Victory and leadership for Girmay in Valencia: Andrés Iniesta's team continues a brilliant start to the season

The most media-friendly signing of the new NSN Cycling, Biniam Girmay, kicked off his 2026 season with a clear victory in the first stage of the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana, winning the sprint in Torreblanca after a highly monitored day with several moves that strained the peloton in the final stretch.

Girmay opens the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana 2026 with victory and leadership

The route, 160 kilometers between Segorbe and Torreblanca, had a script favorable to the sprinters, but it was not a flat stage without history. From the very first moments, a breakaway formed with Mats Wenzel, Diego Pablo Sevilla, Danny van der Tuuk, and Adam Lewis, who rode without significant differences in front of a peloton determined not to give any margin in an easily controllable stage.

The race heated up at the Puerto de los Madroños, the only scoring difficulty of the day. There, the pace set by Red Bull - BORA caused splits and forced several general classification contenders to dig deep. Among them was Joao Almeida, who struggled at that delicate moment but managed to return to the main group and avoid significant losses in the standings.

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With the breakaway neutralized and the terrain completely flat in the last kilometers, attacks began. The most serious came with less than 20 km to go when Giulio Pellizzari launched a solo attack, taking advantage of his team's numerical superiority. The Italian opened a small gap that forced the sprinter trains to organize quickly.

The understanding between the teams was total at that point, and Pellizzari's attempt was neutralized within the last kilometer.

The outcome was a clean and very tight sprint. Girmay, well-positioned and with a long launch, was the most powerful in the final meters, narrowly surpassing Arne Marit and Giovanni Lonardi. With this victory, the Eritrean also becomes the first leader of the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana 2026.

 

 

 

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The victory marks an unbeatable start for the new project driven by Andrés Iniesta, who confirms his ambition in the WorldTour calendar from day one.