2016 Vuelta Ciclista a Rioja (1.1), Spain
56th edition: Sunday, April 3, 2016
Vuelta Ciclista a Rioja podium history | 2015 edition | 2017 edition | Course map and profile
Logroño - Logroño, 157.4 km
Michael Matthews drives for the finish
The Race: The story as told by race winner Michael Matthews' Orica-GreenEdge team.
2016 Paris-Nice green jersey champion Michael Matthews has won the 56th Vuelta Ciclista a la Rioja today, taking the sprint by a whisker after ORICA-GreenEDGE brought back the breakaway in the final ten kilometres of the race.
The third victory in three years for ORICA-GreenEDGE at the Spanish race and the second for Matthews (after his win in 2014) was made all the more sweeter by the manner in which the team controlled the race.
Taking responsibility at the front of the peloton for most of the day, Matthews praised the tireless work of his teammates. “The team were amazing throughout the race today,” said Matthews. “They did a perfect job controlling things and I’m happy I was able to finish it off. I started my sprint from around 200metres. It was difficult because I got pushed into the barriers and had to go around, luckily I had enough speed to hold on.
“We were the only team on the front from start to finish. The boys were really strong and in the end the sprint was very close, I didn’t know if I had won when we crossed the line. After the crash in San-Remo its really good to come here and win, to move on.”
Sport director Dave McPartland was happy the team bounced back so well after a frustrating day at the GP Miguel Indurain on Saturday. “Super happy with the win, the whole team were fantastic today,” said McPartland. “Michael (Matthews) did really well to finish it off in the sprint after Cheung (King-Lok) and Mathew (Hayman) did a lot of good work bringing back the breakaway.”
“We had a race plan that we wanted to stick to and a big part of that was dependent on limiting the advantage of the breakaway. We spoke about the importance of our positioning after missing out in the finale of yesterday’s race, it was great to see the boys put that behind them today.”
How it happened: The race began uneventfully, one or two tentative attempts to form the breakaway were quickly subdued until a group of five riders finally began to gain time on the peloton stretching their advantage to just over three minutes after 25 kilometres.
With none of the favourites represented among the leaders, the racing continued steadily for the next 50 kilometres. ORICA-GreenEDGE, positioned attentively at the front of the main bunch, started to reduce the lead of the front group.
For the next 60 kilometres the advantage of the leaders continued to fall thanks to the continued efforts of ORICA-GreenEDGE on the front of the peloton, with Christian Meier, King Lok and Hayman all taking long turns, keeping the pressure firmly on the breakaway.
Approaching the finishing circuit in Logrono with ten kilometres to go, the leaders were finally caught. The race was shaping up for the sprint with the other teams beginning to get involved and jostle for position at the front of peloton. ORICA-GreenEDGE, Movistar and Caja-Rural were the three prominent contenders going into the final kilometre.
Michael Albasini was the last man in the line for Matthews and he dropped him off perfectly for the sprint. Taking off with 200metres to go into a block head wind Matthews still had work to do, skilfully managing to stay upright after a brush with the barriers and crossing the line half a wheel ahead of Sergey-Shilov (Russia).
The next race for ORICA-GreenEDGE is the Vuelta Ciclista Pais Vasco starting on Monday 4th of April.
Complete Results:
157.4 kilometers raced at an average speed of 41.543 km/hr
1 | MATTHEWS, Michael | ORICA GreenEDGE | 3hr 47min 20sec |
2 | SHILOV, Sergei | SEL. RUSIA | s.t. |
3 | BARBERO, Carlos | CAJA RURAL | s.t. |
4 | CALEIRA, Samuel | W52-FC PORTO | s.t. |
5 | FREITAS, Daniel | W52-FC PORTO | s.t. |
6 | BOGDANOVICS, Maris | RIETUMU-DELFIN | s.t. |
7 | BARKER, Yanto | ONE PRO CYCLING | s.t. |
8 | DE MATEOS, Vicente | LOULETANO | s.t. |
9 | ZHURAVLEV, Vadim | SEL. RUSIA | s.t. |
10 | PEREZ, Juan | W52-FC PORTO | s.t. |
11 | BRAVO, Garikoitz | EUSKADI BASQUE COUNTRY | s.t. |
12 | FONTE, César | RADIO POPULAR-BOAVISTA | s.t. |
13 | PERON, Andrea | TEAM NOVO NORDISK | s.t. |
14 | MILAN, Diego | INTEJA-MMR | s.t. |
15 | BAGÜES, Aritz | EUSKADI BASQUE COUNTRY | s.t. |
16 | JIMENEZ, Carlos | RADIO POPULAR-BOAVISTA | s.t. |
17 | BOHORQUEZ, Hernando | MANZANA POSTOBON | s.t. |
18 | CUBERO, Jorge | BURGOS BH | s.t. |
19 | LOPEZ, Daniel | BURGOS BH | s.t. |
20 | IRISARRI, Jon | SEL. ESPAÑOLA | s.t. |
21 | BECIS, Armands | RIETUMU-DELFIN | s.t. |
22 | GOIKOETXEA, Peio | MANZANA POSTOBON | s.t. |
23 | GAVARS, Eriks Toms | RIETUMU-DELFIN | s.t. |
24 | RUBIO, Diego | CAJA RURAL | s.t. |
25 | TERUEL, Eloy | LOULETANO | s.t. |
26 | SEVILLA, Diego P. | SEL. ESPAÑOLA | s.t. |
27 | SAMOLENKOV, Artem | SEL. RUSIA | s.t. |
28 | REIS, Rafael | W52-FC PORTO | s.t. |
29 | LIZARRALDE, Eneko | EUSKADI BASQUE COUNTRY | s.t. |
30 | DOMAGALSKI, Karol | ONE PRO CYCLING | s.t. |
31 | CAMACHO, Juan | SEL. ESPAÑOLA | s.t. |
32 | PRUUS, Peeter | RIETUMU-DELFIN | s.t. |
33 | SAN SEBASTIAN, Xabier | SEL. ESPAÑOLA | s.t. |
34 | SALAS, Ibai | BURGOS BH | s.t. |
35 | DE SEGOVIA, Jose | LOULETANO | s.t. |
36 | CANTERO, Fco. Javier | LOULETANO | s.t. |
37 | RIUTORT, Juan carlos | BURGOS BH | s.t. |
38 | FIGUEIREDO, Frederico | RADIO POPULAR-BOAVISTA | s.t. |
39 | COSTA, Axel | MASSI-KUWAIT | s.t. |
40 | RODRIGUES, Joao | W52-FC PORTO | s.t. |
41 | VDOVIN, Sergey | SEL. RUSIA | s.t. |
42 | OCHOA, Javier | SEL. ESPAÑOLA | s.t. |
43 | FERREIRA, Ricardo | RADIO POPULAR-BOAVISTA | s.t. |
44 | VILLEGAS, Juan | MANZANA POSTOBON | s.t. |
45 | NEUSTROEV, Vasilii | SEL. RUSIA | s.t. |
46 | WILLIAMS, Peter | ONE PRO CYCLING | s.t. |
47 | DE ALMEIDA, Guillaume | RADIO POPULAR-BOAVISTA | s.t. |
48 | KAMSTRA, Brian | TEAM NOVO NORDISK | s.t. |
49 | CASENY, Ruben | MASSI-KUWAIT | s.t. |
50 | ROBREDO, Alvaro | BURGOS BH | s.t. |
51 | SUESCA, Marco T. | MANZANA POSTOBON | s.t. |
52 | RODRIGUES, David | RADIO POPULAR-BOAVISTA | s.t. |
53 | MEIER, Christian | ORICA GreenEDGE | s.t. |
54 | ESTEVEZ, Imanol | EUSKADI BASQUE COUNTRY | s.t. |
55 | ALARCON, Raul | W52-FC PORTO | s.t. |
56 | GUERRERO, Pablo | RADIO POPULAR-BOAVISTA | @ 10sec |
57 | SUTHERLAND, Rory | MOVISTAR TEAM | s.t. |
58 | GALARRETA, David | RIETUMU-DELFIN | s.t. |
59 | ANACONA, Winner | MOVISTAR TEAM | s.t. |
60 | ALBASINI, Michael | ORICA GreenEDGE | 13 |
61 | DE MESMAEKER, Kevin | TEAM NOVO NORDISK | s.t. |
62 | VINHAS, Rui | W52-FC PORTO | s.t. |
63 | ISIDORO, Micael | LOULETANO | s.t. |
64 | LOZANO, David | TEAM NOVO NORDISK | s.t. |
65 | ZABALA, Josu | SEL. ESPAÑOLA | s.t. |
66 | SIERRA, Yecid A. | MANZANA POSTOBON | s.t. |
67 | RODRIGUEZ, Cristian | SEL. ESPAÑOLA | s.t. |
68 | VDOVIN, Alexander | SEL. RUSIA | s.t. |
69 | CLANCY, Stephen | TEAM NOVO NORDISK | s.t. |
70 | ORAM, James | ONE PRO CYCLING | s.t. |
71 | VERSCHOOR, Martijn | TEAM NOVO NORDISK | s.t. |
72 | PLANET, Charles | TEAM NOVO NORDISK | s.t. |
73 | NUÑO, Israel | INTEJA-MMR | s.t. |
74 | HARPER, George | ONE PRO CYCLING | s.t. |
75 | TXOPERENA, Benat | EUSKADI BASQUE COUNTRY | s.t. |
76 | MAS, Luis | CAJA RURAL | s.t. |
77 | ARANBURU, Alex | EUSKADI BASQUE COUNTRY | s.t. |
78 | MORENO, Javier | MOVISTAR TEAM | s.t. |
79 | MOLINA, Antonio | CAJA RURAL | s.t. |
80 | SARMI9ENTO, Johnatan | MASSI-KUWAIT | s.t. |
81 | TORRES, Pablo | BURGOS BH | s.t. |
82 | BETANCUR, Carlos A. | MOVISTAR TEAM | s.t. |
83 | PLAZA, Ruben | ORICA GreenEDGE | s.t. |
84 | ARAMENDIA, Fco. Javier | CAJA RURAL | s.t. |
85 | PEDRERO, Antonio | MOVISTAR TEAM | s.t. |
86 | MARTIN, Victor | BURGOS BH | s.t. |
87 | TIGRINE, Mehdi | MASSI-KUWAIT | s.t. |
88 | DEL PINO, Jesus | BURGOS BH | s.t. |
89 | EBSEN, John | ONE PRO CYCLING | s.t. |
90 | SAEZ, Hector | CAJA RURAL | s.t. |
91 | HANDLEY, Richard | ONE PRO CYCLING | s.t. |
92 | SARABIA, Ignacio | INTEJA-MMR | s.t. |
93 | ARROYO, David | CAJA RURAL | s.t. |
94 | ETXEBARRIA, Victor | RADIO POPULAR-BOAVISTA | s.t. |
95 | RUBLEVSKIS, Aleksandrs | RIETUMU-DELFIN | s.t. |
96 | BIZKARRA, Mikel | EUSKADI BASQUE COUNTRY | s.t. |
97 | PARDILLA, Sergio | CAJA RURAL | s.t. |
98 | GONZALEZ, Aitor | EUSKADI BASQUE COUNTRY | s.t. |
99 | MARQUEZ, Rafael | INTEJA-MMR | s.t. |
100 | MAGALHAES, Samuel | LOULETANO | s.t. |
101 | VILANOVA, Marc | MASSI-KUWAIT | 26 |
102 | KANEPEJS, Deins | RIETUMU-DELFIN | 28 |
103 | HAYMAN, Mathew | ORICA GreenEDGE | s.t. |
104 | MOLANO, Sebastián | MANZANA POSTOBON | 51 |
105 | PAREDES, Wilmar | MANZANA POSTOBON | 54 |
106 | MEGIAS, Javier | TEAM NOVO NORDISK | 57 |
107 | STRAKHOV, Dmitrii | SEL. RUSIA | 2:06 |
108 | PINTO, Sandro | LOULETANO | s.t. |
109 | REBOLLIDO, Angel | W52-FC PORTO | s.t. |
110 | JUUL JENSEN, Christopher | ORICA GreenEDGE | 2:28 |
111 | SOBRINO, Josquin | INTEJA-MMR | 2:52 |
112 | SMITH, Dion | ONE PRO CYCLING | s.t. |
113 | SUESHNIKOV, Kirill | SEL. RUSIA | 3:01 |
114 | CHEUNG, King Lok | ORICA GreenEDGE | 5:59 |
115 | GRIJALBA, Fernando | INTEJA-MMR | 7:23 |
Course map
Course profile