Dan Martin (Quick Step Floors) has finished in fifth place overall at the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana (UCI 2.1), which finished in Valencia today.

The Irish rider finished in the bunch on the shortened final stage today which had been reduced in distance to just 51 kilometres due to strong winds. The stage was won in a sprint finish by Bryan Coquard (Direct Energie) ahead of Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis, Solutions Crédits) and Coen Vermeltfoort (Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij).

Martin finished 1’09” overall behind race winner Nairo Quintana (Movistar Team) with BMC Racing Team;s Ben Hermans and Manuel Senni taking the other podium places. Martin had moved into fifth after yesterday’s queen stage where he finished in 6th place on the summit finish to Llucena.

It was one of a number of solid performances from the Quick Step Floors team in the Spanish race. In addition to Martin’s fifth place GC finish, David de la Cruz finished as best Spaniard in 7th overall and Belgian champion Philippe Gilbert leaves the race with the orange jersey in the bag, which rewards the winner of the combined classification. The team also had five top-5 stage placings. These were performances which pleased Directeur Sportif Wilfried Peeters.

“We came here to take a stage victory, and even though we didn’t get it, I think we can look back with pride,” said Peeters. “We were protagonists in all five stages, Dan and David showed a good condition for their first race of the season, which was a tough one, and this gives us confidence for our next appointments.”

“Philippe proved consistency and was rewarded with the orange jersey, while Laurens really impressed with his long presence in break on the queen-stage. Overall, we can be happy with our ride and results.”

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