Tour of Valencia 2026: García Pierna wins six-up sprint, Evenepoel seals GC

foto: Cor VosA 21-man break forms early in the final stage of the Tour of Valencia. Six of them contest the sprint for victory, with Raúl García Pierna emerging as the winner, while Remco Evenepoel comfortably seals the overall triumph. (Slideshow route/profile)

Results 5th stage 2026 Tour of Valencia

1. Raúl García Pierna (spa) 2:09:44
2. Emil Herzog (ger) s.t.
3. Jasper Schoofs (bel) s.t.
4. Adrià Pericas (spa) s.t.
5. Sven Erik Bystrøm (nor) s.t.
6. Diego Uriarte (spa) s.t.
7. Ben Turner (gbr) + 0:02
8. Dries Van Gestel (bel) s.t.
9. Mathias Vacek (cze) s.t.
10. Aleksandr Vlasov (rus) s.t.

Finale GC 2026 Tour of Valencia

1. Remco Evenepoel (bel)
2. João Almeida (por) + 0:31
3. Giulio Pellizzari (ita) + 0:34
4. Antonio Tiberi (ita) + 0:36
5. Brandon McNulty (usa) + 0:50
6. Magnus Sheffield (usa) + 1:16
7. Aleksandr Vlasov (rus) + 2:02
8. Ben Turner (gbr) + 2:10
9. Riley Sheehan (usa) + 2:15
10. Viktor Soenens (bel) + 2:17

Race report
After roughly fifteen kilometres, a 21-man breakaway goes clear. Roughly 3 minutes down on leader Remco Evenepoel, Mattia Bais and Raúl García Pierna are the highest-ranked riders in the move. The attackers open up a 2-minute gap on the Oronet, while Danny van der Tuuk wins the sprint at the top, sealing the win in the mountains competition in the process.

Raúl García Pierna and Adrià Pericas surge ahead on the Puerto del Garbí, only for Diego Uriarte, Julien Bernard, Andrew August, Emil Herzog and Jasper Schoofs to latch back on before the summit. They top the climb nearly 2 minutes in front of the peloton.

Herzog pushes on alone down the descent, but his move comes to nothing once he reaches the bottom. By that time, Sven Erik Bystrøm and Kim Heiduk have bridged back up to the breakaway from the chasing group.

As August crashes in a corner in the final 9 kilometres, the front group maintains a gap of roughly a minute over the significantly reduced peloton. The chasing group soon regains its full strength.

In the final 3 kilometres, Bernard and Heiduk hit the tarmac, leaving just six riders at the front. They have just enough left to contest the sprint among themselves, with García Pierna timing it best to take the win.

Remco Evenepoel crosses the line safely in the peloton to claim the overall victory. In doing so, he becomes the first Belgian to win the Tour of Valencia since Eddy Merckx in 1969.

Another interesting read: route 5th stage 2025 Tour of Valencia.