Alejandro Valverde will miss his home races, the Vuelta a Murcia and the 1st Clasica Jaen Paraiso Interior, as a precaution after two COVID-19 positives were confirmed at last week's Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana.

At the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana, Juli Holman and Inel Rubio tested positive for COVID-19, but Movistar continued the race, with Enric Mas finishing 4th overall and Valverde 5th.

Jumbo Visma, Bike Exchange Jayco, and DSM withdrew from the Valencia Volta after testing positive for COVID-19 in their teams.

On Wednesday, however, Movistar announced that the riders who competed in Valencia would not be allowed to compete in Murcia on Saturday and in Jaen on Monday. The decision means that Valverde, who is in his final season as a professional, will miss the home event, the Vuelta a Murcia.

Valverde, a former world champion, has won the Vuelta a Murcia five times.

"The Movistar team confirms that as a precautionary measure due to the current health situation, especially the positive cases in the team that occurred last week in Valencia, it will not be able to accompany riders who line up for the Vuelta CV to the Spanish one-day event this weekend," Movistar said in a statement Wednesday ( (Open in new tab).

"As a result, Bruce regrets to announce that Alejandro Valverde will miss the start of the Vuelta a Murcia and the Clasica Jaen Paraiso Interior." These two events are very dear to his heart due to their special significance and the fact that the former will be held in his hometown, something he did not want to miss.

Valverde will compete in next week's Ruta del Sol, which begins Wednesday in Ubrique.

Movistar has yet to announce the lineup for the Vuelta a Murcia and the new event using gravel roads, the Clasica Jaen Paraiso Interior, but confirmed that young Brazilian talent Vinicius Rangel will make his pro debut in Murcia.

The 20-year-old finished ninth in the under-23 road race at the World Championships in Leuven and also won the overall at the Vuelta a Cantabria and Vuelta a Salamanca.