Tour of Valencia 2022: Favourites

fotobureau Cor VosThe GC battle in the Tour of Valencia is expected to come down to the brutal finale of stage 3, while the first time gaps are expected to open up in the hilly race on the opening day. Cyclingstage.com brings you the favourites to win the 2022 edition of La Vuelta a la Comunidad Valenciana.

Stage 3 is by far the toughest test of the entire race. After four climbs leading up to the finale, the riders face a mountain of 5.5 kilometres with an average gradient of 10.2%. The second half of the climb is not only very steep, it also runs on gravel. Chances are that the winner of stage 3 will also be the overall victory at the Tour of Valencia, as the last two stages are flat.

The first time gaps will be opened up on day one. That race finishes shortly after a 4.9 kilometres climb at 6.9%.

Stage 2 features a flat finale, as do the stages 4 and 5. Obviously this is good news for the fast men, but in terms of the GC battle these races will have no impact.

Only one former winner lines up in Valencia. Alejandro Valverde won the race in 2018.

Favourites 2022 Tour of Valencia

*** Enric Mas, Remco Evenepoel, Jakob Fuglsang, Alejandro Valverde
** Giulio Ciccone, Pavel Sivakov, Dylan Teuns, Aleksandr Vlasov
* Jack Haig, Wilco kelderman, Pello Bilbao, Juan Ayuso