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2016 Vuelta a Castilla y León (2.1), Spain

31st edition: April 15 - April 17, 2016

Vuelta a Castilla y León podium history | 2015 edition | 2017 edition | Start list
Stage 1 | Stage 2 | Stage 3


Sunday, April 17: 3rd and Final Stage, Salamanca - Candelario (Alto de la Plataforma), 151.4 km

Stage 3 map and profile

Stage 3 video (in Spanish)

The Race: Here's the story from final overall winner Alejandro Valverde's Movistar team.

Tour de France: the Inside Story

The Movistar Team were infallible, committed in full and more successful than ever in the Vuelta a Castilla y León. Alejandro Valverde and the Blues left the Spanish event with all four major victories at stake as the Spanish road race champion, always trying to keep team-mate and GC leader Carlos Betancur into contention for a well-deserved overall victory, ultimately had to go on his own after the Colombian struggled into the last climb of stage three. ‘El Imbatido’ showed his best form leading up to the Giro and got closer to the magic number of 100 pro victories -now at 95- while taking Eusebio Unzué’s outfit up to fourth in the victory rankings with 12, seven of them in barely fifteen days.

The final day of racing in northwestern Spain -161.4km between Salamanca and Candelario- always had the telephone squad at the front, with the likes of Arcas, Dowsett, Pedrero, Rojas or Winner keeping all attempts under control. With the Movistar Team not allowing the day’s main break opening gaps bigger than two minutes and a late move by Lluis Mas (CJR) efficiently suffocated, the roster directed by José Luis Jaimerena and José Luis Laguía made sure it all came down to the 6km Alto de la Plataforma (Cat-1).

Without Betancur, dropped back halfway through the ascent after plenty of attacks, Valverde took the rains to chase down every other attempt and use his speed at the end to claim his fifth success of 2016. As a result of this victory, the Movistar Team has already conquered four races overall in 2016, all of them in style: San Luis, with Dayer Quintana -Nairo at his service-; Andalucía, again with ‘Bala’ after an excellent Peñas Blancas climb; and Catalunya, where Quintana bested some of the world’s top stageracers. Undoubtedly, a huge boost of morale for the whole squad, just three weeks ahead of the Giro start.

REACTION:

Alejandro Valverde: “I’m leaving Castilla y León full of happiness. The race couldn’t have gone better -stage wins for Betancur and myself, the GC- and, above all, this is an excellent way to get the racing pace and start building up before the Giro, which I’m so excited about. I want to thank the whole team - they worked their heart out all weekend long and even more so today, from the very beginning.

“At the final climb, my main priority was keeping Carlos into contention; there were several moves into the first slopes of the ascent and we could control them more or less comfortably, without him losing the wheel of the group. However, at some point he started to suffer, and we had to keep going so we could still stand a chance. I managed well that group with Brandao and the Caja Rural riders before going for the sprint with 100 meters to go.

“Now it’s all about Flèche and Liège. Going for the win? Well, we will see. The field of contenders is completely different to what I had to face this weekend. Those are races I’ve really enjoyed for years, but my main goal at the moment is staying safe and keeping my form going up before the biggest goal of the early season for me, which is the Giro.”

Complete results:

151.4 kilometers raced at an average speed of 35.504 km/hr

1 Alejandro Valverde Movistar 4hr 15min 51sec
2 Jóni Brandão Efapel @ 1sec
3 David Arroyo Caja Rural +3''
4 Pello Bilbao Caja Rural +8''
5 Jaime Rosón Caja Rural +16''
6 Federico Figueiredo Rádio Popular +20''
7 Henrique Casimiro Efapel +22''
8 Rinaldo Nocentini Sporting Tavira +28''
9 Heiner Parra Boyacá Raza +30''
10 Rafael Reis W52/FC Porto +32''
11 Mikel Bizkarra Euskadi Basque Country s.t.
12 Mario González Sporting Tavira +32''
13 Garikoitz Bravo Euskadi Basque Country +40''
14 Winner Anacona Movistar s.t.
15 Igor Merino Burgos BH +1' 15''
16 Linus Gerdemann Stölting +1' 40''
17 Hernán Parra Manzana Postobón +1' 41''
18 John Ebsen One Pro Cycling +1' 56''
19 Víctor Etxebarría Rádio Popular +2' 11''
20 Alex Aranburu Euskadi Basque Country +2' 18''
21 Ricardo Vilela Caja Rural s.t.
22 Hernando Bohórquez Manzana Postobón +2' 21''
23 Ricardo Mestre W52/FC Porto s.t.
24 José Joaquín Rojas Movistar s.t.
25 Alexander Vdovin Lokosphinx s.t.
26 Jesús Del Pino Burgos BH +2' 28''
27 César Fonte Rádio Popular +2' 34''
28 Diego Ochoa Boyacá Raza +2' 37''
29 Álvaro Trueba Efapel +2' 38''
30 Carlos Betancur Movistar +2' 44''
31 Antonio Pedrero Movistar +2' 46''
32 Robinson Ortega Boyacá Raza s.t.
33 Hugo Sabido Sporting Tavira +2' 57''
34 Sergey Shilov Lokosphinx +3' 04''
35 Vadim Zhuravlev Lokosphinx s.t.
36 Wilson Rodríguez Boyacá Raza +3' 13''
37 Rui Vinhas W52/FC Porto +3' 35''
38 David Rodrigues Rádio Popular s.t.
39 Aitor González Euskadi Basque Country +4' 02''
40 Lluís Mas Caja Rural s.t.
41 Nuno Almeida Efapel +4' 10''
42 Miguel Florez Boyacá Raza +4' 12''
43 Carlos Barbero Caja Rural +4' 15''
44 Lachlan Norris Drapac s.t.
45 David De la Fuente Sporting Tavira s.t.
46 Néstor García Boyacá Raza +4' 28''
47 Yeison Chaparro Boyacá Raza +6' 03''
48 Jonas Tenbrock Stölting +6' 06''
49 Daniel Mestre Efapel +6' 48''
50 Aldemar Reyes Manzana Postobón +6' 52''
51 Artem Samolenkov Lokosphinx +7' 00''
52 Gavin Mannion Drapac +7' 24''
53 Diego Milán Inteja MMR +8' 22''
54 Jesús Ezquerra Sporting Tavira +8' 32''
55 Juan Ignacio Pérez W52/FC Porto s.t.
56 Dmitry Sokolov Lokosphinx +9' 05''
57 Fernando Grijalba Inteja MMR +9' 57''
58 Ricardo Ferreira Rádio Popular +10' 17''
59 Juan Felipe Osorio Manzana Postobón +10' 49''
60 Raúl Alarcón W52/FC Porto +11' 25''
61 David Livramento Sporting Tavira s.t.
62 Sven Reutter Stölting s.t.
63 Pablo Guerrero Rádio Popular s.t.
64 Válter Pereira Sporting Tavira s.t.
65 Bernardo Suaza Manzana Postobón +11' 28''
66 Rafael Silva Efapel +11' 34''
67 Arnau Solé Burgos BH +11' 57''
68 Adam Phelan Drapac +12' 40''
69 Vasily Neustroev Lokosphinx +14' 07''
70 Tom Baylis One Pro Cycling +14' 40''
71 Samuel Caldeira W52/FC Porto +15' 11''
72 Daniel Freitas W52/FC Porto s.t.
73 Rui Sousa Rádio Popular +15' 26''
74 Rafael Márquez Inteja MMR s.t.
75 Marco Suesca Manzana Postobón s.t.
76 Pablo Torres Burgos BH s.t.
77 Adrián González Euskadi Basque Country s.t.
78 Brad Evans Drapac +15' 28''
79 Dmitriy Strakhov Lokosphinx s.t.

Final GC after Stage 3:

488.3 kilometers raced at an average speed of 37.326 km/hr

1 Alejandro Valverde Movistar 13hr 4min 55sec
2 Pello Bilbao Caja Rural @ 30sec
3 Jóni Brandão Efapel +1' 06''
4 David Arroyo Caja Rural +1' 10''
5 Jaime Rosón Caja Rural +1' 32''
6 Winner Anacona Movistar +1' 43''
7 Rafael Reis W52/FC Porto s.t.
8 Garikoitz Bravo Euskadi Basque Country +2' 23''
9 Carlos Betancur Movistar +2' 51''
10 Linus Gerdemann Stölting s.t.
11 José Joaquín Rojas Movistar +3' 28''
12 César Fonte Rádio Popular +3' 59''
13 Rinaldo Nocentini Sporting Tavira +4' 41''
14 Carlos Barbero Caja Rural +5' 08''
15 Rui Vinhas W52/FC Porto +6' 05''
16 Lluís Mas Caja Rural +6' 19''
17 Federico Figueiredo Rádio Popular +7' 35''
18 Aitor González Euskadi Basque Country +7' 36''
19 Henrique Casimiro Efapel +7' 37''
20 Mikel Bizkarra Euskadi Basque Country +7' 47''
21 Mario González Sporting Tavira s.t.
22 Hernán Parra Manzana Postobón +8' 35''
23 Ricardo Mestre W52/FC Porto +8' 51''
24 Jesús Del Pino Burgos BH +8' 58''
25 Igor Merino Burgos BH +9' 04''
26 Diego Ochoa Boyacá Raza +9' 12''
27 Heiner Parra Boyacá Raza +9' 25''
28 Víctor Etxebarría Rádio Popular +9' 26''
29 Ricardo Vilela Caja Rural +9' 33''
30 Hernando Bohórquez Manzana Postobón +9' 36''
31 Alexander Vdovin Lokosphinx s.t.
32 Álvaro Trueba Efapel +9' 48''
33 Sergey Shilov Lokosphinx +10' 19''
34 Nuno Almeida Efapel +11' 25''
35 David De la Fuente Sporting Tavira +11' 30''
36 Fernando Grijalba Inteja MMR +12' 29''
37 Alex Aranburu Euskadi Basque Country +13' 01''
38 Daniel Mestre Efapel +15' 26''
39 Diego Milán Inteja MMR +15' 37''
40 Jesús Ezquerra Sporting Tavira +15' 47''
41 Artem Samolenkov Lokosphinx +17' 30''
42 Dmitry Sokolov Lokosphinx +17' 35''
43 Samuel Caldeira W52/FC Porto +17' 51''
44 Juan Felipe Osorio Manzana Postobón +18' 04''
45 Antonio Pedrero Movistar +19' 38''
46 Adam Phelan Drapac +19' 55''
47 Jonas Tenbrock Stölting +20' 11''
48 John Ebsen One Pro Cycling +21' 24''
49 Vadim Zhuravlev Lokosphinx +22' 56''
50 David Rodrigues Rádio Popular +23' 03''
51 Lachlan Norris Drapac +23' 43''
52 Néstor García Boyacá Raza +26' 00''
53 Aldemar Reyes Manzana Postobón +26' 20''
54 Adrián González Euskadi Basque Country +27' 05''
55 Sven Reutter Stölting +27' 31''
56 Hugo Sabido Sporting Tavira +27' 52''
57 Pablo Torres Burgos BH +29' 31''
58 Yeison Chaparro Boyacá Raza +30' 58''
59 Rafael Silva Efapel +31' 02''
60 Robinson Ortega Boyacá Raza +31' 13''
61 Bernardo Suaza Manzana Postobón +31' 24''
62 Pablo Guerrero Rádio Popular +31' 43''
63 Juan Ignacio Pérez W52/FC Porto +33' 27''
64 Vasily Neustroev Lokosphinx +33' 35''
65 Ricardo Ferreira Rádio Popular +35' 12''
66 Rafael Márquez Inteja MMR +35' 54''
67 Miguel Florez Boyacá Raza +36' 14''
68 David Livramento Sporting Tavira +36' 20''
69 Raúl Alarcón W52/FC Porto +36' 20''
70 Válter Pereira Sporting Tavira s.t.
71 Wilson Rodríguez Boyacá Raza +36' 33''
72 Brad Evans Drapac +38' 07''
73 Marco Suesca Manzana Postobón +38' 22''
74 Tom Baylis One Pro Cycling +38' 40''
75 Daniel Freitas W52/FC Porto +40' 06''
76 Rui Sousa Rádio Popular +40' 21''
77 Gavin Mannion Drapac +40' 32''
78 Dmitriy Strakhov Lokosphinx +42' 27''
79 Arnau Solé Burgos BH +43' 24''

Stage 3 map and profile:

Stage 3 map

Stage 3 map

Stage 3 profile

Stage 3 profile


Saturday, April 16: Stage 2, Bragança – Fermoselle, 170.6 km

Stage 2 map and profile

Alejandro Valverde

Alejandro Valverde wins stage 2 alone

The Race: Here's the story from stage winner Alejandro Valverde's Movistar team.

Valiant Valverde wins solo in Fermoselle: Controlling, pushing, attacking, winning. The race strategy went all to perfection for the Movistar Team and Alejandro Valverde on stage two of the Vuelta a Castilla y León. While successfully defending the leader's jersey with Carlos Betancur, the squad directed by José Luis Jaimerena and José Luis Laguía worked hard to ensure Valverde had the best position to seek and claim his third win of the season. At the end, it was sheer domination for the Blues.

The start of the 170.6km trek from Bragança to Fermoselle was again soaked by rain, at least during the Portuguese stretch of Saturday's racing. Ever since the first climb of Rosas (Cat-3), Jorge Arcas started pulling at the front to keep the early break on a leash. The Aragón-based rider's work was crucial so the telephone squad could develop the pre-race strategy once winds picked up its intensity after the Alto de Vimioso. Into the plains, the Movistar Team profited from crosswinds to split the peloton twice, leaving only 30 riders ahead. The Blues' strength was so definitive that the two main pelotons were two minutes apart at the 20-kilometer-to-go banner. No chance was left for those behind.

Valverde's time came on the foot of the Alto de Fermoselle (Cat-2). 'Bala’ jumped off the front with Carlos Barbero (CJR) and later dropped his fellow countryman, opening a 30" gap across the summit that increased to 51" over the finishing line. Courage and class brought the Movistar Team their 10th win of the 2016 season, as they kept Carlos Betancur on top of the GC with three seconds over Valverde. The Blues' sweep of the leader in the standings so far was complete with Winner Anacona, 5th overall, and José Joaquín Rojas, 3rd today and 6th on the overall classification. Still, anything is decided yet: the Alto de la Plataforma's (Cat-1) slopes will still allow for major changes tomorrow. Will we succeed?

REACTIONS:

Alejandro Valverde: “We could open some gaps again today, we remain in the lead with Carlos, I'm now second at 3"... things couldn't be better for us at this point of the race. Plus, tomorrow's finish is a good one for me - but we mustn't elaborate much on that, as we never know what could happen. I just hope that these two stages do well on me before Flèche and Liège, some racing form I needed. I also wish yesterday's awful weather doesn't bring any illness! Even more than the classics, I expect this to be a good preparation before the Giro. It will surely bring some morale up on me, so I can be afraid of none at the start. I'd love Carlos winning this race tomorrow - we'll see what we can do about that tomorrow."

Carlos Betancur: “The team was simply excellent; it makes one really happy to see how we controlled the race and won. We pushed for the entire stage, especially when those crosswinds formed up... and seeing Alejandro taking the stage win in such great style makes you happy to have spent the whole day at the front. I'm still in the lead and I hope I can do well on tomorrow's Cat-1 finish. For the time being, our performance this weekend has been fantastic."

Complete Results:

170.6 kilometers raced at an average speed of 39.148 km/hr

1 Alejandro Valverde Movistar 4hr 21min 28sec
2 Carlos Barbero Caja Rural @ 51sec
3 José Joaquín Rojas Movistar s.t.
4 Jóni Brandão Efapel s.t.
5 Rafael Reis W52/FC Porto s.t.
6 Rinaldo Nocentini Sporting Tavira s.t.
7 Winner Anacona Movistar s.t.
8 Linus Gerdemann Stölting s.t.
9 Carlos Betancur Movistar s.t.
10 David Arroyo Caja Rural s.t.
11 Jaime Rosón Caja Rural +56''
12 Pello Bilbao Caja Rural +1' 02''
13 César Fonte Rádio Popular +1' 05''
14 Garikoitz Bravo Euskadi Basque Country +1' 23''
15 Lluís Mas Caja Rural +1' 57''
16 Rui Vinhas W52/FC Porto +2' 10''
17 Alex Dowsett Movistar s.t.
18 Fernando Grijalba Inteja-MMR +2' 12''
19 Samuel Caldeira W52/FC Porto +2' 20''
20 Heiner Parra Boyacá Raza +2' 58''
21 Aitor González Euskadi Basque Country +3' 14''
22 Ricardo Mestre W52/FC Porto +6' 10''
23 Jesús Del Pino Burgos BH s.t.
24 Diego Ochoa Boyacá Raza +6' 15''
25 Hernán Parra Manzana Postobón +6' 34''
26 Karol Domagalski One Pro Cycling +6' 51''
27 Nuno Almeida Efapel +6' 55''
28 Diego Milán Inteja-MMR s.t.
29 Rasmus Quaade Stölting s.t.
30 David De la Fuente Sporting Tavira s.t.
31 Sergey Shilov Lokosphinx s.t.
32 Alex Aranburu Euskadi Basque Country s.t.
33 Ricardo Vilela Caja Rural s.t.
34 Adam Phelan Drapac s.t.
35 Álvaro Trueba Efapel s.t.
36 Jesús Ezquerra Sporting Tavira s.t.
37 Hernando Bohórquez Manzana Postobón s.t.
38 Juan Felipe Osorio Manzana Postobón s.t.
39 Federico Figueiredo Rádio Popular s.t.
40 Mikel Bizkarra Euskadi Basque Country s.t.
41 Víctor Etxebarría Rádio Popular s.t.
42 Igor Merino Burgos BH s.t.
43 Alexander Vdovin Lokosphinx s.t.
44 José Gonçalves Caja Rural s.t.
45 Mario González Sporting Tavira s.t.
46 Henrique Casimiro Efapel s.t.
47 Antonio Pedrero Movistar +7' 33''
48 Pablo Torres Burgos BH +8' 18''
49 Daniel Mestre Efapel s.t.
50 Jonas Tenbrock Stölting s.t.
51 Joshua Hunt One Pro Cycling s.t.
52 Artem Samolenkov Lokosphinx s.t.
53 Dmitry Sokolov Lokosphinx s.t.
54 Beñat Txoperena Euskadi Basque Country +10' 19''
55 Jorge Arcas Movistar s.t.
56 Sven Reutter Stölting s.t.
57 Adrián González Euskadi Basque Country s.t.
58 Brenton Jones Drapac +12' 49''
59 Vasily Neustroev Lokosphinx +19' 08''
60 Rui Sousa Rádio Popular s.t.
61 Hugo Sabido Sporting Tavira s.t.
62 David Livramento Sporting Tavira s.t.
63 Bernardo Suaza Manzana Postobón s.t.
64 Joaquín Sobrino Inteja-MMR s.t.
65 Rafael Silva Efapel s.t.
66 Marco Suesca Manzana Postobón s.t.
67 Vadim Zhuravlev Lokosphinx s.t.
68 Juan Ignacio Pérez W52/FC Porto s.t.
69 Miguel Florez Boyacá Raza s.t.
70 Ibai Salas Burgos BH s.t.
71 Ricardo Ferreira Rádio Popular s.t.
72 Aldemar Reyes Manzana Postobón s.t.
73 Pablo Guerrero Rádio Popular s.t.
74 Yeison Chaparro Boyacá Raza s.t.
75 Arnau Solé Burgos BH s.t.
76 Válter Pereira Sporting Tavira s.t.
77 Daniel Freitas W52/FC Porto s.t.
78 Robinson Ortega Boyacá Raza s.t.
79 Lachlan Norris Drapac s.t.
80 Sam Spokes Drapac s.t.
81 Rafael Márquez Inteja-MMR s.t.
82 Imanol Estévez Euskadi Basque Country s.t.
83 David Rodrigues Rádio Popular s.t.
84 Raúl Alarcón W52/FC Porto s.t.
85 Juan José Cueto Inteja-MMR s.t.
86 John Ebsen One Pro Cycling s.t.
87 Brad Evans Drapac s.t.
88 Ignacio Sarabia Inteja-MMR s.t.
89 Gavin Mannion Drapac s.t.
90 Tom Baylis One Pro Cycling s.t.
91 Jason Lowndes Drapac s.t.
92 Dmitriy Strakhov Lokosphinx s.t.
93 Thomas Koep Stölting s.t.
94 Peio Goikoetxea Manzana Postobón s.t.
95 Néstor García Boyacá Raza +19' 20''
96 Wilson Rodríguez Boyacá Raza s.t.

GC after stage 2:

336.9 kilometers raced so far at an average speed of 38.198 km/hr

1 Carlos Betancur Movistar 8hr 49min 11sec
2 Alejandro Valverde Movistar @ 3sec
3 Pello Bilbao Caja Rural +15''
4 Carlos Barbero Caja Rural +46''
5 Winner Anacona Movistar +56''
6 José Joaquín Rojas Movistar +1' 00''
7 Jóni Brandão Efapel +1' 04''
8 Rafael Reis W52/FC Porto s.t.
9 Linus Gerdemann Stölting s.t.
10 David Arroyo Caja Rural s.t.
11 Jaime Rosón Caja Rural +1' 09''
12 César Fonte Rádio Popular +1' 18''
13 Garikoitz Bravo Euskadi Basque Country +1' 36''
14 Lluís Mas Caja Rural +2' 10''
15 Rui Vinhas W52/FC Porto +2' 23''
16 Alex Dowsett Movistar s.t.
17 Fernando Grijalba Inteja-MMR +2' 25''
18 Samuel Caldeira W52/FC Porto +2' 33''
19 Aitor González Euskadi Basque Country +3' 27''
20 Rinaldo Nocentini Sporting Tavira +4' 06''
21 Jesús Del Pino Burgos BH +6' 23''
22 Ricardo Mestre W52/FC Porto s.t.
23 Diego Ochoa Boyacá Raza +6' 28''
24 Hernán Parra Manzana Postobón +6' 47''
25 Álvaro Trueba Efapel +7' 03''
26 Karol Domagalski One Pro Cycling +7' 04''
27 Diego Milán Inteja-MMR +7' 08''
28 David De la Fuente Sporting Tavira s.t.
29 Jesús Ezquerra Sporting Tavira s.t.
30 Federico Figueiredo Rádio Popular s.t.
31 Hernando Bohórquez Manzana Postobón s.t.
32 Ricardo Vilela Caja Rural s.t.
33 José Gonçalves Caja Rural s.t.
34 Sergey Shilov Lokosphinx s.t.
35 Juan Felipe Osorio Manzana Postobón s.t.
36 Nuno Almeida Efapel s.t.
37 Alexander Vdovin Lokosphinx s.t.
38 Adam Phelan Drapac s.t.
39 Víctor Etxebarría Rádio Popular s.t.
40 Mikel Bizkarra Euskadi Basque Country s.t.
41 Mario González Sporting Tavira s.t.
42 Henrique Casimiro Efapel s.t.
43 Igor Merino Burgos BH +7' 42''
44 Dmitry Sokolov Lokosphinx +8' 23''
45 Daniel Mestre Efapel +8' 31''
46 Heiner Parra Boyacá Raza +8' 48''
47 Artem Samolenkov Lokosphinx +10' 23''
48 Alex Aranburu Euskadi Basque Country +10' 36''
49 Adrián González Euskadi Basque Country +11' 32''
50 Pablo Torres Burgos BH +13' 58''
51 Jonas Tenbrock Stölting s.t.
52 Beñat Txoperena Euskadi Basque Country +15' 59''
53 Sven Reutter Stölting s.t.
54 Antonio Pedrero Movistar +16' 45''
55 Brenton Jones Drapac +18' 29''
56 Rafael Silva Efapel +19' 21''
57 Vasily Neustroev Lokosphinx s.t.
58 Aldemar Reyes Manzana Postobón s.t.
59 John Ebsen One Pro Cycling s.t.
60 David Rodrigues Rádio Popular s.t.
61 Lachlan Norris Drapac s.t.
62 Jorge Arcas Movistar +19' 31''
63 Vadim Zhuravlev Lokosphinx +19' 45''
64 Thomas Koep Stölting s.t.
65 Bernardo Suaza Manzana Postobón +19' 49''
66 Pablo Guerrero Rádio Popular +20' 11''
67 Ignacio Sarabia Inteja-MMR s.t.
68 Rafael Márquez Inteja-MMR +20' 21''
69 Rasmus Quaade Stölting +20' 48''
70 Peio Goikoetxea Manzana Postobón +21' 13''
71 Néstor García Boyacá Raza +21' 25''
72 Joshua Hunt One Pro Cycling +22' 11''
73 Brad Evans Drapac +22' 32''
74 Marco Suesca Manzana Postobón +22' 49''
75 Imanol Estévez Euskadi Basque Country s.t.
76 Tom Baylis One Pro Cycling +23' 53''
77 Rui Sousa Rádio Popular +24' 48''
78 Hugo Sabido Sporting Tavira s.t.
79 David Livramento Sporting Tavira s.t.
80 Ricardo Ferreira Rádio Popular s.t.
81 Daniel Freitas W52/FC Porto s.t.
82 Juan Ignacio Pérez W52/FC Porto s.t.
83 Raúl Alarcón W52/FC Porto s.t.
84 Válter Pereira Sporting Tavira s.t.
85 Yeison Chaparro Boyacá Raza s.t.
86 Sam Spokes Drapac s.t.
87 Dmitriy Strakhov Lokosphinx +26' 52''
88 Robinson Ortega Boyacá Raza +28' 20''
89 Joaquín Sobrino Inteja-MMR s.t.
90 Ibai Salas Burgos BH s.t.
91 Arnau Solé Burgos BH s.t.
92 Miguel Florez Boyacá Raza +31' 55''
93 Gavin Mannion Drapac +33' 01''
94 Jason Lowndes Drapac s.t.
95 Wilson Rodríguez Boyacá Raza +33' 13''
96 Juan José Cueto Inteja-MMR +34' 10''

Stage 2 map and profile

Stage 2 map

Stage 2 map

Stage 2 profile

Stage 2 profile


Friday, April 15: Stage 1, Alcañices – Bragança, 166.3 km

Stage 1 map and profile

Carlos Betancur

Carlos Betancur gets the first stage

The Race: Here's the stage story from winner Carlos Betancur's Movistar team.

More than three hours under the rain, with temperatures under 10ºC: that was the scene under which Carlos Betancur claimed his first victory in Movistar Team colours. The opening stage of the Vuelta Castilla y León –166.3km between Alcañices, Zamora, and Bragança, in Portugal- had some dreadful conditions in store to balance what seemingly was a gentle route, with only three Cat-3 climbs. And despite the rainstorm, a Colombian prevailed. 'La Ronca' is back!

The squad directed by José Luis Jaimerena and José Luis Laguía started pursuing the day's seven-man break well before the Alto de Carmona. Before the Alto de Bragança, already on Portuguese soil, the Blues were pulling on full steam to ensure it was caught and creating some fireworks into the Alto do Castillo, the last climb of the day. That was Betancur's time.

7 km from the line, the man from Antioquia jumped off the front together with Pello Bilbao (CJR). Despite some nerves at the front, his rival asking for some extra turns, and a bit of a gap into the descent for Bilbao, the sprint was contested between the two, ultimately bringing the Eusebio Unzue-led squad its 9th success of the 2016 season –with seven different riders- and Betancur's 13th since he turned pro, one largely awaited for after 760 days of drought since he conquered Paris-Nice in 2014.

The GC has offered some early gaps today, with Betancur and Bilbao 46" ahead of a trio with Barbero (CJR), Sokolov (LOK) and Winner Anacona (5th), the big bunch at at 54" as Alejandro Valverde took 8th. The Movistar riders, also leading the teams' GC, will fight tomorrow to maintain the jersey atop the Alto de Fermoselle (2ª), 3km from a finishing line that will surely see another small group coming across.

Carlos Betancur: “I'm really happy to win again after so long. Cold, rainy conditions suit me well - Alejandro and many team-mates and rivals struggled quite a bit during the race and I had to profit from that. Into the final 25km, the break still had two minutes, so I decided to come to the front and help my team-mates out since we were into a bit of disadvantage against Caja Rural - we had led the bunch during the whole stage. When you've got a big rider as Alejandro by your side, you must help him. Several attacks went before Bilbao's; that's when I decided to go after him. Despite him taking some meters into the descent, I could bridge back for the sprint... and that's how I got the win!

"I'm of course excited about what's to come after this success, but the roles within the team are clear and they won't change. I didn't come here to chase the GC, and our leader is Alejandro. We'll see how these two stages will go, but Bala is in excellent condition - we remain committed to him. This victory is a tribute to Franco Gini, a man who helped me a lot to get on the right path agin, making me reflect on the keys to success and how to do things well. Now, I've got a strong squad supporting me, Movistar Team, which has relied on me - this is a reward to them, for believing in what I could do."

Complete Results:

166.3 kilometers raced at an average speed of 37.366 km/hr

1 Carlos Betancur Movistar 4hr 27min 2sec
2 Pello Bilbao Caja Rural s.t.
3 Carlos Barbero Caja Rural @ 46sec
4 Dmitry Sokolov Lokosphinx s.t.
5 Winner Anacona Movistar s.t.
6 Álvaro Trueba Efapel +49''
7 Rafael Silva Efapel +54''
8 Alejandro Valverde Movistar s.t.
9 Diego Milán Inteja MMR s.t.
10 Jesús Ezquerra Sporting Tavira s.t.
11 Daniel Mestre Efapel s.t.
12 Jóni Brandão Efapel s.t.
13 José Joaquín Rojas Movistar +54''
14 Rafael Reis W52/FC Porto +54''
15 Federico Figueiredo Rádio Popular +54''
16 David De la Fuente Sporting Tavira +54''
17 Karol Domagalski One Pro Cycling +54''
18 César Fonte Rádio Popular +54''
19 Hernando Bohórquez Manzana Postobón +54''
20 Garikoitz Bravo Euskadi +54''
21 José Gonçalves Caja Rural +54''
22 Lluís Mas Caja Rural +54''
23 Jaime Rosón Caja Rural +54''
24 Ricardo Vilela Caja Rural +54''
25 Fernando Grijalba Inteja MMR +54''
26 Alexander Vdovin Lokosphinx +54''
27 John Ebsen One Pro Cycling +54''
28 Linus Gerdemann Stölting +54''
29 Juan Felipe Osorio Manzana Postobón +54''
30 Rui Vinhas W52/FC Porto +54''
31 Samuel Caldeira W52/FC Porto +54''
32 David Rodrigues Rádio Popular +54''
33 Diego Ochoa Boyaca Raza +54''
34 Aitor González Euskadi +54''
35 Alex Dowsett Movistar +54''
36 Sergey Shilov Lokosphinx +54''
37 Víctor Etxebarría Rádio Popular +54''
38 Aldemar Reyes Manzana Postobón +54''
39 Jesús Del Pino Burgos BH +54''
40 Vasily Neustroev Lokosphinx +54''
41 Nuno Almeida Efapel +54''
42 David Arroyo Caja Rural +54''
43 Adam Phelan Drapac +54''
44 Mario González Sporting Tavira +54''
45 António Barbio Efapel +54''
46 Hernán Parra Manzana Postobón +54''
47 Adrián González Euskadi +54''
48 Lachlan Norris Drapac +54''
49 Mikel Bizkarra Euskadi +54''
50 Ricardo Mestre W52/FC Porto +54''
51 Henrique Casimiro Efapel +54''
52 Thomas Koep Stölting +1' 18''
53 Vadim Zhuravlev Lokosphinx s.t.
54 Bernardo Suaza Manzana Postobón +1' 22''
55 Igor Merino Burgos BH +1' 28''
56 Pablo Guerrero Rádio Popular +1' 44''
57 Ignacio Sarabia Inteja MMR s.t.
58 Rafael Márquez Inteja MMR +1' 54''
59 Néstor García Boyaca Raza +2' 46''
60 Artem Samolenkov Lokosphinx s.t.
61 Peio Goikoetxea Manzana Postobón s.t.
62 Rinaldo Nocentini Sporting Tavira +3' 56''
63 Brad Evans Drapac +4' 05''
64 Imanol Estévez Euskadi +4' 22''
65 Marco Suesca Manzana Postobón s.t.
66 Alex Aranburu Euskadi s.t.
67 Tom Baylis One Pro Cycling +5' 26''
68 Raúl Alarcón W52/FC Porto +6' 21''
69 Rui Sousa Rádio Popular s.t.
70 Daniel López Burgos BH s.t.
71 Ricardo Ferreira Rádio Popular s.t.
72 Pablo Torres Burgos BH s.t.
73 Daniel Freitas W52/FC Porto s.t.
74 David Livramento Sporting Tavira s.t.
75 Hugo Sabido Sporting Tavira s.t.
76 Heiner Parra Boyaca Raza s.t.
77 Válter Pereira Sporting Tavira s.t.
78 Beñat Txoperena Euskadi s.t.
79 Steele Von Hoff One Pro Cycling s.t.
80 Brenton Jones Drapac s.t.
81 Sven Reutter Stölting s.t.
82 Jonas Tenbrock Stölting s.t.
83 Juan Ignacio Pérez W52/FC Porto s.t.
84 Yeison Chaparro Boyaca Raza s.t.
85 Sam Spokes Drapac s.t.
86 Dmitriy Strakhov Lokosphinx +8' 25''
87 Antonio Pedrero Movistar +9' 53''
88 Jorge Arcas Movistar s.t.
89 Robinson Ortega Boyaca Raza s.t.
90 Ibai Salas Burgos BH +12' 53''
91 Joel García Inteja MMR s.t.
92 Arnau Solé Burgos BH s.t.
93 Joaquín Sobrino Inteja MMR s.t.
94 Miguel Florez Boyaca Raza +13' 28''
95 Jorge Cubero Burgos BH +14' 34''
96 Wilson Rodríguez Boyaca Raza s.t.
97 Kristian House One Pro Cycling s.t.
98 Jason Lowndes Drapac s.t.
99 Joshua Hunt One Pro Cycling s.t.
100 Gavin Mannion Drapac s.t.
101 Rasmus Quaade Stölting s.t.
102 Juan José Cueto Inteja MMR +15' 43''

GC after Stage 1

1 Carlos Betancur Movistar 4hr 26min 52sec
2 Pello Bilbao Caja Rural @ 4sec
3 Carlos Barbero Caja Rural +52''
4 Dmitry Sokolov Lokosphinx +56''
5 Winner Anacona Movistar s.t.
6 Álvaro Trueba Efapel +59''
7 Rafael Silva Efapel +1' 04''
8 Alejandro Valverde Movistar s.t.
9 Diego Milán Inteja MMR s.t.
10 Jesús Ezquerra Sporting Tavira s.t.
11 Daniel Mestre Efapel s.t.
12 Jóni Brandão Efapel s.t.
13 José Joaquín Rojas Movistar s.t.
14 Rafael Reis W52/FC Porto s.t.
15 Federico Figueiredo Rádio Popular s.t.
16 David De la Fuente Sporting Tavira s.t.
17 Karol Domagalski One Pro Cycling s.t.
18 César Fonte Rádio Popular s.t.
19 Hernando Bohórquez Manzana Postobón s.t.
20 Garikoitz Bravo Euskadi s.t.
21 José Gonçalves Caja Rural s.t.
22 Lluís Mas Caja Rural s.t.
23 Jaime Rosón Caja Rural s.t.
24 Ricardo Vilela Caja Rural s.t.
25 Fernando Grijalb Inteja MMR s.t.
26 Alexander Vdovin Lokosphinx s.t.
27 John Ebsen One Pro Cycling s.t.
28 Linus Gerdemann Stölting s.t.
29 Juan Felipe Osorio Manzana Postobón s.t.
30 Rui Vinhas W52/FC Porto s.t.
31 Samuel Caldeira W52/FC Porto s.t.
32 David Rodrigues Rádio Popular s.t.
33 Diego Ochoa Boyacá Raza s.t.
34 Aitor González Euskadi s.t.
35 Alex Dowsett Movistar s.t.
36 Sergey Shilov Lokosphinx s.t.
37 Víctor Etxebarría Rádio Popular s.t.
38 Aldemar Reyes Manzana Postobón s.t.
39 Jesús Del Pino Burgos BH s.t.
40 Vasily Neustroev Lokosphinx s.t.
41 Nuno Almeida Efapel s.t.
42 David Arroyo Caja Rural s.t.
43 Adam Phelan Drapac s.t.
44 Mario González Sporting Tavira s.t.
45 António Barbio Efapel s.t.
46 Hernán Parra Manzana Postobón s.t.
47 Adrián González Euskadi s.t.
48 Lachlan Norris Drapac s.t.
49 Mikel Bizkarra Euskadi s.t.
50 Ricardo Mestre W52/FC Porto s.t.
51 Henrique Casimiro Efapel s.t.
52 Thomas Koep Stölting +1' 28''
53 Vadim Zhuravlev Lokosphinx s.t.
54 Bernardo Suaza Manzana Postobón +1' 32''
55 Igor Merino Burgos BH +1' 38''
56 Pablo Guerrero Rádio Popular +1' 54''
57 Ignacio Sarabia Inteja MMR s.t.
58 Rafael Márquez Inteja MMR +2' 04''
59 Néstor García Boyacá Raza +2' 56''
60 Artem Samolenkov Lokosphinx s.t.
61 Peio Goikoetxea Manzana Postobón s.t.
62 Rinaldo Nocentini Sporting Tavira +4' 06''
63 Brad Evans Drapac +4' 15''
64 Imanol Estévez Euskadi +4' 32''
65 Marco Suesca Manzana Postobón s.t.
66 Alex Aranburu\ Euskadi s.t.
67 Tom Baylis One Pro Cycling +5' 36''
68 Raúl Alarcón W52/FC Porto +6' 31''
69 Rui Sousa Rádio Popular s.t.
70 Daniel López Burgos BH s.t.
71 Ricardo Ferreira Rádio Popular s.t.
72 Pablo Torres Burgos BH s.t.
73 Daniel Freitas W52/FC Porto s.t.
74 David Livramento Sporting Tavira s.t.
75 Hugo Sabido Sporting Tavira s.t.
76 Heiner Parra Boyacá Raza s.t.
77 Válter Pereira Sporting Tavira s.t.
78 Beñat Txoperena Euskadi s.t.
79 Steele Von Hoff One Pro Cycling s.t.
80 Brenton Jones Drapac s.t.
81 Sven Reutter Stölting s.t.
82 Jonas Tenbrock Stölting s.t.
83 Juan Ignacio Pérez W52/FC Porto s.t.
84 Yeison Chaparro Boyacá Raza s.t.
85 Sam Spokes Drapac s.t.
86 Dmitriy Strakhov Lokosphinx +8' 35''
87 Antonio Pedrero Movistar +10' 03''
88 Jorge Arcas Movistar s.t.
89 Robinson Ortega Boyacá Raza s.t.
90 Ibai Salas Burgos BH +13' 03''
91 Joel García Inteja MMR s.t.
92 Arnau Solé Burgos BH s.t.
93 Joaquín Sobrino Inteja MMR s.t.
94 Miguel Florez Boyacá Raza +13' 38''
95 Jorge Cubero Burgos BH +14' 44''
96 Wilson Rodríguez Boyacá Raza s.t.
97 Kristian House One Pro Cycling s.t.
98 Jason Lowndes Drapac s.t.
99 Joshua Hunt One Pro Cycling s.t.
100 Gavin Mannion Drapac s.t.
101 Rasmus Quaade Stölting s.t.
102 Juan José Cueto Inteja MMR +15' 53''

Stage 1 map and profile:

2016 Castilla-leon map

2016 Castilla-Leon stage 1 map

Stage 1 profile

Stage 1 profile

Start list with back numbers, April 14, 2015:

MOVISTAR TEAM
DS: José Luis Jaimerena
1 VALVERDE Alejandro
2 ANACONA Winner Anrew
3 ARCAS PEÑA Jorge
4 BETANCUR Carlos Alberto
5 DOWSETT Alex
6 PEDRERO LOPEZ Antonio
7 ROJAS GIL Jose Joaquin
CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA
DS: Eugenio Goikoetxea
11 ARROYO David
12 BILBAO Pello
13 GONCALVES Andre Maciel
14 BARBERO Carlos
15 MAS BONET Luis
16 VILELA Ricardo
17 ROSON GARCIA Jaime
DRAPAC PROFESSIONAL CYCLING
DS: Tom Southam
21 BROWN Graeme
22 JONES Brenton
23 MOURIS Jens
24 KONING Peter
25 NORRIS Lachlan
26 PHELAN Adam
27 SPOKES Samuel
ONE PRO CYCLING
DS: Philip West
31 DOMAGALSKI Karol
32 EBSEN John
33 HANDLEY Richard
34 HARPER George
35 HOUSE Kristian
36 HUNT Joshua
37 VON HOFF Steele
STÖLTING SERVICE GROUP
DS: Gregor Willwohl
41 GERDEMANN Linus
42 KÄMNA Lennard
43 KAMP EGESTED Alexander
44 LEMARCHAND Romain
45 MAGER Christian
46 QUAADE Rasmus Christian
47 TENBROCK Jonas
EUSKADI BASQUE COUNTRY-MURIAS
DS: Jon Odriozola
51 BRAVO Garikoitz
52 TXOPERENA Beñat
53 ITURRIA Mikel
54 BIZKARRA Mikel
55 ESTEVEZ SALAS Imanol
56 GONZÁLEZ PRIETO Aitor
57 GONZÁLEZ Adrián
BURGOS BH
DS: Dario Hernandez
61 CUBERO Jorge
62 DEL PINO Jesus
63 MARTÍN Víctor
64 TORRES Pablo
65 SALAS Ibai
66 SOLE VALL Arnau
67 RIUTORT Juan Carlos
MANZANA-POSTOBON TEAM
DS: Luis Saldarriaga
71 SUAZA Bernardo
72 BOHORQUEZ Hernando
73 PARRA Hernán
74 GOIKOETXEA Peio
75 REYES Aldemar
76 MOLANO Sebastián
77 OSORIO Juan Felipe
INTEJA-MMR DOMINICAN CYCLING TEAM
DS: Domenec Carboonell
81 MILAN Diego
82 SOBRINO Joaquin
83 SARABIA Ignacio
84 GRIJALBA Fernando
85 MARQUEZ Rafael
86 NUÑO Israel
87 GUZMAN William de Jesus
LOKOSPHINX
DS: Vladimir Kolosov
91 SHILOV Sergey
92 SOKOLOV Dmitry
93 NEUSTROEV Vasily
94 VDOVIN Alexander
95 VDOVIN Sergey
96 SAMOLENKOV Artem
97 STRAKHOV Dmitrii
RADIO POPULAR – BOAVISTA
DS: José Santos
101 GUERRERO Pablo
102 JIMENEZ Carlos Anton
103 SILVA Daniel Eduardo Moreira
104 DE ALMEIDA Guillaume
105 FIGUEIREDO Federico
106 ETXEBARRIA Victor
107 FONTE César
W52/FC PORTO
DS: Nuno Ribeiro
111 CESAR VELOSO Gustavo
112 CALDEIRA Samuel José Rodrigues
113 CARVALHO Antonio
114 ALARCON Raul
115 VINHAS Rui
116 PÉREZ MARTIN Juan Ignacio
117 SILVA Joaquim
EFAPEL
DS: Americo Silva
121 SILVA BRANDÃO Jóni
122 SILVA Rafael
123 FERREIRA Hélder Fernandes
124 MESTRE Daniel
125 CASIMIRO Henrique
126 BARBIO António
127 TRUEBA DIEGO Alvaro
SPORTING TAVIRA
DS: Vidal José Pereira
131 NOCENTINI Rinaldo
132 DE LA FUENTE David
133 GONZALEZ Mario
134 EZQUERRA Jesús
135 LIVRAMENTO David Da Silva
136 GONZÁLEZ Óscar
137 SABIDO Hugo
BOYACÁ RAZA DE CAMPEONES
DS: Jorge Ivan Gonzalez
141 RODRIGUEZ Michael
142 OCHOA Diego Antonio
143 PARRA Heiner Rodrigo
144 GOMEZ Javier Eduardo
145 DIAGAMA Roller Camilo
146 BOTHIA Ivan Dario
147 FLOREZ Miguel Eduardo