PREVIEW | Volta a Comunitat Valenciana 2024 - BORA - hansgrohe main favourites for GC win with Hindley, Vlasov and Kämna

Preview. From the 31st of January to the 4th of February Spain hosts another high-level race. Throughout these five days, the peloton will tackle the Volta a Comunitat Valenciana.

The opening stage of the race is a hilly one and features a finale in Castellón de la Plana. Three categorized climbs on the day and the most important one summits with 17.4 kilometers to go. It is 7.7 kilometers at 5.1% and will shed sprinters from the field. Furthermore it provides opportunities for attacks - as does the following descent.

The second day of racing does not look too different, however it will be more favourable towards the sprinters. The 162 kilometers have a hilltop close to the finale which is 5 kilometers at 4% - a similar ascent to the Poggio di Sanremo. The climb is not too hard, but it ends with less than 10 kilometers to go and then leads to a very technical descent that ends with only 2 kilometers to go.

Stage 3 of the Spanish race is finally one for the pure sprinters. The only opportunity. It is not a completely flat day, however the second half should be comfortable for all riders under normal circumstances. The arrival at Orihuela should see a regular bunch sprint.

A difficult day and perhaps the queen stage. Stage 4 ends at the Vall d'Ebo, a location very familiar to the pro peloton who has training camps around this area. 3600 meters of climbing, an ascent of 5.7 kilometers at 9.3% (with much tougher ramps) ends with 16 kilometers to go. There is no descent following, but instead rolling terrain. The riders do go down slightly but then find a hilltop finish of 1.9 kilometers at 7.4% which will create decisive differences if they weren't already beforehand.

In 2023 this stage proved to be an absolute success and the race organizers have brought it back. The 92-kilometer final day has a brutal first half that features a climb of 5 kilometers at 9.3%. The overall classification contenders should be on the attack here. The second half of the stage then has some downhill and is then pan-flat into Valencia, with interesting dynamics at play.

Prediction Volta a Comunitat Valenciana 2024 overall classification:

*** Aleksandr Vlasov, Brandon McNulty
** Jai Hindley, Pavel Sivakov, Pello Bilbao
* Lennard Kämna, Felix Gorssschartner, Einer Rubio, Santiago Buitrago

Pick: Aleksandr Vlasov

Preview written by Rúben Silva.