Results Classica Camp de Morvedre 2026: Christian Scaroni takes victory after late attack

While the 2026 road season is already underway following the Tour Down Under, Friday marked the first one-day race of the European calendar with the 2026 edition of the Classica Camp de Morvedre. A strong field featuring riders such as Ivan Romeo, Pablo Castrillo, Antonio Morgado, Christian Scaroni and Antonio Tiberi ensured high expectations, and the race delivered an aggressive and selective contest.

After a demanding final ascent of the Alto del Garbi, Scaroni moved into the lead alongside Tiberi and Movistar Team rider Diego Pescador with 18 kilometres remaining. Ivan Romeo was chasing at 10 seconds. The outcome was set to come from this quartet, and in the end, Scaroni proved the strongest, winning a reduced sprint from three riders, with Pescador finishing second.

The 164-kilometre race opened cautiously, with no early attacks as the peloton rode attentively through the opening kilometres. At 156 kilometres to go, the bunch remained together as it approached the first passage of the finish line and the opening ascent of the Alto del Garbi.

Five kilometres later, the intermediate sprint in Torres Torres did little to change the race situation, with no break gaining significant freedom. The first serious move came at 149 kilometres to go, and by 138 kilometres remaining a breakaway had formed. Balint Feldhoffer, Thomas Bonnet, Leandre Huck, Enzo Leijnse and Joan Cadena established a lead of 1:05 over the peloton.

Their advantage grew rapidly, exceeding five minutes at 130 kilometres to go. At that point, XDS Astana Team took control of the peloton, gradually increasing the pace with riders including Scaroni, Clement Champoussin, Lorenzo Fortunato, Thomas Silva and Diego Ulissi contributing to the chase.

On the first ascent of the Alto del Garbi, the gap began to come down. After the summit, with 115 kilometres remaining, the break’s advantage was just under five minutes as Astana continued its steady pursuit.

The pace increased further with 90 kilometres to go. Following the withdrawal of Michael Matthews, the peloton caught Joan Cadena, reducing the gap to the front to 2:05.

Soon after, Gil Gelders and Jonathan Vervenne of Soudal Quick Step attacked from the peloton, forming a chasing group that quickly gained 50 seconds. With 65 kilometres to go, the race was split into three groups: the four-rider lead break of Feldhoffer, Bonnet, Huck and Leijnse; the Gelders Vervenne duo at 1:35; and the peloton at 2:25.

The second passage of the Alto del Garbi, with 50 kilometres remaining, proved decisive for the breakaway. The gap fell to just 35 seconds, prompting Bonnet to attack and briefly regain a small advantage on his own.

At the same time, Diego Pescador launched the first attack from the peloton on the climb, followed by Pablo Torres, Clement Champoussin, Andrea Vendrame and Filippo Turconi. With 48 kilometres to go, the chasing group was caught just before the summit. Joel Nicolau attacked in the final section of the climb but was quickly brought back by Ivan Romeo and Antonio Tiberi. Earlier moves by Marc Soler and Pablo Torres had already contributed to increasing the race intensity.

After the summit, Marc Soler and Nairo Quintana attacked on the rolling terrain, with a small group joining them before linking up with Thomas Bonnet. This created a leading group of five including Sergio Samitier and Wout Poels.

With 44 kilometres remaining, the leaders held a slim 10-second advantage, but strong cooperation allowed them to extend the gap beyond 30 seconds with 33 kilometres to go, keeping their chances alive. However, XDS Astana Team, assisted by Kern Pharma, led a controlled chase and reeled the group back in at the foot of the final ascent of the Alto del Garbi with 24 kilometres remaining.

On the final climb, Astana set a hard pace from the outset before Scaroni launched his decisive attack. Only Tiberi was able to follow immediately, with Pescador bridging across shortly afterwards, having shown strong form throughout the race.

Behind, Movistar Team added further pressure as Romeo and Castrillo led the chase. With one kilometre to go to the summit, the leading trio held a 15 second advantage over a chasing group containing Urko Berrade, Andrea Vendrame, Jon Agirre and Henrique Bravo.

Romeo then attacked alone in pursuit of the leaders, trailing by 15 seconds with 18 kilometres remaining, followed by a long descent to the finish. He was unable to close the gap, and the victory was decided in a three-rider sprint, where Scaroni proved fastest ahead of Pescador.