Valverde not ruling out bid for Volta a Catalunya lead on stage one
Defending Volta a Catalunya champion Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) says he expects anything but a gentle start to the week-long race on Monday, adding that he could be in the hunt for the overall lead from stage one.
Monday’s stage one starts and finishes in Calella, as it has done every year since 2012. But if the gently rising finish straight sometimes has produced splits in the peloton in the past, this time round Valverde is expecting a much earlier shredding of the field.
Five classified climbs dot the route, and as a result, Valverde says he does not rule out going for the stage win himself.
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“It’s a much more mountainous course for stage one than usual, even if the run-in is identical to other years,” Valverde told reporters at a press conference on the Sunday evening.
“They’ve put in three first category climbs before that finish, that changes everything. So we could see as few as 25 or 30 riders coming across the line together.”
When asked if perhaps going for victory on Monday if he was in a lead group meant he could be aiming to lead the Volta from beginning to end, Valverde grinned and asked rhetorically, “You like putting me under pressure, don’t you?
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