Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana 2021 – Stage 5 preview
By David Hunter
Paterna > Valencia 92km
The final stage is a short one. Just 92km in length and 99.9% certain to end in a sprint.
Weather
A sunny day for the bunch. The wind will be around 15-20km/h and comes from the south-east, which means a headwind sprint.
Finale
Much of the closing kilometres is on a wide highway, it’s nice and easy.
With one kilometre to go we have a roundabout.
And another with 500m to go. Both are quite wide, but clearly you need to be very close to the front if you want to win the sprint.
Contenders
Arnaud Démare – after nailing stage 2, the Frenchman will hope for another win. It’s been a great race for Groupama – FDJ, they’ve won three stages and look set to take the overall too. If Démare can round it off with another stage win, it’ll be a happy dinner table tonight. We saw on Thursday that his sprint train is firing on all cylinders, it will take a big sprint from Ewan to beat them.
Caleb Ewan – with only two teammates left in the race it’s going to be hard for the Aussie. FDJ are going to boss the sprint, the best Caleb can hope for is sitting on Démare’s wheel and praying he has the speed to come past him. He didn’t have it on Thursday, but with another couple of stages in the legs he should be closer in this stage.
Timothy Dupont – second on Thursday, the Belgian looked fast. He’s in the same position as Ewan, everyone knows FDJ have the best sprint train and will dictate the sprint. To win this stage Dupont will need dynamite in his legs.
Prediction Time
Looks like another win for Arnaud Démare, it’s been a great week for Groupama – FDJ.
David Hunter
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