Ådne Holter was close to securing the year’s first victory for Uno-X in the Volta Comunitat Valenciana world tour, but was beaten to 2nd place at the finish line. Holter was part of a four-man break that barely kept the pursuers behind him to the finish on the stage race’s 3rd stage. He held off the Belgians Florian Vermeersch and Jonathan Vervenne, but American Andrew August from the Ineos team was just over the finish line first. The 20-year-old could thus celebrate his first professional victory. – I didn’t take any leads, because we had Ben (Turner) in the chasing group with a view to a sprint. I saved a lot of energy while the others worked to keep the lead, and I benefited from that in the finish, said August according to cyclingnews.com. 2nd place was close to giving Holter the lead jersey in the race, but Biniam Girmay managed to defend it with a cry of distress. The NSN rider from Eritrea stepped into 5th place and was four seconds behind the winner. Thus he keeps the jersey, with the same time as Holter. The race in Spain continues on Saturday with a stage that contains several tough climbs. It ends on Sunday. (NTB)
