World Champion Alejandro Valverde showed us that he’s back in business after nearly two months away from competition as he won the opening stage of La Route d’Occitanie.
The defending champion beat Eddie Dunbar (Team INEOS) and Elie Gesbert (Arkéa Samsic) to the line on stage one of the 2019 edition.
Valverde looked a level above the rest as he marked all the moves from the leading group on the final climb of the first stage. The Spaniard was able to come around Urán in the final 200m with Dunbar sticking to his wheel.
It was Valverde’s 124th career victory, and he now leads the race overall.
L'Espagnol Alejandro Valverde décroche la première étape de la @RouteOccitanie. C'est sa 2e victoire de la saison. pic.twitter.com/QziQYqlpmK
— Eurosport.fr (@Eurosport_FR) June 20, 2019
Route d’Occitanie 2019 – stage 1 results ( Gignac – Vallée de l’Hérault – Saint-Geniez-d’Olt-et-d’Aubrac):
| 1 | Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) | 4:44:01 |
| 2 | Edward Dunbar (Team INEOS) | ,, |
| 3 | Elie Gesbert (Arkéa Samsic) | +02” |
| 4 | Rigoberto Uran (EF Education First) | ,, |
| 5 | Tony Gallopin (AG2R La Mondiale) | ,, |
| 6 | Ivan Sosa (Team INEOS) | ,, |
| 7 | Alex Aranburu (Caja Rural – Seguros RGA) | +07”’ |
| 8 | Rein Taaramäe (Total Direct Energie) | +10” |
| 9 | Giovanni Carboni (Bardiani-CSF) | +34” |
| 10 | Pavel Sivakov (Team INEOS) | ,, |
