"I don't have to wonder anymore if I'll ever win" - Will Barta ticks off big box after first professional victory in Valencia

When he looks back, Will Barta can already be happy about this season. After all, the 28-year-old American scored his first professional victory. And it was not an ordinary win as the Movistar Team rider pulled off amazing near 50-kilometer solo ride in the final stage of Volta a Comunitat Valenciana.

"Obviously you do wonder a little bit – will I ever win?" Barta told Cyclingnews. "Because at the end it’s not that many riders who win races. So for me, it was a big box to tick off because once you see if it’s possible, even if not in the most conventional way, it gives me a lot of confidence going forward."

"I’d spent time at altitude, but I would say the biggest thing, honestly is that in the first years in my career, I didn’t have good winters, I kept having injuries," said Barta. "So to have these two consecutive years, it kind of stacks on each one, and keeps building and I think that’s the biggest key to getting good form."

Barta’s stepping up a level was reflected at the opening time trial of O Gran Camiño, where he took a very promising fourth place behind stage winner Joshua Tarling. "It was always going to be hard to beat Tarling, and for me, as a rider who’s quite small, I’d say it was harder on a road bike. But in any case, he was on another level, there was no beating him."