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2018 Vuelta Ciclista a la Region de Murcia (1.1), Spain

38th edition: Saturday, February 10, 2018

Vuelta a Murcia podium history | 2017 edition | 2019 edition | Race profile | Start list

Beniel - Murcia, 208.3 km

Luis Leon Sanchez

Luis Leon Sanchez wins in Murcia

The race: Here's the story from winner Luis Leon Sanchez's Astana team.

Paris–Roubaix: The Inside Story

After a number of top results and high podium places in the first races of the 2018 season, finally Astana has got a beautiful victory: today, Luis Leon Sanchez won the Vuelta Ciclista a la Region de Murcia Costa Calida after a powerful counterattack inside the last kilometers of the race.

- My first words are about the team. The guys were super today and I have to thank all of them for the huge help! In the beginning a big group went away and we had to work the whole day. It was not easy to control this race, but the team did it! In the final I went away together with Valverde. I knew, if we come for a sprint it would be the same situation as it was at Valenciana. So, I knew I have to do something and I saw my chance with 2 km to go. Anyway, I think this is a team success, not only mine. The team is great these days. At the Volta Valenciana we did a strong race and took two podium places. Now, in Dubai Magnus was close to the victory too. That’s great! – said Luis Leon Sanchez after his amazing victory.

The Spanish race took its start in Beniel and finished on the streets of Murcia after 208,3 km of racing. It was a race plenty of attacks and actions, but in the final there were only two riders, who played the race victory: Luis Leon Sanchez and the recent winner of the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana Alejandro Valverde.

It was Valverde, who tried to attack with about 2 km to go, but Astana rider was able to answer that attack and to launch a powerful counterattack, which brought him a nice solo victory in Murcia.

- We can be happy and proud with our race today. The team did it quite perfectly, we had a good plan and tried to calculate everything in this race. There was a dangerous action of 40 riders, who broke away, but our team did a very good job in front of the peloton together with Movistar to control it and to bring them back. Also, there was a strong move of Quick Step riders, and we were able to catch them on the final climb of the distance. Yeah, in the final there were only Luis Leon and Valverde. Luis Leon did a very nice attack and I think that the strongest won today. We all are very happy with our first victory in the season. The team looks very solid and we are looking forward to the next races, - explained sports director Bruno Cenghialta.

The race podium in Murcia was completed by the Belgian rider Philippe Gilbert. Also, another Astana rider Jakob Fuglsang did a very good race and finished 6th.

Complete Results:

208.3 kilometers raced at an average speed of 40.768 km/hr

Only 39 riders finished within the time limit.

1 Sánchez, Luis León Astana 5hr 6min 34sec
2 Valverde, Alejandro Movistar @ 15sec
3 Gilbert, Philippe Quick-Step Floors @ 2min 15sec
4 Trentin, Matteo Mitchelton-Scott + 03' 54''
5 Serry, Pieter Quick-Step Floors s.t.
6 Fuglsang, Jakob Astana s.t.
7 Jungels, Bob Quick-Step Floors + 03' 57''
8 Smit, Willie Katusha-Alpecin + 05' 11''
9 Rojas, José Joaquin Movistar + 05' 16''
10 Vanspeybrouck, Pieter Wanty-Groupe Gobert s.t.
11 Claeys, Dimitri Cofidis s.t.
12 Amador, Andrey Movistar s.t.
13 Offredo, Yoann Wanty-Groupe Gobert s.t.
14 Großschartner, Felix Bora-hansgrohe s.t.
15 Juul-Jensen, Christop.. Mitchelton-Scott s.t.
16 Mas, Enric Quick-Step Floors + 05' 20''
17 Kreuziger, Roman Mitchelton-Scott + 05' 22''
18 Biermans, Jenthe Katusha-Alpecin + 10' 17''
19 Empel, Etienne van Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij s.t.
20 Van Gestel, Dries Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise s.t.
21 Grellier, Fabien Direct Energie s.t.
22 Owsian, Łukasz CCC Sprandi Polkowice + 10' 20''
23 Bizkarra, Mikel Euskadi Basque Country-Murias s.t.
24 Štybar, Zdeněk Quick-Step Floors + 10' 21''
25 Anderson, Ryan Rally Cycling + 13' 02''
26 Martin, Tony Katusha-Alpecin s.t.
27 Mas, Lluís Caja Rural-Seguros RGA s.t.
28 Rubio, Diego Burgos-BH s.t.
29 Špilak, Simon Katusha-Alpecin s.t.
30 Herrada, José Cofidis s.t.
31 Benedetti, Cesare Bora-hansgrohe + 15' 55''
32 Valgren, Michael Astana s.t.
33 Cherkasov, Nikolay Gazprom-RusVelo s.t.
34 Gradek, Kamil CCC Sprandi Polkowice s.t.
35 Lijke, Nick van der Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij s.t.
36 Minnaard, Marco Wanty-Groupe Gobert s.t.
37 Sénéchal, Florian Quick-Step Floors + 20' 35''
38 Ourselin, Paul Direct Energie s.t.
39 Chernetski, Sergei Astana s.t.

Race profile:

Vuelta a Murcia profile


Start list with back numbers, February 9, 2018

MOVISTAR TEAM
1 Alejandro, VALVERDE BELMONTE [ESP]
2 Carlos, BARBERO CUESTA   [ESP]
3 Jaime, CASTRILLO ZAPATER [ESP]
4 Ruben, FERNANDEZ [ESP]
5 Jose Joaquin, ROJAS GIL [ESP]
6 Eduardo, SEPULVEDA [ARG]
7 Rafael, VALLS [ESP]
ASTANA PRO TEAM
11 Jakob, FUGLSANG [DEN]
12 Sergei, CHERNETSKII [RUS]
13 Oscar, GATTO [ITA]
14 Hugo, HOULE [CAN]
15 Bakhtiyar, KOZATHAYEV [KAZ]
16 Luis Leon, SANCHEZ GIL [ESP]
17 Michael, VALGREN ANDERSEN [DEN]
BORA - HANSGROHE
21 Cesare, BENEDETTI [ITA]
22 Felix, GROSSHARTNER [AUT]
23 Patrick, KONRAD [AUT]
24 Lukas, PÖSTLBERGER [AUS]
25 Aleksejs, SARAMOTINS [LAT]
26  Andreas, SCHILLINGER [GER]
27 Michael, SCHWARZMANN  [GER]
MITCHELTON - SCOTT
31 Michael, ALBASINI [SUI]
32 Roman, KREUZIGER [CZE]
33 Carlos, VERONA QUINTANILLA  [ESP]
34 Chris Juul, JENSEN [DEN]
35 Rob, POWER [AUS]
36 Lucas, HAMILTON [AUS]
37 Sam, BEWLEY [NZL]
COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS
41 Jesus, HERRADA LOPEZ [ESP]
42 Dimitri, CLAEYS [FRC]
43 Guillaume, BONNAFOND [FRC]
44 José, HERRADA LOPEZ [ESP]
45 Luis Angel, MATE MARDONES [ESP]
46 Kenneth, VANBILSEN [BLG]
47 Michael, VAN STAEYEN [BLG]
QUICK - STEP FLOORS
51 Philippe, GILBERT [BLG]
52 Laurens, DE PLUS [BLG]
53 Bob, JUNGELS [LUX]
54 Enric, MAS [ESP]
55 Pieter, SERRY [BLG]
56 Zdenek, STYBAR  [CZE]
57 Petr, VAKOC [CZE]
TEAM KATUSHA ALPECIN
61 Jenthe, BIERMANS [BLG]
62 Matteo, FABRO [ITA]
63 Robert, KISERLOVSKI [CRO]
64 Tony, MARTIN [GER]
65 Williem, SMIT [RSA]
66 Simon, SPILAK [SLO]
67 Mads Wurtz, SCHMIDT [DEN]
DIRECT ENERGIE
71 Jerome, COUSIN [FRC]
72 Fabien, GRELLIER  [FRC]
73 Axel, JOURNIAUX [FRC]
74 Paul, OURSELIN [FRC]
75 Simon , SELLIER [FRC]
76 Romain, SICARD  [FRC]
77 Rein, TAARAMAE  [EST]
WANTY - GROUPE GOBERT
81 Guillaume, MARTIN [FRC]
82 Fredrik, BACKAERT [BLG]
83 Jerome, BAUGNIES [BLG]
84 Tom, DEVRIENDT [BLG]
85 Timothy, DUPONT [BLG]
86 Gillaume, VANKEIRSBULCK [BLG]
87 Pieter, VANSPEYBROUCK [BLG]
GAZPROM-RUSVELO
91 Nikolay, TRUSOV [RUS]
92 Igor , BOEV [RUS]
93 Stepan, KURIANOV [RUS]
94 Sergey, FIRSANOV  [RUS]
95 Alexei, RYBALKIN [RUS]
96 Ivan, ROVNY [RUS]
97 ildar, ARSLANOV [RUS]
EUSKADI - MURIAS
101 Julien, LOUBET [FRC]
102 Mikel, BIZKARRA  [ESP]
103 Cycil, BARTHE [FRC]
104 Julen, IRIZAR [ESP]
105 Hector, SAEZ BENITO [ESP]
106 Enrique, SANZ   [ESP]
107 Fernando, BARCELO [ESP]
EUSKADI
111 Ion Ander, INSUASTI [ESP]
112 Egoitz, FERNANDEZ [ESP]
113 Ricardo, GARCIA [ESP]
114 Juan Antonio, LOPEZ ‐ COZAR, [ESP]
115 Iker, AZKARATE [ESP]
116 Ibai, AZURMENDI [ESP]
117 Gotzon, MARTIN [ESP]
SPORT VLAANDEREN - BALOISE
121 Aaron, VERWLIST [BLG]
122 Thomas, SPRENGERS  [BLG]
123 Dries, VAN GESTEL  [BLG]
124 Dries, VAN GOMPEL [BLG]
125 Preben, VAN HECKE [BLG]
126 Edward, PLANCKAERT [BLG]
127 Milan, MENTEN [BLG]
RALLY CYCLING
131 Ryan, ANDERSON [CAN]
132 Robert, BRITTON [CAN]
133 Matteo, DAL-CIN [CAN]
134 Adam, DE VOS [CAN]
135 Evan, HUFFMAN [USA]
136 Colin, JOYCE [USA]
137 Emerson, ORONTE [USA]
VERANDA´S WILLEMS - CRELAN
141 Aidis, KRUOPIS [LTU]
142 Michael, GOOLAERTS [BLG]
143 Elias, VAN BREUSSEGEM [BLG]
144 Stijn, DEVOLDER [BLG]
145 Sean, DE BIE [BLG]
146 Zico, WAEYTENS [BLG]
BURGOS-BH
151 Ibai, SALAS [ESP]
152 Pablo, TORRES MUINO  [ESP]
153 Jesus, EZQUERRA MUELA [ESP]
154 Jorge, CUBERO [ESP]
155 José Joao, PIMENTA COSTA MENDES [PRT]
156 Diego, RUBIO   [ESP]
157 James, MITRI [GBR]
ROOMPOT - NEDERLANDSE LOTERIJ
161  Nick, VAN DER LIJKE [NED]
162 Tim, ARIESEN [NED]
163 Robbert, De Greef [NED]
164 Etienne, VAN EMPEL  [NED]
165 Oscar, RIESEBEEK [NED]
166 Jan-Willem, Van Schip [NED]
167 Coen, VERMELTFOORT [NED]
CCC SPRANDI POLKOWICE
171 Antunes, AMARO MANUEL [PRT]
172 Kamil Michal, GRADEK  [POL]
173 Jonars, KOCH [GER]
174 Marko, KUMP [SLO]
175 Lukasz, OWSIAN  [POL]
176 Michal, SCHLEGEL [CZE]
177 Jan, TRATNIK [SLO]
CAJA RURAL - SEGUROS RGA
181 Luis, MAS BONET [ESP]
182 Antonio, MOLINA [ESP]
183 Josu , ZABALA [ESP]
184 Jonathan, LASTRA MARTINEZ  [ESP]
185 Miguel Angel, BENITO DÍEZ [ESP]
186 Mauricio, MOREIRA [URY]
187 Nelson Andres, SOTO [COL]
DARE GAVIOTA 
191 Hector, GONZALEZ BAEZA [ESP]
192 Leon, KOCH [NED]
193 Eduardo, GARCIA [ESP]
194 Jonas, ORSET [NOR]
195 Oscar , SANCHEZ [ESP]
196 Odin, FOLDVIK [NOR]
197 Jose, MIRALES [ESP]