Kristoff loses by a hair in the final stage, Martin closes fourth overall

Alexander Kristoff lost by a hair to Dylan Groenewegen (Jumbo-Visma) on the fast-closing circuit of Valencia, ending the 70th edition of the Volta a la Comunità Valenciana. European Champion Matteo Trentin placed third.

“At 400 metres to go, I found myself a head and maybe it was a little bit too early,” said the Norwegian. ” Then the riders from Mitchelton Scott team came up from behind before the final curve and I lost the wheel of Matteo Trentin. At 200 metres to go, I started my sprint but when I was within reach of the victory up came Dylan Groenewegen. He is definitely one of the fastest sprinters in the world at the moment. But I’m proud of the team’s work and especially the show by Marcato who pulled in the last five kilometres and helped very much to keep the group of strung out without causing me to lose too much energy.”

The final classification went to a Spaniard Izagirre from Team Astana. For UAE Team Emirates, Dan Martin finished fourth overall and Rui Costa finished 10th.

“I’m happy with the work that I’ve done here with my teammates,” said Dan Martin. “I didn’t have the training in my legs necessary to fight for the win on the climbs like yesterday but the teamwork is encouraging with the next appointments coming up. Now I hope to do well also in the UAE Tour.”

Final stage results
1 Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 1:50:17
2 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) UAE Team Emirates s.t.
3 Matteo Trentin (Ita) Mitchelton-Scott s.t.

Final general classification
1 Ion Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Astana Pro Team 16:08:44
2 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team +7’’
3 Pello Bilbao Lopez de Armentia (Spa) Astana Pro Team +7’’
4 Daniel Martin (Irl) UAE Team Emirates +16’’