Tadej Pogacar won the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana as Fabio Jakobsen’s sprint victory in the final stage posed no threat to the Slovenian’s triumph in the general classification.
Pogacar finished six seconds ahead of Jack Haig (Mitchelton-Scott) while Tao Geoghegan Hart (Team Ineos) was third.
“This win means a lot to me, especially after all the hard work we did in the winter to prepare,” said Pogacar, who won three individual stages at last year’s Vuelta. “To start my first race (of the year) and win is incredible.”
Pogacar added his focus now will be to hit top form at the Tour de France, which starts in June.
Dylan Groenewegen (Jumbo-Visma) and John Degenkolb (Lotto Soudal) came second and third respectively behind Jakobsen, who took the lead on the final turn and held on for Deceuninck-Quick Step’s seventh win of 2020.
“We wanted to start the season well and that’s why we came here to try to win a stage. I’m very happy we succeeded,” said Jakobsen.
“I’m happy to be in this team because they put me in the perfect position to win the sprint and I’m happy I won – for them and for me.”
?♂️? @FabioJakobsen v @GroenewegenD ?
We were treated to a thrilling sprint finish in stage five of #VCV2020 with the @deceuninck_qst rider coming out on top ? pic.twitter.com/gHDWscD0XG
— Eurosport UK (@Eurosport_UK) February 9, 2020
Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana 2020 – stage 5 results (Paterna – Valencia):
| 1 | Fabio Jakobsen (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) | 2:04:32 |
| 2 | Dylan Groenewegen (Jumbo-Visma) | ,, |
| 3 | John Degenkolb (Lotto Soudal) | ,, |
| 4 | Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates) | ,, |
| 5 | Ivan Garcia Cortina (Bahrain McLaren) | ,, |
| 6 | Jon Aberasturi (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) | ,, |
| 7 | Jaume Sureda (Burgos-BH) | ,, |
| 8 | Davide Ballerini (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) | ,, |
| 9 | Enrique Sanz (Kern Pharma) | ,, |
| 10 | Matteo Trentin (CCC) | ,, |
Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana 2020 – final general classification:
| 1 | Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) | 18:43:00 |
| 2 | Jack Haig (Mitchelton-Scott) | +06” |
| 3 | Tao Geoghegan Hart (Team Ineos) | ,, |
| 4 | Daniel Martin (Israel Start-Up Nation) | +13” |
| 5 | Dylan Teuns (Bahrain McLaren) | +23” |
| 6 | Wouter Poels (Bahrain McLaren) | +25” |
| 7 | Ion Izagirre (Astana) | +32” |
| 8 | Ruben Fernandez (Fundacion-Orbea) | +49” |
| 9 | Oscar Rodriguez (Astana) | +01’11” |
| 10 | Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) | +01’14” |
