Preview Volta a Comunitat Valenciana 2026 stage 4 - Evenepoel battles UAE on roller-coaster queen stage

From the 4th to the 8th of February the World Tour peloton take on the Volta a Comunitat Valenciana. A race above many of its World Tour peers in terms of startlist, it features every year a whole array of starts looking to use the good weather and familiar roads to kick off their season. We preview stage 4, which is estimated to start and finish at 12:35 and 17:00CET.

The Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana is one of the most cherished early-season stage races on the European calendar, marking its first edition in 1929 and evolving over nearly a century into a key preparation target for GC-oriented riders and ambitious classics contenders alike. Initially known under names like Vuelta a Levante and Vuelta a Valencia, the race has seen interruptions — including a long hiatus after 2008 before its successful revival in 2016 — but its reputation has remained sky-high as the teams race in the road where they train all winter long to prepare for their seasons.

In the 20th century it gave chance to many Spanish riders who have added this race into their palmarès, however in the 1950's it became popular amongst international figures as well, specially with Rik van Looy taking the win back in 1959 - the second non-Spanish win, and the only time until 1990 where there wasn't a Spaniard on the podium.

The list of winners then grew in quality exponentially in the 1980's with Bernard Hinault and Stephen Roche being crowned winners; the likes of Alex Zülle, Laurent Jalabert, Alxandre Vinokourov, Abraham Olano, Alejandro Valverde, Alessandro Petacchi have then won the race as well... Since the 'modern' Valenciana was brought back in 2016 the list of winners has not become more modest, with Nairo Quintana and Tadej Pogacar amongst those who have raised their arms. Last year it was Santiago Buitrago who won the overall classification.

The queen stage of the race with 3200 meters of climbing. A rough day, starting off in La Nucia and quickly going up the Coll de Rates side through Tarbena - arguably the most difficult one. The riders will go down and then ascent the Alto Miserat which is 5.4 kilometers long at 10%, still in the first third of the stage, which can implode it.

It is a day designed for chaos. What follows is a hilly route without long climbs, but with constant rolling roads and small climbs. Towards the end the rider will tackle a 1.8-kilometer climb at 8% ending with 28 kilometers to go, and then the potential key section of the day.

The climb to Puig de la Lorença is 2.3 kilometers long at over 9% but its steepest ramps go well above that, and the climb ends with a mere 12 kilometers to go. What follows is a constant roller-coaster into Teulada, where even the final meters of the stage are uphill and serious gaps can be created.

*** Remco Evenepoel, Brandon McNulty
** João Almeida, Giulio Pellizzari
* Aleksandr Vlasov, Antonio Tiberi, Marc Soler, Mathias Vacek, Magnus Sheffield, Pablo Castrillo, Iván Romeo, Abel Baldestrone, Johannes Kulset

Pick: Remco Evenepoel

How: Solo win