2021 Vuelta Ciclista a la Region de Murcia (1.1), Spain
41st edition: May 23, 2021
Vuelta a Murcia podium history | 2020 edition | 2022 edition
Los Alcázares - Alcantarilla, 192.4 km
Antonio Soto has left everyone behind.
Weather at the finish city of Alcantarilla at 1:15 PM, local time: 17C (62F), raining, with the wind from the east at 19 km/hr (12 mph). The forecast is for the rain to continue for the rest of the day.
The race: Here's the report from third-place Gonzalo Serrano's Team Movistar.
A picture of the race's first break, showing the tough weather conditions in Murcia today.
It was an emotional win for Antonio Soto (EUS) at his home town, Alcantarilla, end of a 2021 Vuelta a Murcia -192km starting from Los Alcázares- completely overshadowed by bad weather. Soto took the victory from an early break which the Movistar Team, hampered by those foul conditions, fought hard to bring back until the top of the Collado Bermejo (Cat-1), the pivotal climb of the race.
As Alejandro Valverde, who started here the second half of the season, soon out of condition, it was up to three of his team-mates to chase the win until the end: Héctor Carretero, José Joaquín Rojas (4th) and Gonzalo Serrano, who got into the podium in third. All three were part of a counter-attack at the descent of the Alto de Gebas (Cat-3), later neutralized by the main group.
At the sprint, behind Soto and second-placed Madrazo (BBH), who also went on the attack with 2km left, Serrano confirmed a podium result which wraps up a really nice Spanish spring tournée for the Movistar Team, with success at GP Indurain, Valencia, Asturias and, above that, the recent Vuelta a Andalucía.
Complete results:
192.4 kilometers raced at an average speed of 40.809 km/hr
| 1 | SOTO Antonio | Euskaltel-Euskadi | 4hr 42min 19sec |
| 2 | MADRAZO Angel | Burgos-BH | @ 31sec |
| 3 | SERRANO Gonzalo | Movistar | s.t. |
| 4 | ROJAS José | Movistar | s.t. |
| 5 | GIBBONS Ryan | UAE-Team Emirates | s.t. |
| 6 | EZQUERRA Jesús | Burgos-BH | s.t. |
| 7 | CANAL Carlos | Burgos-BH | s.t. |
| 8 | MARTIN Gotzon | Euskaltel-Euskadi | s.t. |
| 9 | GREGAARD Jonas | Astana-Premier Tech | s.t. |
| 10 | CUADRADO Unai | Euskaltel-Euskadi | s.t. |
| 11 | AMEZQUETA Julen | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | s.t. |
| 12 | LASTRA Jonathan | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | s.t. |
| 13 | BERLIN Antoine | Global 6 Cycling | s.t. |
| 14 | CUADROS Alvaro | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | s.t. |
| 15 | SWIRBUL Keegan | Rally Cycling | s.t. |
| 16 | BERRADE Urko | Kern Pharma | 0:41 |
| 17 | BALLESTEROS Miguel | Electro Hiper Europa | 1:51 |
| 18 | KRISTOFF Alexander | UAE-Team Emirates | 2:02 |
| 19 | VACEK Mathias | Gazprom-RusVelo | s.t. |
| 20 | OKAMIKA Ander | Burgos-BH | s.t. |
| 21 | MARTIN Sergio | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | s.t. |
| 22 | GUTIERREZ José | Gios | s.t. |
| 23 | STRAKHOV Dmitry | Gazprom-RusVelo | s.t. |
| 24 | NAVARRO Daniel | Burgos-BH | s.t. |
| 25 | PAREDES César | Louletano-Loulé Concelho | s.t. |
| 26 | BROWN Nathan | Rally Cycling | s.t. |
| 27 | CEPEDA Jefferson | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | s.t. |
| 28 | DEL PINO Jesus | Louletano-Loulé Concelho | 4:06 |
| 29 | BRITTON Rob | Rally Cycling | 4:15 |
| 30 | SPRENGERS Thomas | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 31 | PALUTA Michal | Global 6 Cycling | s.t. |
| 32 | URBANO Carmelo | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | 5:24 |
| 33 | SAEZ Héctor | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | s.t. |
| 34 | BRUSSENSKIY Gleb | Astana-Premier Tech | s.t. |
| 35 | PERRY Benjamin | Astana-Premier Tech | 8:28 |
| 36 | SHEFFIELD Magnus | Rally Cycling | 11:25 |
| 37 | RODRIGUEZ Oscar | Astana-Premier Tech | s.t. |
| 38 | GARCIA Raúl | Kern Pharma | s.t. |
| 39 | CARRETERO Héctor | Movistar | s.t. |
| 40 | TRENTIN Matteo | UAE-Team Emirates | s.t. |
| 41 | HERREGODTS Rune | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | 11:54 |
| 42 | VERWILST Aaron | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 43 | STALNOV Nikita | Astana-Premier Tech | 14:43 |
| 44 | GIL Javier | Bahrain Cycling Academy | 14:50 |
| 45 | PELEGRI Oscar | Electro Hiper Europa | s.t. |
| 46 | APARICIO Mario | Burgos-BH | 21:11 |