Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana 2024 (January 31 - February 4)

[Devil's Elbow]

The first .Pro race of the season, the (joint) first stage race on European soil of the season. Probably not for the last time this season, it looks like a battle royale between the UAE and Bora blocs.

Startlist (not yet final)

Schedule

Date	Stage	Start	Broadcast starts	ETA
Wednesday, January 31	Stage 1	12:11	15:00	16:04 - 16:27
Thursday, February 1	Stage 2	12:23	15:00	16:04 - 16:27
Friday, February 2	Stage 3	12:30	15:00	16:05 - 16:26
Saturday, February 3	Stage 4	12:46	16:00	17:02 - 17:30
Sunday, February 4	Stage 5	15:06	16:00	17:10 - 17:22

The route

Wednesday, January 31: Stage 1 (Benicàssim - Castellón, 167.0k)

The race starts with a moderately difficult stage in the north of the region. It features a very similar finale to the one used in the 2015 Vuelta, when Kristian Sbaragli took his only career victory in a sprint of 58 riders. In this field and race, things may be a bit more selective, but don’t expect a GC day.

Spoiler: Route details

Alto de Vilanova d’Alcolea

La Bandereta

Coll de la Bassa

There are a couple of tricky muritos on the road to the intermediate sprint, then it’s time for the final climb, Desert de las Palmes (or Desierto de las Palmas in Spanish, that might sound more familiar).

The last big turn is at 600 metres to go, from where the road drags up ever so slightly to the line (about 1%).

Thursday, February 1: Stage 2 (Canals - Mancomunitat de la Valldigna, 162.7k)

A bit of a weird stage, with climbing that the handful of sprinters lining up will expect to survive but also a moderately technical descent that ends at just 2k from the line and a big U-turn in the final kilometre.

Spoiler: Route details

Alto de Genovés (ignore the annotation on the profile, they do it in full)

La Drova:

The riders then take on the descent into the finish town for the first time, but don’t pass the line. Instead, they take on a circuit that’s mostly flat, save for the final KOM of the day, the narrow Alto Pla de Corrals - easy aside from the early repecho.

The last hairpin comes at 3k to go, the descent turns to false flat at 2, and lasts until the big U-turn at 0.8k to go. The section from there to the line is only about 1%, the profile is a bit misleading.

Friday, February 2: Stage 3 (San Vicente del Raspeig - Orihuela, 161.3k)

The only out-and-out sprint stage.

Spoiler: Route details

Albatera

Saturday, February 3: Stage 4 (Teulada Moraira - Vall d’Ebo, 175.2k)

The queen stage. The debut of Miserat - in an actually well-designed finale rather than just as an MTF no less - will please the traceurs, but more importantly should also blow the race apart.

Spoiler: Route details

Puerto de Benimantell + Puerto de Confrides:

Alto de la Cabaña

Puerto de Tollos

Miserat (as far as the collado)

Climb to the finish line:

Sunday, February 4: Stage 5 (Bétera - Valencia, 93.0k)

Very similar to last year’s, when an unexpectedly big selection on La Frontera and a late crash combined to overturn everything. Will history repeat itself?

Spoiler: Route details

Oronet

La Frontera

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Saturday, February 3: Stage 4 (Teulada Moraira - Vall d’Ebo, 175.2k)

The queen stage. The debut of Miserat - in an actually well-designed finale rather than just as an MTF no less - will please the traceurs, but more importantly should also blow the race apart.

Traceurs? Google tells me that they are participants in parkour running. Will they be vaulting over railings and riding down flights of stairs. I have never seen the term in relation to cycling (or anywhere, given that I don't follow Parkour)

 

[Rob5091]

Vlasov and Hindley against McNulty and Sivakov. Could be interesting.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Traceurs? Google tells me that they are participants in parkour running. Will they be vaulting over railings and riding down flights of stairs. I have never seen the term in relation to cycling (or anywhere, given that I don't follow Parkour)

I thought it might have been a case of a triggerhappy spellingcorrector, but the other commonly used -eurs in cycling are rouleur, puncheur and to a lesser extent, grimpeur. Given the nature of the stage, i doubt he's talking about rouleurs. However, i could see how the parkour analogy could fit what he is describing.

 

[Sciatic]

I thought it might have been a case of a triggerhappy spellingcorrector, but the other commonly used -eurs in cycling are rouleur, puncheur and to a lesser extent, grimpeur. Given the nature of the stage, i doubt he's talking about rouleurs. However, i could see how the parkour analogy could fit what he is describing.

The verb tracer in French = to draw, so thought traceurs indicated those people, like quite a few in that particular thread on this forum, who like to create (draw) their imagined ideal race routes?

 

[Devil's Elbow]

The verb tracer in French = to draw, so thought traceurs indicated those people, like quite a few in that particular thread on this forum, who like to create (draw) their imagined ideal race routes?

Bingo.

At least I know people read my OPs now

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Bingo.

At least I know people read my OPs now

They are much easier to read with all the clutter tucked behind a spoiler.

 

[tobydawq]

It's weird what has happened to this race. Just two years ago, there were no fewer than 15 WorldTeams present. Now there are just seven.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

It's weird what has happened to this race. Just two years ago, there were no fewer than 15 WorldTeams present. Now there are just seven.

Doesn't help that some of big teams are starting their season later and later. The obligatory WT races in Australia aside, Jumbo and Ineos haven't started anywhere yet and won't do so until February 10 in Murcia. The sport has a problem if that pattern of racing less and training more becomes more widespread.

 

[yaco]

It's weird what has happened to this race. Just two years ago, there were no fewer than 15 WorldTeams present. Now there are just seven.

Also you have the introduction of the Alula Tour - Then if the Herald Sun Tour is reintroduced in Australia, then Jayco will miss the race, unless they race a triple program.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Also you have the introduction of the Alula Tour - Then if the Herald Sun Tour is reintroduced in Australia, then Jayco will miss the race, unless they race a triple program.

The (then-) Saudi Tour was also held two years ago, though.

WT teams 2022 > 24:
Valencia 15 > 7
Bessèges 9 > 7
AlUla/Saudi 8 > 9
Total 32 > 23

So the problem is not the directly alternative races like AlUla, but teams increasingly opting for training blocks in this period on the one hand, and the return of Surf Coast Classic/CEGORR the week before on the other hand (yes, San Juan is gone, but that was a bit earlier).

 

[Berniece]

Doesn't help that some of big teams are starting their season later and later. The obligatory WT races in Australia aside, Jumbo and Ineos haven't started anywhere yet and won't do so until February 10 in Murcia. The sport has a problem if that pattern of racing less and training more becomes more widespread.

Fits right into the idea of a new league with less races

 

[Ilmaestro99]

Traceurs? Google tells me that they are participants in parkour running. Will they be vaulting over railings and riding down flights of stairs. I have never seen the term in relation to cycling (or anywhere, given that I don't follow Parkour)

Nobody who trains PK really even uses the term anymore, it is seek as a bit outdated and pretentious, generally associated with the old school guys following in the footsteps of yamakasi.

 

[Ilmaestro99]

Anyway, hope that Pello Bilbao can win this race. Also strange to see Ener Rubio on the start list just 3 days after he competed in a really tough race in Colombia

 

[Landeirovic]

just 1 gc day...

 

[scribers]

Bingo.

At least I know people read my OPs now

Always man! You don’t know how invaluable these race opening posts are. Everything you could want to know right there. It’s insane no media outlets have figured this out. Too many damned links going nowhere or completely missing information

 

[Netserk]

Traceurs? Google tells me that they are participants in parkour running. Will they be vaulting over railings and riding down flights of stairs. I have never seen the term in relation to cycling (or anywhere, given that I don't follow Parkour)

Search results for query: traceur

forum.cyclingnews.com

Commonly used term here for almost 9 years. Someone who traces (fictional) race routes.

 

[Pinot's goat]

just 1 gc day...

2 GC days based on what happened last year.

 

[KZD]

Bora has the strongest team and leaders so I will go with Vlasov for GC.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Here's a profile of the climb to the line on stage 4, it's even more irregular than I thought.

 

[ingsve]

Doesn't help that some of big teams are starting their season later and later. The obligatory WT races in Australia aside, Jumbo and Ineos haven't started anywhere yet and won't do so until February 10 in Murcia. The sport has a problem if that pattern of racing less and training more becomes more widespread.

Not sure why that would be a problem though? The WT teams still need to race all the major WT events where ProTeams have very limited access especially with the wild card invites to the top 2 PTs. With that in mind I think it is very healthy that the WT teams don't also dominate all the x.PS and x.1 races.

Better calenders for the ProTeams means less of a divide between WT and PT levels rather than a lords and peasants situation that might otherwise arise.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Not sure why that would be a problem though? The WT teams still need to race all the major WT events where ProTeams have very limited access especially with the wild card invites to the top 2 PTs. With that in mind I think it is very healthy that the WT teams don't also dominate all the x.PS and x.1 races.

Better calenders for the ProTeams means less of a divide between WT and PT levels rather than a lords and peasants situation that might otherwise arise.

A lower number of race days per team means there's space for less races, given that there's a finite number of teams and a minimum number of teams required per race. Yes, you can fill up on continental teams, but the financial aspect for race organisers becomes a lot harder if you have very few WT teams and lots of no-names.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Nine minutes for the break with less than 80k to go, is the peloton really going to decide it's earned the day off on stage 1 of a race in January?

Live blog here, by the way:
https://vueltacv.com/seguimiento-en-vivo-75-vcv-2/

 

[Samu Cuenca]

If Sorarrain wins this stage, I'll be singing his surname to the tune of Purple Rain for the rest of the day.

 

[Tim Cahill]

I know the break isn't full of absolute killers but 8 minutes with 50k to go?

If you look at the startlist to be fair there are no clear favourites, more 5/6 guys who will fancy their chances so the hierarchy of chasers isn't really clear, outside of Bora/Bahrain most of these guys are so green that the sh*t grass.