Tour of Valencia 2019: Favourites

[Underneath article was written before the start of the Tour of Valencia and has not been updated]

The first time gaps will be opened up on the first day of action. The flat route concludes with a short and sharp climb to the line. GC men have to be alert in the 3rd stage, which travels through the middle mountains to a false flat arrival, but the battle for the overall will probably come down to the Queen Stage.

On its fourth day, the Tour of Valencia takes in a race with three intermediate climbs before a final haul up to the Ermita de Santa Lucía y Sant Benet. This is a 3.4 kilometres climb at 9.7%, which seems tough enough in its own right. Yet, the first half slopes at an unforgiving 14.7%.

World Champion Alejandro Valverde is title defender. Given the punchy finale of the Queen Stage he is a man to watch. But so is Geraint Thomas, while Adam Yates is a punchy climber also.

Favourites 2019 Tour of Valencia

***** Alejandro Valverde, Geraint Thomas, Adam Yates
**** Rui Costa, Esteban Chaves, Daniel Martin
*** Luis León Sánchez, David De La Cruz
** Dylan Teuns, Ion Izagirre, Pello Bilbao
* Matej Mohoric, Roman Kreuziger