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 wins in Murcia
The race: Here's the story from winner Luis Leon Sanchez's Astana team.
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. |
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] |