Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) finished safely in the peloton on the stage 5 finale and so kept the leader’s yellow jersey and celebrated his first-ever stage race success at the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana. Remco Evenepoel (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) finished 32 seconds down, with talented young Spaniard Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers) third overall at 36 seconds.
The final day belonged to the sprinters with Fabio Jakobsen (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) winning the sprint stage 5 in Valencia. Elia Viviani (Ineos Grenadiers) and Alexander Kristoff (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux) finished second and third..
Matteo Moschetti (Trek-Segafredo) won the high-speed sprint finish in Torrevieja, producing a perfectly-timed effort to emerge from the fight for the wheels.
The Italian hit the front coming out of the final corner and had the power and speed to hold off his rivals. Manuel Penalver (Burgos-BH) finished second and Alexander Kristoff (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux) was third and Elia Viviani (Ineos Grenadiers) was fourth.
Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) finished safely in the peloton after attacks in the crosswinds failed to happen along the coastline and during the final 33.5km loop of the Laguna de Torrevieja.
Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) attacked on the fiercely-steep final climb that featured a tough gravel segment inside the final three kilometres and won stage 3 of the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana. The high-elevation drama on Friday threw attacks and dust to the summit finish at Antenas del Maigmó that saw Vlasov displace Remco Evenepoel (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) as the race leader.
Vlasov came off the gravel and passed beneath the flamme rouge for his first victory for his Bora-Hansgrohe squad. In the dust behind, Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers) made an impressive surge to take second on the stage, 14 seconds behind Vlasov, while Enric Mas (Movistar) placed third at 21 seconds.
Behind, the favourites were scattered across the mountainside - Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) led Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) across the line at 29 seconds, just ahead of Jakob Fuglsang (Israel-Premier Tech) and Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo), then the labouring Evenepoel in eighth.
Evenepoel dropped to second overall, some 32 seconds down on Vlasov, while Rodriguez was in third, another four seconds behind the Belgian.
Fabio Jakobsen (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) showed his dominance as a sprinter with a victory on stage 2 of the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana. He cleared the line in Torrent ahead of Juan Sebastián Molano (UAE Team Emirates) and Elia Viviani (Ineos Grenadiers), who took second and third, respectively. From the bunch sprint Matej Mohorič (Bahrain Victorious) took fourth place and Alexander Kristoff (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux) was fifth.
Jakobsen grabbed the back of the Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert train in the final kilometre and used the wheel of Andrea Pasqualon in the final 200 metres to secure the victory
Stage 2 took in five categorised climbs from Bétera to Torrent for a hilly 171.5-kilometre route. Remco Evenepoel (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) stayed in yellow as the race leader, and the GC remained unchanged at the top with Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) in second by 19 seconds and Carlos Rodríguez (Ineos Grenadiers) in third at 37 seconds.
Remco Evenepoel (QuickStep-AlpaVinyl) blasted away from the front group of stage 1 near the summit of the difficult Torralba del Pinar climb to win the opening day of the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana on Wednesday. Aleksandr Vlasov finished second, 16 seconds back, in his debut for Bora-Hansgrohe, while Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers) finished third at 32 seconds.
With time bonuses, Evenepoel leads Vlasov by 19 seconds in the overall standings, and Rodriguez is third at 37 seconds.
Alejandro Valverde, who has won this race three times, crossed the line in seventh position, rolling across the line just behind three other rides including his Movistar teammate Enric Mas, who was fourth.
Running 166km from Les Alqueries to the tiny village of Torralba del Mar, stage 1 had plenty of undulating terrain, including the second category Remolcador climb in the middle and then the nasty, final climb just three kilometres from the finish. Evenepoel charged into the lead with one kilometre to go on that final climb.
