The Polartec-Kometa, ready to its debut in the Vuelta a Valencia

Tomorrow, in the Vuelta a la Comunidad Valenciana, will be the first day of competition of the Polartec-Kometa Continental Team, which will take the start of the first stage in Oropesa del Mar towards a probable sprint in Peñíscola, after 191 kilometers of route.

The second stage can also be solved at the sprint, although in this case the group will be much more select, since the hard climb to the Garbí, at less than 30 kilometers from the finish line, will put many in difficulties, among them a good number of sprinters.

Under the direction of Jesús Hernández and Dario Andriotto, the Polartec-Kometa presents a roster in which its two fast men stand out, the Italians Matteo Moschetti and Michele Gazzoli, who will try to be at the end of the inaugural stage and, if possible, also in the next one. Together with them, the team’s directors have chosen the climbers Kevin Inkelaar and Patrick Ries, as well as an all-rounder like Miguel Ángel Ballesteros. The team is completed by two rouleurs, Juan Camacho and Patrick Gamper, willing both to lend a hand to their teammates and to take advantage of any opportunity that may arise.

The race announces its decisive moments in the third stage, a team time trial finally shortened up to 23 kilometers, which will however be more than enough to mark the differences in the day before the queen stage, with final in the climb to the Quarries of Cocentaina, after climbing six other mountains along 184 kilometers of route.

The last day is reserved for a theoretical last sprint in the streets of Valencia, where it will be reached from the start in Paterna, after 135 kilometers stage.

With the presence of 11 WorldTour and similar amount of ProContinental teams, the Polartec-Kometa takes the start along with two other Continentals, the Euskadi Foundation and the Inteja from the Dominican Republic, which gives an idea of the high level of participation, with the presence of men like Alejandro Valverde or Wout Poels, to name just two candidates for the GC, plus a handful of sprinters led by Greg Van Avermaet.