Torralba del Pinar: Evenepoel claims victory in opening stage Volta CV

Evenepoel wins opening stage first race of 2022 in Vuelta a la Comunitat Valenciana on the climb to Torralba del Pinar.

Young Belgian cyclist Remco Evenepoel has emerged as a candidate to win the Vuelta a la Comunitat Valenciana 2022 after winning the opening stage, 16 seconds ahead of Russian Aleksandr Vlasov and more than 30 seconds ahead of Carlos Rodriguez, Enric Mas, Jakob Fuglsang, Alejandro Valverde, Luis León Sánchez and company. 

The 22nd victory in the career of Remco Evenepoel, a record that makes him one of the great cycling figures of the near future at the age of 22 and despite the hard fall in 2020 on the descent of the Muro di Sormano.

The Belgian pit bull’s victory came at about 4.7 kilometres from the finish, after escaping from the leading group on the climb to Torralba del Pinar, a second category climb with some demanding gradients that is part of the long list of climbs in the province of Castellón worth challenging one day.

A climb that is quite challenging from the Ayódar side: from the junction with Fuentes de Ayódar (the point where the climb itself begins) we have to face 4.78% with an average gradient of 7.6% at 363 metres. The hardest kilometre about 9%.    

The first kilometre and a half, there are slopes that rarely drop below 7%, with peaks of up to 10%. The toughest section, however, is the long straight with a gradient barely below 9%, a straight where Evenepoel was able to get even further away from his pursuers, gaining seconds in a hectic final climb before reaching the false flat until Torralba del Pinar.

A pass whose summit is not actually in the town of Torralba del Pinar but is reached about a kilometre earlier, and which has tarmac in perfect condition and double lanes, in fact the road from Ayódar to Torralba del Pinar was repaved in 2021, widening the width of the road up to 6 metres, improving cyclability.

Want to know more details about this climb? Then check out the detailed altimetry of the climb to Torralba del Pinar.