Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana stage 1: Biniam Girmay takes first victory in over a year on dream debut for NSN Cycling Team

An early attack by Mats Wenzel (Kern Pharma) and Diego Pablo Sevilla (Polta VisitMalta) was then joined by Danny van der Tuuk (Euskatel-Euskadi) and Lewis Adam (APS Pro Cycling by Team Cadence Cyclery).

A brief attempt to bridge across by Hamish Armitt (Novo Nordisk) failed to flourish and the Briton sat up and waited for the bunch. The race then settled into a holding pattern for more than 100 kilometres although a gap hovering at three minutes or less as the day unfolded meant it was highly unlikely that the break would stay away.

The one classified climb of the day, the Cat 3. Puerto de los Madroños with 32 kilometres to go was always going to be a flashpoint and the long descent towards the Madroños sparked a visible acceleration in the peloton.

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Although Van der Tuuk was able to claim the opening bonus at the top of the narrow, twisting climb, the team cars shooting past the break on the ascent made it clear that the strongest elements of a fast-crumbling bunch were closing in fast, and shortly after that the last two survivors, Wenzel and Sevilla were swept up as well.

By this point, though, Red Bull had already made their intentions known, ripping the race apart on the Madroños to the point where there were only 30 riders in the front group – four of them, including Evenepoel, Pellizzari and former Valenciana winner Aleksandr Vlasov.

Notable absences included João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) then after Evenepoel picked up a time bonus just before the Wenzel and Sevilla, Pellizzari was on his way for a notable late break.

As was clearly intended by Red Bull, the attack by the Italian put their rivals in an impossible situation. Should they chase, top favourite Evenepoel was effectively being given an armchair ride towards top spot on GC, and if they waited, then Pellizzari was another very important threat.

Finally the chasers opted to wait for the remainder of the bunch, swelling their numbers from 30 to over 70, and the pursuit of Pellizzari was on. But his margin of 30 seconds took far longer to squeeze back than had been anticipated, and this despite the flat roads taking the race towards the finish.

Bahrain Victorious, Ineos Grenadiers and NSN all lent a hand. Yet it was only after an epic chase along the coast and through the streets of finish town Torreblanco, and despite some skilful blocking by Red Bull, that the powerful Italian was caught.

Ineos’ Vuelta a España stage winner Ben Turner opened up the sprint, but Girmay was shadowing him closely and his former teammate at Intermarché-Wanty, Marit, was close behind. However, Marit was unable to get round the Eritrean star, later telling Eurosport “Bini isn’t the fastest accelerator, but once he hits top speed, he’s impossible to pass.” And so it proved.

For NSN, claiming their second win of the season continued their impressive run of success that began by taking a stage of the Tour Down Under, but as the overall battle begins in earnest on Thursday, Girmay’s reign in the lead is almost certain to be a short one.

Stage two’s 17-kilometre rolling time trial from Carlet to Alginet will almost certainly be a key GC day, even if the short distance means the gaps will be small. But with Evenepoel present – and morale in Red Bull presumably sky-high after their triumphs in Mallorca and superb opening stage in Valenciana – barring disaster or major surprises, the main question to resolve could well be just how much of an advantage the Belgian will take on his rivals, in what will likely be his third individual victory in less than a week.