Vuelta a Murcia 2022 [LAST 15 KM]

February 12, 2022

Vuelta a Murcia 2022 – Fortuna – Puerto de Cartagena : 183,2 km

The Vuelta a Murcia is a one-day race held in and around the city of Murcia, the capital of the eponymously-named region in southeastern Spain. Since its debut edition in 1981 the race has been through several different iterations. It started out as a five-day stage race for Spanish amateurs before opening its doors to the pro ranks in 1985. In 2011 it was then scaled back to three stages and a year later, in 2012, it was cut again to just two stages. The organisers, citing financial stresses, then cut it again in 2013 and held it as a one-day race until 2018. Despite a brief stint as a two-day race in 2019 and 2020 the race reverted back to its one-day format for the 2021 season.

Alessandro Covi claimed victory at the Vuelta Ciclista a la Región de Murcia “Costa Calida” in an outstanding collective display from UAE Team Emirates.

The Italian attacked a lead group of 20 riders with 5km to go and just about hung on, although Matteo Trentin was there just in case, winning the group sprint to make it a UAE one-two on the podium.

The pair of them put the icing and the cherry on the cake but the groundwork was laid by Brandon McNulty, who went clear in a strong long-range break after the big half-way climb, before dropping his companions with 25km to go and riding solo all the way to the final 5km.

Arkéa-Samsic had bust their guts to bring back the American and, as soon as the catch been made, Covi sprung out of the heavily reduced group. It was touch and go as he entered the final kilometre with just a few seconds in hand but he finished the job and got his hands in the air as he crossed the line, just as Trentin was doing the same behind.

“It’s my first victory as a pro and I’m very very happy,” Covi said. “It was a very hard 5km but when you see the victory you go faster. I went full gas for the victory and I won, Matteo second, McNulty [did a] good race, all the teammates good race, so I’m very happy for the team.”

The 183km route from Fortuna to the coastal city of Cartagena was punctuated by the big climb of the Collado Bermejo, dubbed the ‘Cima Marco Pantani’ in honour of the former Tour de France and Giro d’Italia winner. However, the much shorter Alto de Cedacero would prove to be decisive later on.

The day’s breakaway was a two-up venture between Euskaltel-Euskadi’s Asier Etxeberria and Xabier Azparren. They built a lead of four minutes by the time they hit the Bermejo, where Anton Palzer (Bora-Hansgrohe) jumped from the bunch in a failed bid to bridge across.

After the long descent, and with the breakaway duo caught, the race did open up, with McNulty forging clear alongside Warren Barguil (Arkéa-Samsic), Nils Politt (Bora-Hansgrohe), and Kobe Goosens (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux).

They hit the Alto de Cedacero – 4km at nearly 6 per cent – with a lead of 30 seconds, and McNulty immediately put the hammer down. In turn and in the space of a few kilometres – Politt, Goosens, Barguil – his companions were dropped and he was alone. As the climb continued, he even took his advantage out to 50 seconds.

There was, however, a response from behind, and Miguel Angel López (Astana Qazaqstan) moved clear with Trentin and Jesus Herrada (Cofidis) before launching a solo pursuit of McNulty. He crested the Cedacero 35 seconds in arrears of the American with 19.5km to go, but dramatically suffered hamstring cramps and was unceremoniously passed by the chasers.

The small chase group was then absorbed by larger group to form a pack of 20 chasing down McNulty, with Arkéa-Samsic doing most of the heavy lifting. McNulty hung on gamely but started to fade in the final 10km and was caught with 5km to go.

Immediately, Covi sprang out, not allowing the Arkea riders any pause for breath. He took it all the way to the line, where Trentin capped the team performance with a picture perfect finish line shot.

Results :
1 Alessandro Covi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 4:34:50
2 Matteo Trentin (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:01
3 Matis Louvel (Fra) Arkea-Samsic
4 Jonas Koch (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
5 Loïc Vliegen (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
6 Orluis Alberto Aular Sanabria (Ven) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
7 Warren Barguil (Fra) Arkea-Samsic
8 Thibault Ferasse (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM
9 Jesus Ezquerra Muela (Spa) Burgos-BH
10 Marco Tizza (Ita) Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB
11 Jesus Herrada (Spa) Cofidis
12 Kobe Goossens (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
13 Lorenzo Fortunato (Ita) Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team 0:00:04
14 Georg Steinhauser (Ger) EF Education-EasyPost
15 Jonathan Lastra Martinez (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
16 Frederik Wandahl (Den) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:05
17 Andres Camilo Ardila Ordoñez (Col) UAE Team Emirates
18 Jai Hindley (Aus) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:27
19 Thibault Guernalec (Fra) Arkea-Samsic 0:00:34
20 Vito Braet (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:00:55
21 Ruben Apers (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
22 Vincenzo Albanese (Ita) Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team
23 Arjen Livyns (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB
24 Max Kanter (Ger) Movistar Team
25 Jan Bakelants (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
26 Remy Mertz (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB
27 Luis-Joe Lührs (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
28 Sean Quinn (USA) EF Education-EasyPost
29 Jenno Berckmoes (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
30 Ben King (USA) Human Powered Health
31 Jonathan Hivert (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM
32 Roger Adria Oliveras (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma
33 Raul Garcia Pierna (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma
34 Xabier Isasa Larrañaga (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
35 Nils Politt (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
36 Alessandro Verre (Ita) Arkea-Samsic
37 Stephen Bassett (USA) Human Powered Health
38 Jhonatan Restrepo Valencia (Col) Drone Hopper-Androni Giocattoli
39 Simon Guglielmi (Fra) Arkea-Samsic
40 Biniam Girmay (Eri) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
41 Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
42 Simone Consonni (Ita) Cofidis
43 Yuriy Natarov (Kaz) Astana Qazaqstan Team
44 Miguel Angel Lopez Moreno (Col) Astana Qazaqstan Team 0:01:07
45 Oier Lazkano Lopez (Spa) Movistar Team 0:01:47
46 Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Team Emirates 0:03:06
47 Miguel Angel Ballesteros (Spa) Electro Hiper Europa-Caldas 0:03:47
48 Thomas Armstrong (GBr) Electro Hiper Europa-Caldas
49 Jose Herrada (Spa) Cofidis
50 Aaron Verwilst (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
51 Tom Devriendt (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
52 Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team
53 Dimitri Peyskens (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB
54 Jon Agirre Egaña (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma
55 Igor Arrieta Lizarraga (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma
56 Leander Van Hautegem (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB Development Team
57 Abner González Rivera (PuR) Movistar Team
58 Fernando Barceló Aragon (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
59 Unai Cuadrado Ruiz De Gauna (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
60 Gavin Mannion (USA) Human Powered Health
61 Didier Norberto Merchan Cardona (Col) Drone Hopper-Androni Giocattoli 0:06:15
62 Anton Palzer (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:06:34
63 Cyril Gautier (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM
64 Adria Moreno Sala (Spa) Burgos-BH
65 Kenny Molly (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB 0:06:35
66 Ander Okamika Bengoetxea (Spa) Burgos-BH 0:07:00
67 Chad Haga (USA) Human Powered Health
68 Mateu Estelrich Cabanellas (Spa) Electro Hiper Europa-Caldas
69 Mirco Maestri (Ita) Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team
70 Daniel Muñoz Giraldo (Col) Drone Hopper-Androni Giocattoli
71 Mark Christian (GBr) Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team 0:08:57
72 Kevin Ledanois (Fra) Arkea-Samsic
73 Adrien Lagree (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM
74 Xabier Mikel Azparren Irurzun (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
75 Antonio Jesus Soto Guirao (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
76 Davide Martinelli (Ita) Astana Qazaqstan Team
77 Asier Etxeberria Zafra (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
78 Daniel Hoyos Largo (Col) Electro Hiper Europa-Caldas
79 Axel Laurance (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM
80 Alan Riou (Fra) Arkea-Samsic
81 Jelle Wallays (Bel) Cofidis 0:10:22
82 André Carvalho (Por) Cofidis
83 Vinicius Rangel Costa (Bra) Movistar Team
84 Jefferson Alexander Cepeda (Eca) Drone Hopper-Androni Giocattoli
85 Sergio Araiz Michel (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma
86 Nathan Brown (USA) Human Powered Health
87 Yevgeniy Fedorov (Kaz) Astana Qazaqstan Team 0:13:39
88 Jhojan Garcia Susa (Col) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
89 Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz) Astana Qazaqstan Team
90 Alvaro Cuadros Morata (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
91 Pablo Alonso Montes (Spa) Electro Hiper Europa-Caldas 0:15:30
92 Isaac Canton Serrano (Spa) Manuela Fundacion
93 Marijn van den Berg (Ned) EF Education-EasyPost
94 Eduardo Perez-Landaluce Gonzalez (Spa) Manuela Fundacion
95 Angel Madrazo Ruiz (Spa) Burgos-BH
96 Hideto Nakane (Jpn) EF Education-EasyPost
97 Savva Novikov (Rus) Equipo Kern Pharma
98 Daniel Jimenez Martinez (Spa) Manuela Fundacion
99 Vicente Hernaiz Santamaria (Spa) Manuela Fundacion
100 Iker Ballarin Manso (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
101 Juan Diego Hoyos Cano (Col) Electro Hiper Europa-Caldas
102 Nurbergen Nurlykhassym (Kaz) Astana Qazaqstan Team
103 Marcos Jurado Rodriguez (Spa) Electro Hiper Europa-Caldas
104 Tom Bohli (Swi) Cofidis
105 Jelle Declerck (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB Development Team
106 Brandon Alejandro Rojas Vega (Col) Drone Hopper-Androni Giocattoli
107 Andrii Ponomar (Ukr) Drone Hopper-Androni Giocattoli
108 Juan Antonio Lopez-Cozar Jaimez (Spa) Burgos-BH
109 Imanol Erviti (Spa) Movistar Team
110 Ben Healy (Irl) EF Education-EasyPost
111 Julius van den Berg (Ned) EF Education-EasyPost
112 Tom Scully (NZl) EF Education-EasyPost
DNF Juan Diego Alba Bolivar (Col) Drone Hopper-Androni Giocattoli
DNF Mikel Bizkarra Etxegibel (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
DNF Davide Cimolai (Ita) Cofidis
DNF Dimitri Claeys (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
DNF Valerio Conti (Ita) Astana Qazaqstan Team
DNF Gilles De Wilde (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
DNF Johan Jacobs (Swi) Movistar Team
DNF Quentin Jauregui (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM
DNF Juan Sebastian Molano Benavides (Col) UAE Team Emirates
DNF Joel Nicolau Beltran (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
DNF Lukas Pöstlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
DNF Alejandro Ropero Molina (Spa) Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team
DNF Sergio Samitier Samitier (Spa) Movistar Team
DNF Daniel Viegas (Por) Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team
DNF Pelayo Sanchez Mayo (Spa) Burgos-BH
DNF Carlos Garcia Pierna (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma
DNF Ricardo Alejandro Zurita Garcia (Spa) Drone Hopper-Androni Giocattoli
DNF Milan Fretin (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
DNF Raul Rota Rus (Spa) Manuela Fundacion
DNF Joan Marti Bennassar Rossello (Spa) Manuela Fundacion
DNF Santiago Mesa Pietralunga (Col) Manuela Fundacion
DNF Jules Hesters (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise