Demare holds off Ewan at Valenciana

Aranud Demare (Groupama-FDJ) was the recipient of a tremendous leadout from his team, releasing him with just 100 metres left to go to the finish line, which allowed him to take the win on Stage 2 of the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana ahead of Timothy Dupont (Bingoal) and Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal).

Arnaud Demare finished ahead of Caleb Ewan on Stage 2 of the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana Source: Groupama-FDJ

An impressive train of Groupama-FDJ - including race leader Miles Scotson - dominated the final kilometres of the second stage of Valenciana, delivering Demare to the stage win and giving the rest of the sprinters very little chance. Wet, slippery roads saw a number of crashes, but the French team stayed on course at the head of affairs.

Jacopo Guarnieri was the final man to swing off the hot pace with about 100 metres to go, leaving Demare little work left to do as he exploded off the hot pace on the tailwind finish. Ewan was in his wheel, but gave up the challenge for the win 25 metres before the line as it became obvious that he couldn't win, allowing Dupont to dive through late to take second with the Australian third.

"I’m really happy to win today,” said Demare. “I knew that my biggest opponent would be Caleb Ewan but the team did a great job. In the end, we took the lead like we had to.

"We knew it was going to be quite tense on wet roads. It was a difficult final, it was slippery but luckily we did not crash. It was a tough day from a weather point of view. We rode with 6 degrees and constant rain. We even sprinted in the jackets and neoprene gloves, just to show how cold it was! But it ended well for us.”

Australian Scotson enters the Stage 3 summit finish with a 32-second advantage on his nearest competitor ahead of the mountain test which will be followed by a 14-kilometre flat time trial on the final day. 

"Today, we are very happy with Arnaud’s victory, because that was the main goal coming into that race,” said Scotson. “It was a great performance from all the guys, a real team effort. I am personally happy to keep the yellow jersey, but the real test will be tomorrow”.