Initially, Alejandro Valverde had the Volta a Catalunya on his schedule but had decided to skip Milan-Sanremo. However, the Spaniard has decided to return to La Classicissima for this first time since 2006 and so he will be at the start in Italy on Sunday and in Spain on Monday. Hence, he will have to rush back to his home country after the end of Sunday’s race.

In Italy, Valverde will ride in support for Juan Jose Lobato and probably play an aggressive role in the finale of the race which has an incredible distance of 293km. His long day will start early with the neutral start at 10.10 and he is expected to arrive on Via Roma in Sanremo between 16.50 and 17.30.

According to Biciciclismo, there will be no time to celebrate for the Murcian as he has reserved a ticket for the a flight that will depart from the Aéroport Nice Côte d'Azur, 65 kilometers from Lungomare Calvino, the parking lot for the team buses. If he has to attend the podium ceremony or go to doping control, it will be a stressful affair.

Luckily the journey is a short one, just over one hour, and he will arrive in Prat at 21.00. From there, he will have to travel another 71km to the Bernat II Hotel in Calella where he will meet the rest of his teammates and key rivals Alberto Contador, Joaquim Rodriguez and Chris Froome.

The stages in the Catalan race start late, the first at 12.20, so Valverde will be able to sleep a little longer but he will still face a long day with185.2 hilly kilometers. However, it is nothing compared to the 293km prologue that he will do one day earlier on the road from Milan to Sanremo…