2023 Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana Stage 4 Results & Recap
Stage 4 of the 2023 Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana is in the books. The final results and standings are below, followed by our recap of how the race unfolded.
Race Recap
The British rider for Ineos Grenadiers wins at the Alto de la Cueva Santa and leaves the general classification completely open for the last stage this Sunday between Paterna and Valencia.
The VCV - Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana Gran Premi Banc Sabadell 2023 keeps the excitement for the general classification until the last day. British rider Teo Geoghegan Hart won the queen stage between Burriana and Altura, leaving everything open for the last day this Sunday between Paterna and Valencia. The Italian Giulio Ciccone, third on Saturday at the finish of the Santuario de la Cueva Santa, remains the leader of the general classification, only four seconds ahead of Tao Geoghegan Hart, seven seconds ahead of Pello Bilbao and eight seconds ahead of Aleksandr Vlasov.
The queen stage of this VCV 2023 started in the town of Burriana amidst a great atmosphere. The usual ribbon cutting ceremony was attended by María José Safont Melchor, Mayoress of Burriana; Vicent Aparisi, Councillor for Sports of Burriana; Fernando Canós, deputy general manager of Banco Sabadell; Mireia Miravet, regional director Castellón and Valencia North of Banco Sabadell; and Ángel Casero, general manager of the VCV - Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana Gran Premi Banc Sabadell.
After the neutralised start through the streets of Burriana, an attempt was made from the start to form a breakaway. It was difficult, as the peloton did not want to let anyone escape so soon, but finally a breakaway was formed, and a big one at that. More than 20 riders, including Bauke Mollema, Georg Zimmermann and Thymen Arensman, the only three riders with less than a minute's gap to the overall leader.
It was at the first crossing of the finish line, 64 kilometres from the end of the stage, that Arensman attacked and took the lead alone. The leader of the mountains classification Samuele Zoccarato, also escaped, tried to follow him, but it was impossible and the young Dutchman set a spectacular pace that allowed him to gain more than a minute advantage over the peloton, which was already pressing behind. It seemed that he could achieve the heroic deed, win the stage and even take the overall lead, but in the group there was a lot of 'capo' interested in the victory and Arensman's dream came to an end with just under 10 kilometres to go. Everything was to be decided on the last climb to the Santuario de la Cueva Santa.
And there it seemed impossible for anyone to scape from the rest. The fastest of the climbers were going to play for the victory again. Giulio Ciccone already proved to be capable of winning on Thursday at the Alto de Pinos, but this Saturday he was surprised by Tao Geoghegan Hart. The Briton, who already finished third overall in the VCV 2020 won by Tadej Pogacar, was the fastest on the Cueva Santa and is now second overall, just four seconds behind Ciccone.
This Sunday, in a stage with two mountain climbs such as l'Oronet and La Frontera, anything can happen in a VCV 2023 that keeps the excitement up to the last minute.
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