Preview Volta a Comunitat Valenciana 2026 stage 5 - Evenepoel to seal GC win; but will we have explosive stage or final sprint?

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 5, which is estimated to start and finish at 14:48 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 race will finish in Valencia but it is not a simple sprint stage. There are only 94 kilometers on the menu but they pack a lot of excitement, certainly. The riders will climb the Port del Garbi with 44 kilometers to go, a climb that has a 2.2-kilometer long section at 11%.

With bonus seconds at the top and more bonus seconds right before entering Valencia, there are strong reasons to attack the race and potentially turn it on its head. It'll be an interesting day's racing as the finale is completely flat into the city, where a lot of different race scenarios can lead to success.

I would expect UAE to try and put pressure on BORA and Evenepoel, with João Almeida and Brandon McNulty potentially attacking on and right after the main climb of the day, whilst teams should have tactical riders in the breakaway. The stage is likely to explode on the climb, but if Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe can control them - which is likely, with Evenepoel being the strongest climber, and with Giulio Pellizzari behind him - then we should see a sprint finish between those in the groups that gather after the climb.

*** Ben Turner, Mathias Vacek
** Remco Evenepoel, Magnus Cort Nielsen
* Giulio Pellizzari, Brandon McNulty, Marc Soler, Magnus Sheffield, Iván Romeo, Biniam Girmay, Riley Sheehan

Pick: Ben Turner

How: Small peloton sprint.