Volta a Valenciana neutralizes team time trial due to unsafe weather conditions
Stage 2 winner Valverde will take race lead into Saturday's queen stage
Organizers of the 69th Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana in Spain decided that while Friday’s already-shortened team time trial stage would go ahead, the times would not count towards the general classification due to brutal weather conditions.
#VCV2018: Although we are out on the road for our TTT, race organisers have neutralised today’s stage due to extreme weather conditions. Times will not count towards the GC. ☔️ ?
— EF Pro Cycling (@EFprocycling) February 2, 2018
Heavy rain that left standing water on the roads and lashing winds were rightly judged to be too dangerous for the riders. Michal Kwiatkowski of Sky, one of the favourites for the team chrono, had his doubts about the stage before the organizers announced the neutralization.
1. Wind & rain
2. Road flooding
3. No chance to make proper recon!— Michał Kwiatkowski (@kwiato) February 2, 2018
The teams took to the start ramps and lit out into the maelstrom, but there were no risks to take with the neutralization.
@Ride_Argyle siguiente equipo en tomar la salida#VCV2018 GP @BancoSabadell pic.twitter.com/tRHeSKkrwN
— Vuelta CV (@VueltaCV) February 2, 2018
One wonders if LottoNL-Jumbo meant this “seriously” to be “Seriously?” as the team took a preventative equipment move.
??#VCV2018
Our riders will seriously ride the team time trial, but they participate on their road bike to avoid any risks.— Team Jumbo-Visma cycling (@JumboVismaRoad) February 2, 2018
Several teams either rode their road bikes or a mix of road and time trail machines.
Stage 3 had already been cut from 30-km to 23-km before the race because of fears of wicked winds on the coast as the squads moved southwest to Calpe.
Alejandro Valverde, who captured the race lead following a daring raid on Stage 2, takes the leader’s jersey into Saturday’s queen stage, which ends on a 4.6-km, 8.4% summit finish.