Rather than risk a cold-weather battering in Belgium, some of the top women’s squads have opted for the safer bet of a 2.2-category stage race in Spain to start the season.
The Setmana Ciclista Valenciana lasts four days, covering 493 kilometers around the Valencia and Benidorm region. The weather should be decent and another bonus is that teams stay in the same hotel in Playa de Gandia for the duration of the race meaning fewer logistical hassles and short post-stage transfers. In fact, some of the teams have been completing Spanish-based training camps, so it is a perfect race to access and could very possibly become a World Tour event in the near future – there’s no Qatar any more, and a big gap in the calendar after the Australian races.
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Contenders
After thoroughly dominating the debut event last year, Cervelo-Bigla are back, with Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig enjoying the novelty of wearing the #1 dossard for the first (but surely not the last) time in her young career. She’s backed by Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio and Lotta Lepistö, and it wouldn’t be much of a surprise to see the Dane or the South African bring home the overall win on Sunday.
Movistar’s women’s team was launched to huge publicity last autumn and line up their six Spanish riders while the four foreigners wait to hit the roads in later events. Alé Cipollini have a strong team centred on Marta Bastianelli and Ane Santesteban. Canyon-SRAM bring Pauline Ferrand-Prevot and Katarzyna Niewiadoma. Top-flight squads including FDJ, Astana and BePink ride alongside the likes of Bizkaia-Durango
The route
Stage one leaves Ròtova and twists and turns its way to Gandia and the finish on Avenida de la República Argentina, via the Barxeta and Barx climbs, the latter just 13 kilometers from the finish.
Stage two in the province of Castellón runs through Benicàssim and climbs the first-category Desierto de Las Palmas, at kilometer 76. The last 40 kilometers takes the riders via Almassora and Borriana to Vila-real, and the finish line beside Estadia de la Ceramica.
The third, longest stage of Setmana Ciclista Valenciana between Sagunt and Valencia comes out at 137 km with the sole difficulty of the day – the second-category climb of l’Oronet, still 48 km from the finish line. The town of Sagunt, in addition to the start, hosts two special sprints at 29 and 60 kilometers, while the finish line will be located in front of the València City Hall.
Stage four, based in Benidorm, offers a very demanding final day of 118 km. The second-category Alto del Finestrat (2nd), climbed on three occasions, could decide the stage and maybe the overall win.
