Annemiek van Vleuten wins Volta Valenciana opening stage for Movistar despite crash

Updated 06/05/2021 at 16:23 GMT

Movistar leader Annemiek van Vleuten made a strong start to the Volta Valenciana as she took victory on the opening stage after pulling away on a climb. Van Vleuten crashed on her way to the finish but had plenty of time to get back on her bike and win. Defending champion Anna van der Breggen is not participating in the race this year.

Annemiek van Vleuten

Image credit: Getty Images

Annemiek van Vleuten won the opening stage of Volta Valenciana despite a crash on the final descent.

The Movistar rider fell after powering clear on the final climb and opening up a lead of nearly four minutes.

The healthy advantage meant that she was able to get back on her bike and still secure the stage win by a comfortable margin.

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A two-rider breakaway of Omer Shapira (Canyon-SRAM) and Heidi Franz (Rally Cycling) led the way earlier in the 125km stage from Barxeta to Gandía.

Shapira rode away from Franz around halfway through the stage and managed to stay clear for the penultimate climb up Alto Barxeta.

However, she was caught up the biggest climb of the day, the category 2 Alto Barx, by Van Vleuten and Ale BTC Ljubljana's Mavi Garcia.

Van Vleuten managed to get away from Garcia with 15km remaining and rode to victory despite falling.

The second stage covers 130km between Castellon and Vila-Real and features two main climbs. Defending champion Anna van der Breggen is not participating in the race this year.

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