Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana Stage 2: Ciccone’s leadership and a tight sprint between favorites
The Italian climber Giulio Ciccone of Trek-Segafredo delivered the best legs on the Alto de Pinos climb in Benissa, sealing a mountain victory at the end of the second stage. The finish line action unfolded as the race settled into a tight contest among the general classification contenders, who began the day very evenly matched in the early going.
During the celebrations, Ciccone shed his glasses, a nod to Italian tradition. Yet the most meaningful gift did not go to the fortunate fan who snapped them up but to the rider himself, as he donned the yellow jersey for the overall lead. He held a four-second advantage over Pello Bilbao of Bahrain Victorious, who completed the stage in second place, with Tao Geoghegan Hart of Ineos Grenadiers just five seconds further back in third. The results underscored a day where every move mattered in the GC picture.
The penultimate climb of the day, the ascent to Cumbres de Sol, loomed as a potential game changer. It arrived on a stage that tested the legs of a peloton already required to tackle seven categorized climbs on the opening mountain day of the race’s 70th edition. The total distance stretched to 178.2 kilometers, starting from the Novelda velodrome in Alicante. The early break formed immediately, featuring Mulu Kinfe (CJR), Samuele Zoccarato (GBF), Javier Romo (AST), Alessandro De Marchi (JAY), and Benjamin Perry (HPM). They managed to open a substantial gap, at one point approaching a seven-minute lead as the chase began in earnest. The composition of the escape meant that the main field had to stay disciplined to limit the deficit before the decisive finishes of the day.
As the climb to La Fustera narrowed the selection, the breakaway gradually fractured. De Marchi, Zoccarato, Romo, and Perry remained in contact with a shrinking lead-group, while Bilbao sparked a late move to reintegrate into the fight for the podium. The Bahrain rider’s effort, paired with rapid descents and well-timed accelerations, kept him at the center of the GC narrative, even as the peloton stacked itself with the day’s speed and strategic play. The dynamic remained tense up the final ramps, and although a few riders briefly escaped, the race settled into a plan that rewarded consistency and timing over sheer aggression. In the closing kilometers, the field reorganized, and Ciccone’s team controlled the group with calm efficiency, ensuring the overnight lead would translate into a practical advantage on the road. This stage reinforced the volatility and tactical depth of stage racing in a race that values both climbing prowess and sprint-ready endurance over a long distance and varied terrain. (Race notes and stage analysis from the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana organizers.)