Vuelta a Murcia 2017 [Highlights] (spanish)

February 11, 2017

Vuelta a Murcia 2017– San Javier – Murcia – 182,7 km

The Vuelta Ciclista a Murcia (English: Tour of Murcia) is a road bicycle race held in and around Murcia, Spain. The first four editions were reserved to amateurs. Originally the race was held in early March and consisted of five stages. However, due to Spain’s financial turmoil, the race was scaled back to three stages in 2011 and two stages in 2012. Since 2013 the Vuelta a Murcia is organised as a single-day race and shifted to mid-February on the international calendar. It is part of the UCI Europe Tour as a 1.1 event.

Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) won the Vuelta Ciclista a la Region de Murcia – his home race – for a fifth time thanks to an aggressive solo attack some 70km from the finish.

The veteran Spanish rider attacked in the mist on the Collado Bermejo climb and then fought a headwind to win alone, with the rest of the race unable to pull him back. Jhonatan Restrepo (Katusha-Alpecin) beat Patrick Konrad (Bora-hansgrohe) to win the sprint for second place, 2:10 down on Valverde.

The Spanish race has been reduced from a stage race to a one-day affair, but that only seemed to motivate Valverde, who is proud of his Murcia origins.

“It’s always special for me to win on home roads – this victory goes to all the people in this region, who always cheer for me so much when I’m racing abroad. It truly is the most beautiful of the five I’ve achieved here; it was a big effort and so tough to keep up against the wind and the climbs to win here,” Valverde said.

Strong winds, hard racing

The strong wind made for a hard day out, splitting the peloton early on. Sam Bewley (Orica-Scott), Evan Huffman (Rally Cycling) and Jelle Wallays (Lotto Soudal) formed an early break, but the Movistar team pulled them back, sending out an ominous sign that Valverde was keen to win on home roads.

Movistar brought the race back together at the foot of the Alto Collado Bermejo (8.4km at 6,7 percent) and then Valverde took over despite more than 70km left to race. He attacked at the bottom of the climb, followed by Jon Izagirre (Bahrain-Merida), Tjesj Benoot and Gallopin (Lotto Soudal), Simon Spilak (Katusha) and Garikoitz Bravo (Euskadi). However, they failed to get onto his wheel and Valverde took advantage of the misty conditions and local knowledge of the decent to push on alone.

He had a 2:25 lead after the descent, with 35km to go, with the chasers eventually caught by the peloton.

Valverde had been hoping for some help from a small group but decided to push on alone and time trialled to the finish. He reached Murcia with a two-minute lead and so was able to celebrate his solo victory in front of his local crowd.

“It really was hard, mainly because of those strong headwinds in the later part of the race down to Murcia. I had planned to jump from the bottom of the Collado Bermejo, and I had my teammates pushing hard from the Aledo part of the climb, but I was really hoping for someone to come from behind and take some turns with me. In the end, I saw I was alone and so I told to myself: ‘I keep going on the descent, and should they catch me, maybe I can go for it in the sprint, and if they do, I’ll win’,” Valverde explained.

“I just had to give it a try, even if it was so far away from the finish and it was a long shot, but that was the only point where I could win solo from. I took that chance, and I succeeded.”

Ready for the Ruta del Sol

Valverde’s victory confirmed he is already on form before riding next week’s Ruta del Sol stage race where he will clash with Alberto Contador.

“After Nairo’s success in Valencia, things are looking really promising for us this season – it’s just taking from where we left off, after we won those four consecutive WorldTour titles all the way up to 2016,” Valverde said.

“Now it’s about having some rest and taking the start of the Ruta del Sol on Wednesday. There, we’ll find Alberto Contador and many other big riders, and we will have to try and continue this streak.”

Results :
1 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team 4:03:08
2 Jhonatan Restrepo (Col) Katusha-Alpecin 0:02:10
3 Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
4 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Lotto Soudal
5 Baptiste Planckaert (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin
6 Jon Izaguirre Insausti (Spa) Bahrain-Merida
7 Christopher Juul Jensen (Den) Orica-Scott
8 Tiesj Benoot (Bel) Lotto Soudal
9 Pieter Weening (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij
10 Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
11 Felix Grossschartner (Aut) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
12 Romain Sicard (Fra) Direct Energie
13 Marc Soler Gimenez (Spa) Movistar Team
14 Garikoitz Bravo Oiarbide (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country – Murias
15 Javier Moreno Bazan (Spa) Bahrain-Merida
16 David Belda (Spa) Burgos-BH
17 Hector Saez Benito (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
18 Daniel Navarro Garcia (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
19 Gorka Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Movistar Team
20 Ruben Fernandez Andujar (Spa) Movistar Team
21 Simon Špilak (Slo) Katusha-Alpecin
22 Robert Kišerlovski (Cro) Katusha-Alpecin
23 Tony Gallopin (Fra) Lotto Soudal 0:02:25
24 Lukasz Owsian (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 0:04:07
25 Oscar Riesebeek (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij
26 Jan Tratnik (Slo) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
27 Yoann Offredo (Fra) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
28 Guillaume Bonnafond (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
29 Colin Joyce (USA) Rally Cycling 0:04:41
30 Elmar Reinders (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij
31 Egoitz Fernandez Ayarzaguena (Spa) Team UKYO
32 Etienne Van Empel (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij
33 Martijn Budding (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij
34 Diego Rubio Hernandez (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
35 Xandro Meurisse (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
36 Maciej Paterski (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
37 Eliot Lietaer (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise
38 Alexander Aranburu Deva (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
39 Antonio Molina Canet (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
40 Luka Pibernik (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
41 Christopher Butler (USA) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
42 Salvador Guardiola (Spa) Team UKYO
43 Frederik Frison (Bel) Lotto Soudal
44 Sepp Kuss (USA) Rally Cycling
45 Sergey Firsanov (Rus) Gazprom – Rusvelo
46 Brian Nauleau (Fra) Direct Energie
47 Jeroen Meijers (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij
48 Yoann Bagot (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
49 Beñat Txoperena Matxikote (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country – Murias
50 Igor Merino Kortazar (Spa) Burgos-BH
51 Mikel Bizkarra Etxegibel (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country – Murias
52 Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
53 Robert Britton (Can) Rally Cycling
54 Evan Huffman (USA) Rally Cycling
55 Cesare Benedetti (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
56 José Mendes (Por) Bora-Hansgrohe
57 Jérôme Baugnies (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
58 Magnus Cort Nielsen (Den) Orica-Scott
59 Perrig Quemeneur (Fra) Direct Energie 0:11:07
60 Andreas Schillinger (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
61 Jelle Wallays (Bel) Lotto Soudal
62 Paul Ourselin (Fra) Direct Energie
63 Maxime Farazijn (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise
64 Kevin Deltombe (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise
65 David Per (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
66 Rayane Bouhanni (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
67 Ivan Moreno Sanchez (Spa) Spain
68 Thomas Degand (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
69 Frederik Backaert (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
70 Kenneth Vanbilsen (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
71 Ibai Salas Zorrozua (Spa) Burgos-BH
72 Adam De Vos (Can) Rally Cycling
73 Jens Wallays (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise
74 Antonio Pedrero Lopez (Spa) Movistar Team
75 Marcin Mrozek (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
76 Oscar Pujol (Spa) Team UKYO
77 Dmitriy Kozontchuk (Rus) Gazprom – Rusvelo
78 Mathew Hayman (Aus) Orica-Scott
79 Alexander Foliforov (Rus) Gazprom – Rusvelo
80 Benjami Prades (Spa) Team UKYO
81 Antonio Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
82 Benjami Prades (Spa) Team UKYO
83 Tosh Van Der Sande (Bel) Lotto Soudal
84 Stéphane Rossetto (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:21:07
85 Jerome Cousin (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:21:11
86 Justin Oien (USA) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:25:54
87 Luka Mezgec (Slo) Orica-Scott
88 Eduardo Llacer Gabarron (Spa) Spain
89 Miguel Angel Ballesteros Canovas (Spa) Spain
90 Ruben Pols (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise
91 Jeremy Cornu (Fra) Direct Energie
92 Ángel Vicioso Arcos (Spa) Katusha-Alpecin
93 Piotr Brozyna (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
94 Maxim Belkov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin
95 Leszek Plucinski (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
96 Imanol Estevez Salas (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country – Murias 0:29:53
97 Julen Irizar Laskurain (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country – Murias
98 Jose Daniel Viejo Redondo (Spa) Unieuro Trevigiani – Hemus 1896
99 Marcos Jurado Rodriguez (Spa) Spain
100 Josu Zabala Lopez (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
101 Adrian Gonzalez Velasco (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country – Murias
102 José Carlos Nuñez (Spa) Dare Viator Partizan
103 Igor Boev (Rus) Gazprom – Rusvelo
104 Jarl Salomein (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise
105 Marco Mathis (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin
106 Tim Ariesen (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij
107 Sam Bewley (NZl) Orica-Scott
108 Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
109 Jens Debusschere (Bel) Lotto Soudal
110 Danny Pate (USA) Rally Cycling
111 Kirill Sveshnikov (Rus) Gazprom – Rusvelo 0:30:19
112 Roman Maikin (Rus) Gazprom – Rusvelo
113 Domen Novak (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
114 Tanzou Tokuda (Jpn) Team UKYO
DNF Jorge Arcas Peña (Spa) Movistar Team
DNF Jasha Sütterlin (Ger) Movistar Team
DNF Yoshimitsu Hiratsuka (Jpn) Team UKYO
DNF Romain Cardis (Fra) Direct Energie
DNF Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Orica-Scott
DNF Jan Bárta (Cze) Bora-Hansgrohe
DNF Silvio Herklotz (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
DNF Raul Castrillo Sedano (Spa) Burgos-BH
DNF Alvaro Robredo Crespo (Spa) Burgos-BH
DNF Joan Ruiz Vicens (Spa) Burgos-BH
DNF Javier Fuentes Jorda (Spa) Spain
DNF Ruben Montoya Lopez (Spa) Spain
DNF Eusebio Pascual Bonhome (Spa) Spain
DNF Carlos Lorente Garcia (Spa) Dare Viator Partizan
DNF Javier Valero Amat (Spa) Dare Viator Partizan
DNF Óscar Sánchez (Spa) Dare Viator Partizan
DNF Miguel Calatayud Feo (Spa) Dare Viator Partizan
DNF Francisco Jose Castello Dobon (Spa) Dare Viator Partizan
DNF Ander Barrenetxea Uriarte (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country – Murias
DNF Ion Ander Insausti Irastorza (Spa) Bahrain-Merida
DNF Eric Young (USA) Rally Cycling
DNF Evgeny Shalunov (Rus) Gazprom – Rusvelo
DNF Yusuke Hatanaka (Jpn) Team UKYO