Stage 1: Orihuela → Orihuela, 10.2 km Full Results and Report
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The finishing climb of the 10.2 km Stage 1 ITT overlooking Orihuela | 
1st Edvald Boasson Hagen (Norway / Team Dimension Data), 10.2 km in 12:55 | 
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First win since last May for Edvald Boasson Hagen (Norway / Team Dimension Data) | 
2nd and big threat for the GC, Ion Izagirre (Spa/Astana) + 5s | 
Former multiple world TT champ, Tony Martin (Germany / Team Jumbo - Visma) in the start house | 
3rd Tony Martin (Ger/Jumbo-Visma) + 7s | 
4th Dylan Teuns (Bel/Bahrain-Merida) + 8s | 
5th Jos van Emden (Ned/Jumbo-Visma) + 10s | 
Your Stage 1 ITT winner, Edvald Boasson Hagen (Norway / Team Dimension Data): "It is great to get a win again, and so early in the new season too. I was happy with how my ride went and the sensations I felt on our new BMC time trial bike. At first I thought it might end up just being a "good" time, but then I started to get nervous when I was still leading and there were only 10 or so riders left. I am happy with this win, it is a nice way for us and for all our new partners to start the year together." | 
and first race leader, Edvald Boasson Hagen (Norway / Team Dimension Data) | 
Snow training in Norway has paid off |
Stage 2: Alicante → Alicante, 166 km Full Results and Report
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Stage 2 start scene in Alicante for the first road stage | 
Edvald Boasson Hagen (Norway / Team Dimension Data) and Geraint Thomas (GBR / Team Sky) at the Stage 2 start in Alicante | 
Sprint finish in Alicante after a technical final km | 
1st Matteo Trentin (Ita/Mitchelton-Scott) in 4:10:12, 2nd Nacer Bouhanni (Fra/Cofidis Solutions Credits), 3rd Ben Swift (GBr/Sky) | 
4th Sonny Colbrelli (Ita/Bahrain-Merida), 5th Alexander Kristoff (Nor/UAE Team Emirates) and 6th race leader Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor/Dimension Data) | 
Your Stage 2 winner, Matteo Trentin (Ita/Mitchelton-Scott): “Today I was never struggling, I was surfing in the wheels and in the final I think I pulled up a really good sprint coming at the right moment, in the right position, so I am really happy. We knew that the second position was the maximum position to come out of the roundabout to win the stage. When you leave the roundabout so close to the finish, for sure if you are in fourth position then the guys in front start sprinting and you are still cornering. I preferred to just give it a go as the first guy and I came really fast, so it was a good move.” | 
6th today in the same time as the stage winner, race leader Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor/Dimension Data) |
Stage 3: Quart de Poblet → Chera, 191 km Full Results and Report
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Stage 3 start scene in Quart de Poblet | 
A couple of good smiles; Omar Fraile (Spain / Team Astana) and Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spain / Team Movistar) at the stage 3 start in Quart de Poblet | 
Scenery after the start in Quart de Poblet | 
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The eventual winner fueling up | 
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Find the break in this distance shot | 
Alessandro De Marchi at the front of the reduced field as the final rider from the breakaway was reeled in with seven kilometers to go | 
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Race leader, Edvald Boasson Hagen (Norway / Team Dimension Data) | 
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Reto Hollenstein (Swiss/Katusha - Alpecin) crashed | 
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Greg Van Avermaet (Bel/CCC) wins the Stage 3 punchy finale in Chera in 5:00:16, 2nd Matteo Trentin (Ita/Mitchelton-Scott), 3rd Luis León Sanchez (Spa/Astana), 4th Alejandro Valverde (Spa/Movistar) | 
No opportunity for a victory salute until the podium... | 
Your Stage 3 winner, Greg van Avermaet (Belgium Team CCC): “I am really happy to take this win and it’s actually my first individual win here after winning the team time trial in 2017 and 2018. It’s always great to start the season with a win and especially on a hard parcours like this with everyone on the limit. I felt really strong today though and the team did a really good job all day but especially on the final climbs. In the end, I was in a good position on the last switchback, I was positioned perfectly, so I started my sprint hoping that nobody would come around me. It’s really good to start the season like this.” | 
“I felt good but I was keeping an eye on Valverde as he is one of the strongest on an uphill finish like this plus there were also some good sprinters still there. I think the fact that I’m a little bit of better climber than them played on my side. There were some attacks at the end, but the team rode really well and it was nice to see four of my teammates up there with me in the final. I just had to finish it off.” |
Stage 4: Vila-Real → Alcala-Alcossebre, 188 km Full Results and Report
Stage 5: Paterna → Valencia, 88 km Full Results and Report
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Crash in the final km | 
Dylan Groenewegen (Netherlands / Team Jumbo - Visma), far left, coming from along way back | 
But all the favorites made it through; the sprint finish in full flight in Valencia | 
Dylan Groenewegen (Netherlands / Team Jumbo - Visma) wins in a photo finish (with the best bike throw) ahead of 2nd Alexander Kristoff (Norway / UAE Team Emirates) and 3rd Matteo Trentin (France / Team Mitchelton - Scott) | 
The finish scene in Valencia | 
Dylan Groenewegen (Netherlands / Team Jumbo - Visma) is pretty certain he has his first win of the season: "It was a hard final with a lot of corners. I was a bit far back on the last corner, but I could make my jump at the good moment. It’s the first win of 2019 for me and the first for the team too." | 
Awaiting the official verdict | 
Your Stage 5 winner, Dylan Groenewegen (Netherlands / Team Jumbo - Visma) | 
Looks like somebody really wants to be on the gc podium... | 
Your GC podium: 2nd Alejandro Valverde (Spain / Team Movistar) + 7s, 1st Ion Izaguirre (Astana) and 3rd Pello Bilbao (Spain / Team Astana) + 7s. Valverde doesn't look 38 years old in a ball cap while Izaguirre and Bilbao look like brothers | 
First GC win by Ion Izaguirre (Astana) in 4 years, something to celebrate.Alejandro Valverde post race: "We won last year and we're not leaving empty-handed this year, either: finishing in 2nd place, with such a luxury podium, is a good result. It's been a beautiful race, a very tight one, with a great winner in Ion. He's a good friend of mine, a team-mate for many years in the Movistar Team as well as a huge source of help in last year's Innsbruck Worlds. I also remember he crashed at the very same turn I got badly injured in Düsseldorf during the opening time trial of the 2017 Tour de France. It's a good sign to be here, both of us, recovered and offering Spanish cycling some more joy. In the end, crashes are part of our sport, the element of risk we have to face every day. All in all, I think we gave it a good fight, both in the crucial stages and the overall result - but yesterday's climb, so explosive, wasn't the place for me to bridge the gap overall back to Ion, so I knew it was sort of an impossible task to bounce back after the TT. Yates was a well-deserved winner, so I feel happy with the 2nd place in Alcossebre as well as in the GC." |
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