🥇@matmohoric showed his descending skills again, but this time claiming our first win of the season! #RideAsOne #VCV2024 #rideforGino
"The difference between winning and losing is very small in cycling" - Risks worth it for Matej Mohoric as he soars to downhill triumph at Valenciana
CyclingThursday, 01 February 2024 at 17:09
The second stage of the Volta a Comunitat Valenciana was a very open day, where only one rider managed to make the difference. Matej Mohoric won his first race of the season, putting on another downhill show to take the win on stage 2.
"I was always focused on this stage, because this stage would suit me best. Yesterday the escapees were given too much space, so it was not possible, and we also lost two important riders for the stage: Kamil Gradek and Yukiya Arashiro," Mohoric said in a post-race interview. "They had to check things on the flat and ensure that the escapees did not get too much space. In the end, the rest of the team did a perfect job. I didn't want to take too many risks on the descent, but I am very happy and proud."
With Jonathan Milan out of the picture due to a puncture, the race was wide open. Many attacks thinned down the peloton over the final 15 kilometers, and eventually Matej Mohoric attacked with 6 kilometers to go with no-one in the wheel. The several technical switchbacks that followed allowed him to take a sizeable gap, and his rouleur abilities saw him sustain it all the way to the finish.
"We are here with one of the strongest teams here and with Pello [Bilbao] or Santiago [Buitrago] we should be able to go for the podium. We will control the race, but the other teams can also do that, because they also have big names in the rankings," the Slovenian says of the following days, where the overall classification will eventually be decided.
Mohoric did not take the race lead as Alessandro Tonelli maintains his gap from the opening day, however it is not his priority. As he looks ahead to the spring classics, he has already proven to be in great form. "My trainer already told me not to train too much, otherwise I would get in shape too early," he admits still.
"For me that is not so bad, because my level during the spring is often very constant. I'm starting with the Omloop het Nieuwsblad and I want to make the most of every opportunity, otherwise they will just disappear. The difference between winning and losing is very small in cycling," he concluded.
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