An overnight rain I. Valencia did nothing to cool temperatures but it did make for a striking sky over the beach this morning.
Valencia officially speaks Spanish and Valencian so there was an additional emcee on hand this morning alongside Juanma.
The sign on window had been open for probably 15 minutes before Markel Irizar, the first rider of the day. Showed up. As such, he was in extra demand.
Autographs from Romain Hardy.
Dominique Rollin.
Tinkoff.
Dani Navarro.
Gatis Smukulis.
It was exceptionally humid this morning so plenty of the riders just ducked their heads and tried to ignore the cacophony of little boys screaming, “Firma, firma, firma!” Understandable!
I love how the peloton is so international: George Bennett (New Zealand), Alex Howes (USA), Omar Fraile and David Arroyo (Spain), Tsagbu Grmay (Ethiopia), and Natneal Berhane (Eritrea).
Carlos Barbero.
The podium.
A selfie with Alex Cano.
Two way traffic.
Neutral start.
Lawson Craddock with GC leader Tom Dumoulin at the head of the peloton.
Smukulis, the morning's lantern rouge.
Today's 9 autographs came from:
54. Cyril Lemoine
58. Julien Simon
77. Pieter Serry
85. Olivier Le Gac
95. Simon Pellaud
109. Ilia Koshevoy
133. Louis Meintjes
194. Timo Roosen
219. Haimar Zubeldia
