Wout Poels wins Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana on a 'double day' for Team Sky

Wout Poels gave Team Sky its second stage race overall victory of the day on Sunday, sealing the win in the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana in Spain a few hours after Chris Froome had won the Herald Sun Tour in Australia.

With just the flat final stage to deal with after winning the previous day, Poels had to stay safe in the bunch to take the overall victory.

However, the widely-expected bunch sprint was foiled by a late attack by Stijn Vandenbergh (Etixx-QuickStep), who crossed the line just ahead of the chasing pack.

Vandenbergh's efforts themselves were nearly scuppered by a piece of litter that became temporarily entangled in his rear wheel.

>>> Wout Poels leads Team Sky one-two in stage four in of Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana

Twenty-eight-year-old Dutchman Poels topped the final general classification ahead of Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana) in second, with Beñat Intxausti rounding out the podium and giving British WorldTour outfit Sky another podium place.

Poels took the race lead after winning the opening time trial, and hung onto it throughout the UCI 2.1-ranked race, increasing his lead after winning the penultimate stage.

Results

Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana 2016, stage five: Valencia to Valencia, 120.6km

1. Stijn Vendenbergh (Bel) Etixx-QuickStep

2. Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo

3. Raymond Kreder (Ned) Roompot Oranje Peloton

4. Nacer Bouhanni (Fre) Cofidis

5. Jonas Van Genechten (Bel) IAM Cycling

Final general classification

1. Wout Poels (Ned) Team Sky

2. Luis Leon Sanchez (Spa) Astana

3. Beñat Intxausti (Spa) Team Sky

4. Ion Izagirre (Spa) Movistar

5. Javier Moreno (Spa) Movistar