Stage 2 - Volta a La Comunitat Valenciana

Around 40 kilometers from the finish, today’s stage at the Volta a La Comunitat Valenciana - VCV exploded. There was a tough climb with some extremely steep pitches. It was both technically and physically demanding. I was happy to be in good position. The pace was high and when we were near the top, I looked around and saw there were only 15 or so riders with me. That bolstered me a bit.

Then those guys took off. It was a really strong and bold move, and I wasn’t in position to follow them. Sky still had around 5 or so riders, so I thought it was a long shot they’d stay away. There was definitely a home court advantage with two Spaniards and the gap opened quick.

When we reached the flatter final 15-20 km, I contributed to the chase with the plan to set Greg up for a shot at the stage win. We had 5-6 guys trading pulls going all-in and we couldn’t shave much off the lead.

I was frustrated we weren’t able to give Greg a chance for the stage. I dug so deep chasing. It feels like so much wasted energy to commit to an effort like that and not have it work out.

On a positive note, today was the first deep effort I’ve done in 5 months. With the caliber of climbers here, I’m pleased I made a strong selection and still had gas in the tank to chase hard.

Looking to tomorrow’s team time trial, 30 seconds is a lot to bring back on strong teams like Movistar and Astana. It’s a technical TTT, and without a doubt, it will be an extremely physically demanding 24 kilometers. I hope to recover well from today and make a substantial contribution to BMC Racing Team’s ride.

📷GomezSport