“When the gap went to nine minutes we believed we could make it to the finish” - Alessandro Tonelli on his victory at the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana

After an incredible breakaway victory on stage 1 of the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana, Alessandro Tonelli was delighted with his win, as he crossed the line alongside his teammate Manuele Tarozzi in a one-two finish for VF Group - Bardiani CSF - Faizanè. This victory marks just the second win of the Italian rider’s career, with his last success being on stage 4 of the 2018 Tour of Croatia.

However, there was a moment of panic in the final kilometre, as both riders took a wrong turn at a roundabout. In an interview with Eurosport after the race, Tonelli said “I knew that we had a two-minute gap and in the last kilometre I took the wrong way to the finish line, but we had a good gap to arrive at the finish line and we won”.

When asked at what point the pair decided who was going to win the stage, Tonelli revealed “on the climb, because I was stronger than my teammate and he told me “you win, you win” and I won” he said laughing.

At a certain point during the stage, the breakaway had a massive advantage over the peloton. On when he actually started to believe that the breakaway could go all the way, Tonelli said “when the gap went to nine minutes we believed we could make it to the finish and we did it”.

Finally, on what the victory meant to Tonelli, he said “it is most important, because this race is important for me and for the team, and today started the season for VF Group - Bardiani CSF”.