Ion Izagirre avoids crash to take overall victory Valenciana

Race leader Ion Izagirre (Astana Pro Team) came through a nervous, wind-lashed final stage of the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana to claim his first overall stage race victory in over three years.

With no time bonuses at hand, Izagirre’s slender seven-second advantage proved enough to keep reigning world champion Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) the big pre-race favourite and triple winner at bay.

Valverde did not attack on the last stage – the completely flat terrain made that virtually impossible – but a large crash in the final kilometre saw many riders go down. Fortunately for the Astana team, Izagirre was not amongst them.

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Both Izagirre and Valverde were badly injured in crashes on the opening stage of the 2017 Tour de France, making their joint return to the top of the podium in Valenciana a notable moment. Third was Astana’s Pello Bilbao, with the Kazakh squad also taking the team prize.

“I already said that the objective in 2019 was to win again, my victory in Morzine in the 2016 Tour was too long back,” Izagirre said after receiving his final yellow jersey of the race in front of Valencia’s town hall. It was also exactly 20 years since his team boss, former Astana racer Alexandre Vinokourov, won the Vuelta a Valencia back in 1999 ahead of Vladimir Belli and Javier Pascual Rodríguez.

“I like to be competitive again and be winning. It’s the best way possible to start my new season and my time with a new team.”

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