilometers raced so far at an average speed of 41.183 km/hr

1	Joao Almeida	UAE Team Emirates	9hr 14min 30sec
2	Santiago Buitrago	Bahrain Victorious	@ 2sec
3	Pello Bilbao	Bahrain Victorious	0:21
4	Thymen Arensman	INEOS Grenadiers	0:24
5	Brandon McNulty	UAE Team Emirates	0:32
6	Iván Romeo	Movistar Team	0:33
7	Carlos Rodriguez	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
8	Jefferson Cepeda	Movistar Team	0:35
9	Pablo Castrillo	Movistar Team	1:03
10	Ben O'Connor	Team Jayco-AlUla	1:05
11	Jai Hindley	Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe	1:10
12	Lenny Martinez	Bahrain Victorious	1:17
13	Tobias Foss	INEOS Grenadiers	2:06
14	Davide Piganzoli	Team Polti-VisitMalta	2:31
15	Pavel Sivakov	UAE Team Emirates	3:09
16	Jack Haig	Bahrain Victorious	3:49
17	Aleksandr Vlasov	Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe	3:54
18	Alexey Lutsenko	Israel-Premier Tech	4:32
19	Mathias Vacek	Lidl-Trek	4:49
20	Ivan Sosa	Equipo Kern Pharma	6:15
21	Milan Vader	Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team	6:27
22	William Barta	Movistar Team	6:44
23	Jon Agirre	Euskaltel-Euskadi	7:05
24	Txomin Juaristi	Euskaltel-Euskadi	7:21
25	Jonathan Caicedo	Petrolike	7:26
26	Andrii Ponomar	Petrolike	7:57
27	Jaume Guardeño	Caja Rural-Seguros RGA	8:13
28	Clément Alleno	Burgos Burpellet BH	8:24
29	Joe Blackmore	Israel-Premier Tech	8:39
30	Andrew August	INEOS Grenadiers	8:42
31	Mark Donovan	Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team	8:45
32	Diego Uriarte	Equipo Kern Pharma	8:50
33	Ivan Cobo	Equipo Kern Pharma	9:00
34	Jokin Murguialday	Euskaltel-Euskadi	9:07
35	Louis Meintjes	Intermarché-Wanty	9:11
36	Luca Paletti	VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè	9:13
37	Floris De Tier	Wagner Bazin WB	9:15
38	Luca Covili	VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè	10:33
39	Giovanni Aleotti	Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe	11:22
40	Filippo Zana	Team Jayco-AlUla	11:30
41	Joan Bou	Caja Rural-Seguros RGA	12:46
42	Mikel Bizkarra	Euskaltel-Euskadi	13:04
43	Edoardo Zambanini	Bahrain Victorious	13:26
44	Manuel Diaz Jose	Burgos Burpellet BH	13:53
45	Jakob Söderqvist	Lidl-Trek	14:03
46	Daan Hoole	Lidl-Trek	14:42
47	Jose Maria Garcia	Illes Balears Arabay	15:20
48	Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier	Lidl-Trek	16:02
49	Hugo Houle	Israel-Premier Tech	18:59
50	Michiel Lambrecht	Wagner Bazin WB	19:03
51	Henri Uhlig	Alpecin-Deceuninck	19:35
52	Felix Grossschartner	UAE Team Emirates	19:46
53	Kieran Haug	Project Echelon Racing	20:04
54	Bob Jungels	INEOS Grenadiers	20:57
55	Kevin Colleoni	Intermarché-Wanty	21:00
56	Nelson Oliveira	Movistar Team	s.t.
57	Filippo Baroncini	UAE Team Emirates	21:10
58	Matteo Sobrero	Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe	21:57
59	Jelte Krijnsen	Team Jayco-AlUla	22:05
60	Riley Sheehan	Israel-Premier Tech	22:26
61	Edgar Cadena	Petrolike	22:56
62	Davide Bais	Team Polti-VisitMalta	23:25
63	Jasha Sütterlin	Team Jayco-AlUla	23:47
64	Louka Matthys	Wagner Bazin WB	24:13
65	Sebastian Berwick	Caja Rural-Seguros RGA	24:26
66	Frederik Wandahl	Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe	24:34
67	José Félix Parra	Equipo Kern Pharma	24:35
68	Jonathan Castroviejo	INEOS Grenadiers	24:54
69	Rainer Kepplinger	Bahrain Victorious	25:20
70	Mirco Maestri	Team Polti-VisitMalta	25:25
71	Nico Denz	Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe	25:44
72	Jake Stewart	Israel-Premier Tech	25:51
73	Gianni Vermeersch	Alpecin-Deceuninck	26:16
74	Matteo Scalco	VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè	27:05
75	David González	Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team	27:56
76	Hugo de la Calle	Burgos Burpellet BH	28:03
77	Jorge Arcas	Movistar Team	28:25
78	Iñigo Elosegui	Equipo Kern Pharma	28:28
79	Unai Iribar	Equipo Kern Pharma	28:58
80	Christopher Juul-Jensen	Team Jayco-AlUla	29:54
81	Huub Artz	Intermarché-Wanty	s.t.
82	Loic Vliegen	Wagner Bazin WB	29:58
83	Hugo Scala Jr	Project Echelon Racing	30:07
84	Alex Tolio	VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè	30:29
85	Walter Calzoni	Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team	32:29
86	Vicente Rojas	VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè	33:40
87	Rory Townsend	Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team	33:43
88	Jonathan Milan	Lidl-Trek	33:44
89	Laurent Gervais	Project Echelon Racing	34:00
90	Asier Pablo Gonzalez	Illes Balears Arabay	34:36
91	Johan Meens	Wagner Bazin WB	34:55
92	Tyler Stites	Caja Rural-Seguros RGA	35:07
93	Sinuhé Fernandez	Burgos Burpellet BH	35:27
94	Ethan Vernon	Israel-Premier Tech	35:57
95	Ivo Oliveira	UAE Team Emirates	36:00
96	Lorenzo Milesi	Movistar Team	36:01
97	Robert Donaldson	Team Jayco-AlUla	36:24
98	Sente Sentjens	Alpecin-Deceuninck	36:53
99	Cesar Macias	Petrolike	37:05
100	Michael Leonard	INEOS Grenadiers	37:44
101	Alvaro Sagrado Perez	Illes Balears Arabay	38:03
102	Jose Marin Aragón	Illes Balears Arabay	38:04
103	Samuel Boardman	Project Echelon Racing	38:44
104	Quentin Bezza	Wagner Bazin WB	38:56
105	Kaden Groves	Alpecin-Deceuninck	38:57
106	Edward Planckaert	Alpecin-Deceuninck	39:03
107	Michael Hepburn	Team Jayco-AlUla	39:09
108	José Juan Prieto	Petrolike	39:10
109	Oscar Riesebeek	Alpecin-Deceuninck	39:23
110	Alessio Martinelli	VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè	39:31
111	Hamish Armitt	Team Novo Nordisk	39:45
112	Riley Pickrell	Israel-Premier Tech	39:53
113	Gianni Moscon	Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe	39:58
114	Xabier Berasategi	Euskaltel-Euskadi	40:02
115	Alex Molenaar	Caja Rural-Seguros RGA	40:11
116	Lars Boven	Alpecin-Deceuninck	40:35
117	Adrien Petit	Intermarché-Wanty	40:41
118	Julius Johansen	UAE Team Emirates	40:52
119	Gijs Van Hoecke	Intermarché-Wanty	41:08
120	Gonzalo Ariño Bolinches	Illes Balears Arabay	41:10
121	Filippo Fiorelli	VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè	41:18
122	Nathan Smith	Team Novo Nordisk	41:30
123	Iúri Leitão	Caja Rural-Seguros RGA	41:44
124	Gerben Thijssen	Intermarché-Wanty	41:46
125	Matyas Kopecky	Team Novo Nordisk	42:06
126	Filippo Ridolfo	Team Novo Nordisk	42:10
127	Pau Llaneras	Illes Balears Arabay	42:42
128	Caleb Classen	Project Echelon Racing	42:49
129	Giovanni Lonardi	Team Polti-VisitMalta	43:05
130	Edward Theuns	Lidl-Trek	43:26
131	Francisco Muñoz	Team Polti-VisitMalta	44:02
132	Alexander Kamp	Intermarché-Wanty	44:21
133	Simone Consonni	Lidl-Trek	44:38
134	Cade Bickmore	Project Echelon Racing	s.t.
135	Vojtech Kminek	Burgos Burpellet BH	44:58
136	Samuele Zoccarato	Team Polti-VisitMalta	45:03
137	Xabier Isasa	Euskaltel-Euskadi	45:19
138	Miguel Angel Fernandez	Equipo Kern Pharma	45:31
139	Kamil Gradek	Bahrain Victorious	45:47
140	Marton Dina	Euskaltel-Euskadi	46:08
141	Declan Irvine	Team Novo Nordisk	46:45
142	Antonio Polga	Team Novo Nordisk	48:30
143	Bailey McDonald	Team Novo Nordisk	s.t.

 

Stage 3 map & profile:

Stage 3 map

Stage 3 profile

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Thursday, February 6: Stage 2, La Nucía - Benifato (Alto de Partegat), 166 km

Course map & profile

No other racers in sight as Santiago Buitrago wins stage two.

Bill & Carol McGann’s book The Story of the 2024 Tour de France: The Happy Warrior Triumphs is available in print, Kindle eBook and audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the link on the right.

Weather at the city of Benidorm, on the route, about midway into the stage at 2:30 PM, local time: 16C (60F), partly cloudy, with the wind from the east at 10 km/hr (6 mph). There is just a 1% chance of rain.

The route: The battle to dethrone the leader after the team time trial begins with a nervous and selective stage. An ideal route for breakaways from the start, with three mountain passes in the final part. Col de Rates, Alto de Benimantell and Alto de Partegat, a debutant pass with 4 kilometers quite hard uphill. Depending on how the teams approach the stage, there could be a lot of movement in the classification.

The race: Here's the race organizer's stage two summary.

Santiago Buitrago Wins at the Alto de Partegat, and Vacek Holds on to the Leader’s Jersey

The Colombian rider dominated at the finish line on the Alto de Partegat, while Czech cyclist Mathias Vacek resisted the attacks and kept the leader’s jersey by a narrow margin

Benifato, February 6, 2025 –The second stage of the 2025 Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana did not disappoint. Starting in La Nucia and finishing at the challenging Alto de Partegat, the stage was marked by a fierce battle among the favorites and a spectacular finale on the final climb. Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious) claimed a dominant victory after launching a decisive attack during the ascent. Meanwhile, Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek) managed to stay with the chasing group and, despite losing some time at the finish line, retained the leader’s jersey with a slim advantage over his rivals.

It's time to race in Benifato.

From kilometer 11, a group of five riders attempted to break away from the peloton. Samuele Zoccarato (Team Polti VisitMalta), Vicente Rojas (VF Group Bardiani-CSF Faizanè), Sinuhe Fernández (Burgos Burpellet BH), Quentin Bezza (Wagner-Bazin WB), and Matyáš Kopecký (Team Novo Nordisk) gained the lead and built up an advantage of more than four minutes in the middle section of the stage.

The first mountain challenge of the day, the Coll de Rates, reduced the breakaway group, leaving Kopecký and Fernández at the front. However, the peloton, driven by UAE Team Emirates XRG and Lidl-Trek, steadily began to close the gap.

With 24 kilometers remaining, the peloton regrouped, neutralizing the last two escapees, and the stage finale was left in the hands of the top contenders. On the climb to Puerto de Benimantell, Tobias Foss (INEOS Grenadiers) launched a powerful attack, gaining up to 20 seconds on the chasing group. However, with six kilometers to go, Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) and Iván Romeo (Movistar Team) caught up with the Norwegian, forming a leading trio.

With just four kilometers to the finish, Foss could not keep up the pace, leaving Bilbao alone at the front, with the peloton closing in at less than 30 seconds. UAE Team Emirates, led by Joao Almeida and Brandon McNulty, increased the pace on the final climb.

Buitrago, the Strongest on the Final Climb to Partegat
In the last 500 meters, Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious) launched a decisive attack, overtaking his teammate Bilbao and crossing the finish line solo with a time of 4:07:54. Bilbao held on to second place, 9 seconds behind, while Almeida rounded out the podium at 13 seconds.

Further back, Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek), the general classification leader, managed to defend his jersey, finishing 57 seconds behind the stage winner and maintaining a slim lead of just three seconds over Almeida and five seconds over Buitrago in the overall standings.

Complete results:

166 kilometers raced at an average speed of 40.177 km/hr

1	Santiago Buitrago	Bahrain Victorious	4:07:54
2	Pello Bilbao	Bahrain Victorious	@ 9sec
3	Joao Almeida	UAE Team Emirates	0:13
4	Jefferson Cepeda	Movistar Team	0:21
5	Thymen Arensman	INEOS Grenadiers	0:24
6	Ivan Sosa	Equipo Kern Pharma	0:25
7	Brandon McNulty	UAE Team Emirates	0:34
8	Carlos Rodriguez	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
9	Lenny Martinez	Bahrain Victorious	0:39
10	Ivan Romeo	Movistar Team	s.t.
11	Pablo Castrillo	Movistar Team	0:49
12	Davide Piganzoli	Team Polti-VisitMalta	0:51
13	Mathias Vacek	Lidl-Trek	0:57
14	Jai Hindley	Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe	1:11
15	Ben O'Connor	Team Jayco-AlUla	s.t.
16	Pavel Sivakov	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
17	Tobias Foss	INEOS Grenadiers	1:22
18	Jack Haig	Bahrain Victorious	1:29
19	Aleksandr Vlasov	Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe	1:55
20	Alexey Lutsenko	Israel-Premier Tech	2:02
21	Jonathan Caicedo	Petrolike	2:20
22	Jon Agirre	Euskaltel-Euskadi	2:23
23	Milan Vader	Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team	2:30
24	Lorenzo Galimberti	Petrolike	2:33
25	William Barta	Movistar Team	2:34
26	Diego Uriarte	Equipo Kern Pharma	2:36
27	Floris De Tier	Wagner Bazin WB	2:41
28	Clément Alleno	Burgos Burpellet BH	2:49
29	Txomin Juaristi	Euskaltel-Euskadi	3:00
30	Andrii Ponomar	Petrolike	3:01
31	Jaume Guardeño	Caja Rural-Seguros RGA	3:07
32	Gianluca Brambilla	Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team	3:12
33	Ivan Cobo	Equipo Kern Pharma	3:17
34	Luca Paletti	VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè	3:19
35	Joe Blackmore	Israel-Premier Tech	3:25
36	Joan Bou	Caja Rural-Seguros RGA	3:41
37	Mark Donovan	Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team	3:50
38	Jakub Otruba	Caja Rural-Seguros RGA	4:02
39	Louis Meintjes	Intermarché-Wanty	s.t.
40	Jokin Murguialday	Euskaltel-Euskadi	4:19
41	Filippo Zana	Team Jayco-AlUla	4:20
42	Luca Covili	VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè	4:37
43	Sebastian Berwick	Caja Rural-Seguros RGA	4:44
44	Matteo Scalco	VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè	6:25
45	Jose Maria Garcia	Illes Balears Arabay	6:31
46	Andrew August	INEOS Grenadiers	6:42
47	Rainer Kepplinger	Bahrain Victorious	7:09
48	Gianni Vermeersch	Alpecin-Deceuninck	7:10
49	Giovanni Aleotti	Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
50	Jakob Söderqvist	Lidl-Trek	7:47
51	Mikel Bizkarra	Euskaltel-Euskadi	8:16
52	Unai Iribar	Equipo Kern Pharma	8:25
53	Bob Jungels	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
54	Jonathan Castroviejo	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
55	Jose Manuel Diaz	Burgos Burpellet BH	s.t.
56	Edoardo Zambanini	Bahrain Victorious	s.t.
57	Daan Hoole	Lidl-Trek	8:26
58	Michiel Lambrecht	Wagner Bazin WB	s.t.
59	Kieran Haug	Project Echelon Racing	s.t.
60	Jorge Arcas	Movistar Team	8:27
61	Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier	Lidl-Trek	s.t.
62	Loic Vliegen	Wagner Bazin WB	10:00
63	Hugo Scala Jr	Project Echelon Racing	10:03
64	Filippo Baroncini	UAE Team Emirates	10:38
65	Hugo de la Calle	Burgos Burpellet BH	11:08
66	Hugo Houle	Israel-Premier Tech	13:18
67	Davide Bais	Team Polti-VisitMalta	13:37
68	Mirco Maestri	Team Polti-VisitMalta	s.t.
69	Louka Matthys	Wagner Bazin WB	13:38
70	Nelson Oliveira	Movistar Team	s.t.
71	Walter Calzoni	Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team	13:39
72	Kevin Colleoni	Intermarché-Wanty	14:50
73	Matteo Sobrero	Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
74	Frederik Wandahl	Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe	14:51
75	Alvaro Sagrado Perez	Illes Balears Arabay	s.t.
76	Asier Pablo Gonzalez	Illes Balears Arabay	14:52
77	Jose Marin Aragón	Illes Balears Arabay	s.t.
78	Johan Meens	Wagner Bazin WB	14:57
79	Jelte Krijnsen	Team Jayco-AlUla	15:02
80	Felix Grossschartner	UAE Team Emirates	15:04
81	Henri Uhlig	Alpecin-Deceuninck	15:05
82	Sinuhé Fernandez	Burgos Burpellet BH	s.t.
83	Lorenzo Milesi	Movistar Team	15:06
84	Riley Sheehan	Israel-Premier Tech	15:12
85	David González	Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team	16:10
86	Rory Townsend	Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team	16:11
87	Jasha Sütterlin	Team Jayco-AlUla	16:44
88	Jonathan Milan	Lidl-Trek	16:45
89	Ivo Oliveira	UAE Team Emirates	17:11
90	Jake Stewart	Israel-Premier Tech	17:12
91	Edgar Cadena	Petrolike	17:58
92	Gonzalo Ariño Bolinches	Illes Balears Arabay	s.t.
93	Adrien Petit	Intermarché-Wanty	18:00
94	José Félix Parra	Equipo Kern Pharma	18:21
95	Riley Pickrell	Israel-Premier Tech	18:22
96	Alessio Martinelli	VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè	18:24
97	Hamish Armitt	Team Novo Nordisk	18:28
98	Tom Portsmouth	Wagner Bazin WB	18:39
99	Samuel Boardman	Project Echelon Racing	18:40
100	Cesar Macias	Petrolike	18:42
101	Ethan Vernon	Israel-Premier Tech	18:58
102	Quentin Bezza	Wagner Bazin WB	s.t.
103	Gerben Thijssen	Intermarché-Wanty	19:05
104	Vicente Rojas	VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè	19:26
105	Carlos Garcia	Petrolike	19:28
106	José Juan Prieto	Petrolike	s.t.
107	Pau Llaneras	Illes Balears Arabay	19:30
108	Sente Sentjens	Alpecin-Deceuninck	19:36
109	Michael Leonard	INEOS Grenadiers	19:51
110	Lars Boven	Alpecin-Deceuninck	20:06
111	Nathan Smith	Team Novo Nordisk	20:13
112	Gianni Moscon	Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe	20:14
113	Oscar Riesebeek	Alpecin-Deceuninck	20:17
114	Alex Molenaar	Caja Rural-Seguros RGA	20:29
115	Filippo Fiorelli	VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè	20:38
116	Edward Planckaert	Alpecin-Deceuninck	20:41
117	Nico Denz	Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe	20:42
118	Xabier Berasategi	Euskaltel-Euskadi	20:43
119	Matyas Kopecky	Team Novo Nordisk	20:52
120	Huub Artz	Intermarché-Wanty	s.t.
121	Filippo Ridolfo	Team Novo Nordisk	20:53
122	Kaden Groves	Alpecin-Deceuninck	21:03
123	Laurent Gervais	Project Echelon Racing	21:39
124	Iúri Leitão	Caja Rural-Seguros RGA	21:59
125	Tyler Stites	Caja Rural-Seguros RGA	s.t.
126	Declan Irvine	Team Novo Nordisk	22:42
127	Alexander Kamp	Intermarché-Wanty	22:44
128	Christopher Juul-Jensen	Team Jayco-AlUla	22:45
129	Antonio Polga	Team Novo Nordisk	s.t.
130	Michael Hepburn	Team Jayco-AlUla	s.t.
131	Robert Donaldson	Team Jayco-AlUla	s.t.
132	Iñigo Elosegui	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
133	Bailey McDonald	Team Novo Nordisk	s.t.
134	Marton Dina	Euskaltel-Euskadi	s.t.
135	Gijs Van Hoecke	Intermarché-Wanty	s.t.
136	Miguel Angel Fernandez	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
137	Julius Johansen	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
138	Caleb Classen	Project Echelon Racing	s.t.
139	Kamil Gradek	Bahrain Victorious	22:49
140	David Martin	Burgos Burpellet BH	23:03
141	Giovanni Lonardi	Team Polti-VisitMalta	23:10
142	Joan Albert Riera	Illes Balears Arabay	23:31
143	Jannik Steimle	Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team	23:35
144	Brendan Rhim	Project Echelon Racing	s.t.
145	Alex Tolio	VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè	24:29
146	Ander Okamika	Burgos Burpellet BH	24:30
147	Francisco Muñoz	Team Polti-VisitMalta	24:31
148	Cade Bickmore	Project Echelon Racing	24:32
149	Vojtech Kminek	Burgos Burpellet BH	24:35
150	Edward Theuns	Lidl-Trek	25:57
151	Simone Consonni	Lidl-Trek	s.t.
152	Xabier Isasa	Euskaltel-Euskadi	26:00
153	Samuele Zoccarato	Team Polti-VisitMalta	26:29

 

GC after stage 2:

• GC leader: Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek)
• Mountains classification leader: Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious)
• Points classification leader: Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious)
• Best young rider: Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek)
• Teams classification leader: Bahrain Victorious

200.3 kilometers raced so far at an average speed of 41.705 km/hr

1	Mathias Vacek	Lidl-Trek	4hr 48min 10sec
2	Joao Almeida	UAE Team Emirates	@ 2sec
3	Santiago Buitrago	Bahrain Victorious	0:05
4	Pello Bilbao	Bahrain Victorious	0:16
5	Thymen Arensman	INEOS Grenadiers	0:19
6	Brandon McNulty	UAE Team Emirates	0:27
7	Carlos Rodriguez	INEOS Grenadiers	0:28
8	Jefferson Cepeda	Movistar Team	0:30
9	Ivan Romeo	Movistar Team	0:48
10	Lenny Martinez	Bahrain Victorious	0:54
11	Pablo Castrillo	Movistar Team	0:58
12	Ben O'Connor	Team Jayco-AlUla	1:01
13	Pavel Sivakov	UAE Team Emirates	1:04
14	Jai Hindley	Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe	1:05
15	Tobias Foss	INEOS Grenadiers	1:14
16	Jack Haig	Bahrain Victorious	1:44
17	Aleksandr Vlasov	Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe	1:49
18	Davide Piganzoli	Team Polti-VisitMalta	2:26
19	Alexey Lutsenko	Israel-Premier Tech	2:27
20	William Barta	Movistar Team	2:43
21	Ivan Sosa	Equipo Kern Pharma	3:03
22	Milan Vader	Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team	3:24
23	Jon Agirre	Euskaltel-Euskadi	3:46
24	Joe Blackmore	Israel-Premier Tech	3:50
25	Gianluca Brambilla	Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team	4:06
26	Jonathan Caicedo	Petrolike	s.t.
27	Txomin Juaristi	Euskaltel-Euskadi	4:23
28	Mark Donovan	Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team	4:44
29	Andrii Ponomar	Petrolike	4:47
30	Jaume Guardeño	Caja Rural-Seguros RGA	4:53
31	Diego Uriarte	Equipo Kern Pharma	5:13
32	Clément Alleno	Burgos Burpellet BH	5:16
33	Joan Bou	Caja Rural-Seguros RGA	5:33
34	Jokin Murguialday	Euskaltel-Euskadi	5:42
35	Jakub Otruba	Caja Rural-Seguros RGA	5:48
36	Louis Meintjes	Intermarché-Wanty	5:51
37	Ivan Cobo	Equipo Kern Pharma	5:54
38	Luca Paletti	VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè	6:03
39	Floris De Tier	Wagner Bazin WB	6:05
40	Sebastian Berwick	Caja Rural-Seguros RGA	6:30
41	Andrew August	INEOS Grenadiers	6:37
42	Jakob Söderqvist	Lidl-Trek	6:50
43	Lorenzo Galimberti	Petrolike	7:01
44	Giovanni Aleotti	Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe	7:04
45	Luca Covili	VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè	7:21
46	Rainer Kepplinger	Bahrain Victorious	7:24
47	Daan Hoole	Lidl-Trek	7:29
48	Filippo Zana	Team Jayco-AlUla	8:10
49	Gianni Vermeersch	Alpecin-Deceuninck	8:20
50	Jonathan Castroviejo	INEOS Grenadiers	8:20
51	Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier	Lidl-Trek	8:49
52	Matteo Scalco	VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè	9:09
53	Mikel Bizkarra	Euskaltel-Euskadi	9:39
54	Edoardo Zambanini	Bahrain Victorious	9:56
55	Kieran Haug	Project Echelon Racing	10:34
56	JoseManuel Diaz	Burgos Burpellet BH	10:52
57	Unai Iribar	Equipo Kern Pharma	11:02
58	Jose Maria Garcia	Illes Balears Arabay	11:47
59	Michiel Lambrecht	Wagner Bazin WB	11:50
60	Hugo Scala Jr	Project Echelon Racing	12:11
61	Loic Vliegen	Wagner Bazin WB	13:24
62	Hugo de la Calle	Burgos Burpellet BH	13:35
63	Hugo Houle	Israel-Premier Tech	13:43
64	Bob Jungels	INEOS Grenadiers	13:44
65	Nelson Oliveira	Movistar Team	13:47
66	Jorge Arcas	Movistar Team	13:57
67	Filippo Baroncini	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
68	Walter Calzoni	Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team	14:33
69	Matteo Sobrero	Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe	14:44
70	Frederik Wandahl	Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe	14:45
71	Jelte Krijnsen	Team Jayco-AlUla	14:52
72	Felix Grossschartner	UAE Team Emirates	14:57
73	Mirco Maestri	Team Polti-VisitMalta	15:12
74	Jonathan Milan	Lidl-Trek	15:48
75	Davide Bais	Team Polti-VisitMalta	16:12
76	Henri Uhlig	Alpecin-Deceuninck	16:15
77	Jasha Sütterlin	Team Jayco-AlUla	16:34
78	Kevin Colleoni	Intermarché-Wanty	16:39
79	Louka Matthys	Wagner Bazin WB	17:02
80	Rory Townsend	Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team	17:09
81	Sinuhé Fernandez	Burgos Burpellet BH	17:31
82	Riley Sheehan	Israel-Premier Tech	17:37
83	Ivo Oliveira	UAE Team Emirates	18:04
84	Lorenzo Milesi	Movistar Team	18:05
85	Johan Meens	Wagner Bazin WB	18:21
86	Ethan Vernon	Israel-Premier Tech	19:23
87	Edgar Cadena	Petrolike	19:44
88	Michael Leonard	INEOS Grenadiers	19:48
89	Alvaro Sagrado Perez	Illes Balears Arabay	20:07
90	Asier Pablo Gonzalez	Illes Balears Arabay	20:08
91	Jose Marin Aragón	Illes Balears Arabay	s.t.
92	Cesar Macias	Petrolike	20:31
93	David González	Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team	20:43
94	Samuel Boardman	Project Echelon Racing	20:48
95	José Félix Parra	Equipo Kern Pharma	20:58
96	Jake Stewart	Israel-Premier Tech	21:02
97	Carlos Garcia	Petrolike	21:14
98	José Juan Prieto	Petrolike	s.t.
99	Nico Denz	Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe	21:26
100	Oscar Riesebeek	Alpecin-Deceuninck	21:27
101	Alessio Martinelli	VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè	21:35
102	Hamish Armitt	Team Novo Nordisk	21:49
103	Tom Portsmouth	Wagner Bazin WB	22:03
104	Xabier Berasategi	Euskaltel-Euskadi	22:06
105	Sente Sentjens	Alpecin-Deceuninck	22:11
106	Kaden Groves	Alpecin-Deceuninck	22:13
107	Alex Molenaar	Caja Rural-Seguros RGA	22:15
108	Edward Planckaert	Alpecin-Deceuninck	22:19
109	Quentin Bezza	Wagner Bazin WB	22:22
110	Michael Hepburn	Team Jayco-AlUla	22:35
111	Lars Boven	Alpecin-Deceuninck	22:39
112	Huub Artz	Intermarché-Wanty	22:41
113	Julius Johansen	UAE Team Emirates	22:56
114	Gonzalo Ariño Bolinches	Illes Balears Arabay	23:14
115	Riley Pickrell	Israel-Premier Tech	23:19
116	Filippo Fiorelli	VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè	23:22
117	Gianni Moscon	Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe	23:24
118	Nathan Smith	Team Novo Nordisk	23:34
119	Laurent Gervais	Project Echelon Racing	23:47
120	Iúri Leitão	Caja Rural-Seguros RGA	23:48
121	Adrien Petit	Intermarché-Wanty	24:07
122	Vicente Rojas	VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè	24:10
123	Matyas Kopecky	Team Novo Nordisk	s.t.
124	Filippo Ridolfo	Team Novo Nordisk	24:14
125	Gijs Van Hoecke	Intermarché-Wanty	24:34
126	Pau Llaneras	Illes Balears Arabay	24:46
127	Caleb Classen	Project Echelon Racing	24:53
128	Giovanni Lonardi	Team Polti-VisitMalta	25:09
129	Gerben Thijssen	Intermarché-Wanty	25:12
130	Jannik Steimle	Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team	25:17
131	Iñigo Elosegui	Equipo Kern Pharma	25:22
132	David Martin	Burgos Burpellet BH	25:30
133	Edward Theuns	Lidl-Trek	25:30
134	Brendan Rhim	Project Echelon Racing	25:59
135	Francisco Muñoz	Team Polti-VisitMalta	26:06
136	Alexander Kamp	Intermarché-Wanty	26:25
137	Christopher Juul-Jensen	Team Jayco-AlUla	26:35
138	Robert Donaldson	Team Jayco-AlUla	s.t.
139	Cade Bickmore	Project Echelon Racing	26:42
140	Simone Consonni	Lidl-Trek	s.t.
141	Ander Okamika	Burgos Burpellet BH	26:57
142	Vojtech Kminek	Burgos Burpellet BH	27:02
143	Alex Tolio	VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè	27:13
144	Xabier Isasa	Euskaltel-Euskadi	27:23
145	Kamil Gradek	Bahrain Victorious	27:51
146	Tyler Stites	Caja Rural-Seguros RGA	27:54
147	Samuele Zoccarato	Team Polti-VisitMalta	28:02
148	Marton Dina	Euskaltel-Euskadi	28:12
149	Joan Albert Riera	Illes Balears Arabay	28:47
150	Declan Irvine	Team Novo Nordisk	28:49
151	Miguel Angel Fernandez	Equipo Kern Pharma	28:57
152	Antonio Polga	Team Novo Nordisk	30:34
153	Bailey McDonald	Team Novo Nordisk	s.t.

 

Stage 2 map & profile:

Stage 2 map

Stage 2 profile

---

Wednesday, February 5: Orihuela 34.3 km team time trial

Course map & profile

Lidl-Trek turned in the fastest time.

Bill & Carol McGann's book The Story of the Tour de France, 2020: The Tour During Covid-19, Better Late Than Never is available in both Kindle eBook and Audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.

Weather at the race city of Orihuela at 2:20 PM, local time: 17C (62F), sunny, with the wind from the east-southeast at 9 km/hr (5 mph). No rain is forecast.

The stage: The VCV 2025 starts strong with a spectacular team time trial of 34 kilometers. A flat course with some hilly areas, somewhat technical in specific sections, but above all a very fast time trial conducive to very high average speeds. The VCV 2025 will open with an all-out battle between the best teams in the world

The race: Here's the report from winner Team Lidl-Trek.

Lidl-Trek dominate the opening team time trial at Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana winning with an impressive margin of 47 seconds.

The Team went into the day fully prepared, having reconned today’s opening 34.3km-long team time trial at their January training camp, and with one clear goal: to win.

As soon as the group rolled off the ramp, it was obvious that every single rider meant business and an impressively strong team performance out on course saw them stop the clock at 39 minutes 19 seconds to move into the hot seat.

Second-place Jayco AlUla on their ride.

As one of the first teams to start, it was a long wait to see if Lidl-Trek had done enough to secure victory with potentially some of the toughest competition to come in the last group of teams. However, in the end, no one was able to get close to matching the benchmark set by the Team and it was Simone Consonni, Daan Hoole, Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier, Jonathan Milan, Jakob Söderqvist, Edward Theuns, and Mathias Vacek who stepped onto the podium as the first winners of the race.

In fact, Lidl-Trek was the only team to step onto the podium with Mathias Vacek crossing the line first to take the race leader’s yellow jersey, as well as the jersey for the best young rider while, Jonathan Milan will wear the KOM jersey tomorrow with Daan Hoole in the Points jersey.

Here's third-place UAE team Emirates-XRG

Mathias Vacek:
It's a really great feeling. We could even think about the margin we had at the finish, about 50 seconds. It’s crazy what we did today. We aimed high, but winning is something special for us, and for the team it’s a great success. We’re super confident now for the next races and time trials. Today we enjoyed our victory and we left everything out there. It feels so great.

It was not really decided that I should pass the finish first, but I was in the first position before the downhill and I stayed there until the finish line, and I’m proud that I can wear the yellow jersey now for the next stage. I want to thank my team, to the other guys because without them it wouldn’t be possible. The team effort we put in and all the details we worked on, now it paid off and it feels great. I don’t want to say that I’m going to win the next stages, but I’ll try to keep the jersey for as long as possible.

I have a good gap to the other teams but for sure it will be hard racing with some tough climbs in the next says. I’ll see how I feel but I will leave it all out there to keep the jersey as long as possible.

Mathias Vacek will start stage two in yellow. Photo: Szymon Gruchalski/Getty Images

Jonathan Milan:
I would say absolutely yes [it went to plan]. The plan was a bit easy – go full gas and give 100% of ourselves, so we were believing in this. We were also try this time trial in the last month, during the January training camp. From the beginning we looked and said that with our team it would be really perfect. I think it’s a perfect result.

I think it was the plan to make Mathias first. In the end everyone deserves this victory, everyone gave 100%. Mathias did a nice pace and I think he can play his cards also in the next days.

I think I’ll have to wait a bit. The last stage should be pretty interesting for me. I’ll have to suffer a bit, I’ll help my teammates and we’ll see.

Results:

34.3 kilometers raced at an average speed of 52.322 km/hr

1	Lidl-Trek	39min 20sec
2	Team Jayco-AlUla	@ 46sec
3	UAE Team Emirates	0:50
4	Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
5	INEOS Grenadiers	0:51
6	Movistar Team	1:06
7	Bahrain Victorious	1:11
8	Israel-Premier Tech	1:21
9	Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team	1:50
10	Alpecin-Deceuninck	2:06
11	Euskaltel-Euskadi	2:19
12	Team Polti-VisitMalta	2:31
13	Caja Rural-Seguros RGA	2:43
14	Petrolike	2:44
15	Intermarché-Wanty	2:46
16	Project Echelon Racing	3:04
17	Burgos Burpellet BH	3:23
18	Equipo Kern Pharma	3:33
20	Team Novo Nordisk	4:18
21	Wagner Bazin WB	4:21
22	Illes Balears Arabay	6:12

 

GC after stage 1:

1	Mathias Vacek	Lidl-Trek	39min 19sec
2	Jonathan Milan	Lidl-Trek	s.t.
3	Daan Hoole	Lidl-Trek	s.t.
4	Jakob Söderqvist	Lidl-Trek	s.t.
5	Edward Theuns	Lidl-Trek	@ 30sec
6	Jelte Krijnsen	Team Jayco-AlUla	0:47
7	Ben O'Connor	Team Jayco-AlUla	s.t.
8	Michael Hepburn	Team Jayco-AlUla	s.t.
9	Jasha Sütterlin	Team Jayco-AlUla	s.t.
10	Joao Almeida	UAE Team Emirates	0:50
11	Felix Grossschartner	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
12	Brandon McNulty	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
13	Pavel Sivakov	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
14	Aleksandr Vlasov	Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe	0:51
15	Jai Hindley	Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
16	Frederik Wandahl	Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
17	Matteo Sobrero	Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
18	Giovanni Aleotti	Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
19	AJ August	INEOS Grenadiers	0:52
20	Tobias Foss	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
21	Carlos Rodriguez	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
22	Thymen Arensman	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
23	Jonathan Castroviejo	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
24	Michael Leonard	INEOS Grenadiers	0:54
25	Ivan Romeo	Movistar Team	1:06
26	Nelson Oliveira	Movistar Team	s.t.
27	Pablo Castrillo	Movistar Team	s.t.
28	William Barta	Movistar Team	s.t.
29	Jefferson Cepeda	Movistar Team	s.t.
30	Julius Johansen	UAE Team Emirates	1:08
31	Lenny Martinez	Bahrain Victorious	1:12
32	Jack Haig	Bahrain Victorious	s.t.
33	Santiago Buitrago	Bahrain Victorious	s.t.
34	Pello Bilbao	Bahrain Victorious	s.t.
35	Rainer Kepplinger	Bahrain Victorious	s.t.
36	Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier	Lidl-Trek	1:19
37	Ethan Vernon	Israel-Premier Tech	1:22
38	Alexey Lutsenko	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
39	Joe Blackmore	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
40	Hugo Houle	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
41	Nico Denz	Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe	1:41
42	Simone Consonni	Lidl-Trek	1:42
43	Ivo Oliveira	UAE Team Emirates	1:50
44	Mark Donovan	Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team	1:51
45	Gianluca Brambilla	Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
46	Walter Calzoni	Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
47	Milan Vader	Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
48	Rory Townsend	Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team	1:55
49	Gianni Vermeersch	Alpecin-Deceuninck	2:07
50	Oscar Riesebeek	Alpecin-Deceuninck	s.t.
51	Henri Uhlig	Alpecin-Deceuninck	s.t.
52	Kaden Groves	Alpecin-Deceuninck	s.t.
53	Jokin Murguialday	Euskaltel-Euskadi	2:20
54	Xabier Berasategi	Euskaltel-Euskadi	s.t.
55	Xabier Isasa	Euskaltel-Euskadi	s.t.
56	Jon Agirre	Euskaltel-Euskadi	s.t.
57	Txomin Juaristi	Euskaltel-Euskadi	s.t.
58	Mikel Bizkarra	Euskaltel-Euskadi	s.t.
59	Edoardo Zambanini	Bahrain Victorious	2:28
60	Davide Piganzoli	Team Polti-VisitMalta	2:32
61	Mirco Maestri	Team Polti-VisitMalta	s.t.
62	Samuele Zoccarato	Team Polti-VisitMalta	s.t.
63	Francisco Muñoz	Team Polti-VisitMalta	s.t.
64	Edward Planckaert	Alpecin-Deceuninck	2:35
65	Jannik Steimle	Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team	2:39
66	Andrii Ponomar	Petrolike	2:43
67	Edgar Cadena	Petrolike	s.t.
68	José Juan Prieto	Petrolike	s.t.
69	Jonathan Caicedo	Petrolike	s.t.
70	Carlos Garcia	Petrolike	s.t.
71	Alex Molenaar	Caja Rural-Seguros RGA	s.t.
72	Jaume Guardeño	Caja Rural-Seguros RGA	s.t.
73	Jakub Otruba	Caja Rural-Seguros RGA	s.t.
74	Sebastian Berwick	Caja Rural-Seguros RGA	s.t.
75	Cesar Macias	Petrolike	2:46
76	Iúri Leitão	Caja Rural-Seguros RGA	s.t.
77	Huub Artz	Intermarché-Wanty	s.t.
78	Gijs Van Hoecke	Intermarché-Wanty	s.t.
79	Louis Meintjes	Intermarché-Wanty	s.t.
80	Kevin Colleoni	Intermarché-Wanty	s.t.
81	Joan Bou	Caja Rural-Seguros RGA	2:49
82	Giovanni Lonardi	Team Polti-VisitMalta	2:56
83	Hugo Scala, Jr	Project Echelon Racing	3:05
84	Samuel Boardman	Project Echelon Racing	s.t.
85	Caleb Classen	Project Echelon Racing	s.t.
86	Laurent Gervais	Project Echelon Racing	s.t.
87	Kieran Haug	Project Echelon Racing	s.t.
88	Cade Bickmore	Project Echelon Racing	3:07
89	Brendan Rhim	Project Echelon Racing	3:21
90	Riley Sheehan	Israel-Premier Tech	3:22
91	Hugo de la Calle	Burgos Burpellet BH	3:24
92	Sinuhé Fernandez	Burgos Burpellet BH	s.t.
93	Clément Alleno	Burgos Burpellet BH	s.t.
94	Ander Okamika	Burgos Burpellet BH	s.t.
95	Jose Manuel Diaz	Burgos Burpellet BH	s.t.
96	David Martin	Burgos Burpellet BH	s.t.
97	Vojtech Kminek	Burgos Burpellet BH	s.t.
98	Lars Boven	Alpecin-Deceuninck	3:30
99	Sente Sentjens	Alpecin-Deceuninck	3:32
100	Davide Bais	Team Polti-VisitMalta	s.t.
101	Iñigo Elosegui	Equipo Kern Pharma	3:34
102	Diego Uriarte	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
103	Ivan Cobo	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
104	Unai Iribar	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
105	José Félix Parra	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
106	Ivan Sosa	Equipo Kern Pharma	3:35
107	Luca Paletti	VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè	3:41
108	Matteo Scalco	VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè	s.t.
109	Filippo Fiorelli	VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè	s.t.
110	Luca Covili	VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè	s.t.
111	Alex Tolio	VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè	s.t.
112	Lorenzo Milesi	Movistar Team	3:56
113	Gianni Moscon	Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe	4:07
114	Alessio Martinelli	VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè	4:08
115	Filippo Baroncini	UAE Team Emirates	4:16
116	Matyas Kopecky	Team Novo Nordisk	4:18
117	Filippo Ridolfo	Team Novo Nordisk	s.t.
118	Nathan Smith	Team Novo Nordisk	s.t.
119	Hamish Armitt	Team Novo Nordisk	s.t.
120	Michiel Lambrecht	Wagner Bazin WB	4:21
121	Loic Vliegen	Wagner Bazin WB	s.t.
122	Quentin Bezza	Wagner Bazin WB	s.t.
123	Louka Matthys	Wagner Bazin WB	s.t.
124	Tom Portsmouth	Wagner Bazin WB	s.t.
125	Johan Meens	Wagner Bazin WB	s.t.
126	Floris De Tier	Wagner Bazin WB	s.t.
127	Alexander Kamp	Intermarché-Wanty	4:38
128	Filippo Zana	Team Jayco-AlUla	4:47
129	Robert Donaldson	Team Jayco-AlUla	s.t.
130	Christopher Juul-Jensen	Team Jayco-AlUla	4:47
131	Jake Stewart	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
132	Lorenzo Galimberti	Petrolike	5:25
133	David González	Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team	5:30
134	Vicente Rojas	VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè	5:41
135	Riley Pickrell	Israel-Premier Tech	5:54
136	Kamil Gradek	Bahrain Victorious	5:59
137	Fernando Tercero	Team Polti-VisitMalta	6:12
138	Joan Albert Riera	Illes Balears Arabay	6:13
139	Jose Marin Aragón	Illes Balears Arabay	s.t.
140	Jose Maria Garcia Soriano	Illes Balears Arabay	s.t.
141	Alvaro Sagrado Perez	Illes Balears Arabay	s.t.
142	Pablo Gonzalez Asier	Illes Balears Arabay	s.t.
143	Pau Llaneras	Illes Balears Arabay	s.t.
144	Gonzalo Ariño Bolinches	Illes Balears Arabay	s.t.
145	Bob Jungels	INEOS Grenadiers	6:16
146	Marton Dina	Euskaltel-Euskadi	6:24
147	Jorge Arcas	Movistar Team	6:27
148	Tyler Stites	Caja Rural-Seguros RGA	6:52
149	Declan Irvine	Team Novo Nordisk	7:04
150	Gerben Thijssen	Intermarché-Wanty	s.t.
151	Adrien Petit	Intermarché-Wanty	s.t.
152	Miguel Angel Fernandez	Equipo Kern Pharma	7:09
153	Antonio Polga	Team Novo Nordisk	8:46
154	Bailey McDonald	Team Novo Nordisk	s.t.

 

Stage 1 map & profile:

Stage 1 map

Stage 1 profile

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Start list with back numbers, February 4, 2025:

	UAE Team Emirates
1	Brandon McNulty
2	Joao Almeida
3	Filippo Baroncini
4	Felix Grossschartner
5	Julius Johansen
6	Ivo Oliveira
7	Pavel Sivakov
	Bahrain Victorious
11	Santiago Buitrago
12	Pello Bilbao
13	Kamil Gradek
14	Jack Haig
15	Rainer Kepplinger
16	Lenny Martinez
17	Edoardo Zambanini
	Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe
21	Nico Denz
22	Jai Hindley
23	Matteo Sobrero
24	Gianni Moscon
25	Aleksandr Vlasov
26	Frederik Wandahl
27	Giovanni Aleotti
	Team Jayco-AlUla
31	Ben O'Connor
32	Michael Hepburn
33	Christopher Juul-Jensen
34	Jelte Krijnsen
35	Robert Donaldson
36	Jasha Sütterlin
37	Filippo Zana
	Movistar Team
41	Jefferson Cepeda
42	William Barta
43	Pablo Castrillo
44	Jorge Arcas
45	Lorenzo Milesi
46	Ivan Romeo
47	Nelson Oliveira
	Lidl-Trek
51	Simone Consonni
52	Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier
53	Jonathan Milan
54	Edward Theuns
55	Mathias Vacek
56	Jakob Söderqvist
57	Daan Hoole
	Intermarché-Wanty
61	Huub Artz
62	Kevin Colleoni
63	Louis Meintjes
64	Alexander Kamp
65	Adrien Petit
66	Gerben Thijssen
67	Gijs Van Hoecke
	Alpecin-Deceuninck
71	Kaden Groves
72	Gianni Vermeersch
73	Oscar Riesebeek
74	Edward Planckaert
75	Lars Boven
76	Henri Uhlig
77	Sente Sentjens
	INEOS Grenadiers
81	Thymen Arensman
82	Jonathan Castroviejo
83	AJ August
84	Tobias Foss
85	Bob Jungels
86	Michael Leonard
87	Carlos Rodriguez
	Team Polti-VisitMalta
91	Giovanni Lonardi
92	Mirco Maestri
93	Francisco Muñoz
94	Davide Bais
95	Davide Piganzoli
96	Fernando Tercero
97	Samuele Zoccarato
	VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè
101	Luca Covili
102	Filippo Fiorelli
103	Alessio Martinelli
104	Luca Paletti
105	Vicente Rojas
106	Matteo Scalco
107	Alex Tolio
	Euskaltel-Euskadi
111	Txomin Juaristi
112	Xabier Isasa
113	Xabier Berasategi
114	Jon Agirre
115	Marton Dina
116	Mikel Bizkarra
117	Jokin Murguialday
	Burgos Burpellet BH
121	Clément Alleno
122	David Martin
123	Ander Okamika
124	Vojtech Kminek
125	Hugo de la Calle
126	Jose Manuel Diaz
127	Sinuhé Fernandez
	Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
131	Joan Bou
132	Sebastian Berwick
133	Iúri Leitão
134	Jaume Guardeño
135	Alex Molenaar
136	Jakub Otruba
137	Tyler Stites
	Equipo Kern Pharma
141	Ivan Sosa
142	José Félix Parra
143	Diego Uriarte
144	Unai Iribar
145	Miguel Angel Fernandez
146	Iñigo Elosegui
147	Ivan Cobo
	Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team
151	Gianluca Brambilla
152	Mark Donovan
153	Walter Calzoni
154	David González
155	Jannik Steimle
156	Rory Townsend
157	Milan Vader
	Wagner Bazin WB
161	Loic Vliegen
162	Tom Portsmouth
163	Johan Meens
164	Louka Matthys
165	Michiel Lambrecht
166	Floris De Tier
167	Quentin Bezza
	Team Novo Nordisk
171	Hamish Armitt
172	Matyas Kopecky
173	Declan Irvine
174	Bailey McDonald
175	Antonio Polga
176	Filippo Ridolfo
177	Nathan Smith
	Israel-Premier Tech
181	Joe Blackmore
182	Hugo Houle
183	Alexey Lutsenko
184	Riley Pickrell
185	Riley Sheehan
186	Jake Stewart
187	Ethan Vernon
	Illes Balears Arabay
191	Gonzalo Ariño Bolinches
192	Jose Maria Garcia
193	Asier Pablo Gonzalez
194	Pau Llaneras
195	Jose Marin Aragón
196	Albert Riera Joan
197	Alvaro Sagrado Perez
	Project Echelon Racing
201	Laurent Gervais
202	Hugo Scala Jr
203	Kieran Haug
204	Brendan Rhim
205	Caleb Classen
206	Samuel Boardman
207	Cade Bickmore
	Petrolike
211	Jonathan Caicedo
212	Edgar Cadena
213	Lorenzo Galimberti
214	Carlos Garcia
215	Cesar Macias
216	Andrii Ponomar
217	José Juan Prieto