Alejandro Valverde to miss Vuelta a Murcia and Clásica Jaén Paraíso Interior due to Covid outbreak in Movistar

The Spanish veteran is set out to miss his home race Vuelta a Murcia alongside the new classic in southern Spain which has been highly antecipated, the Clásica Jaén Paraíso Interior, the team announced.

This wednesday Movistar informed that they would not be lining up for this week's races with the riders who have been in the Volta a Comunitat Valenciana. This comes as sanitary precaution, after Einer Rubio and Juri Hollman tested positive for the new coronavirus before the start of stage two. The team nevertheless did not abandon the race and had Enric Mas and Alejandro Valverde finish fourth and fifth in the overall classification.

With this update it is possible that the number of cases between riders and/or staff has increased, however the team will still be present in these races albeit with different lineups than those planned out. With Murcia on the 12th of February and Jaén on the 14th it will make for a set of interesting racing days in Spain, which also see the Clasica de Almeria between the two. Both classics will be suited for the climbers and puncheurs, with the new Clásica Jaén Paraíso Interior a big motive of interest lately as it's set to go through a number of gravel sectors.