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24th Vuelta a Murcia - 2.3
Spain, March 3-7, 2004
Stage 1 - March 3: Murcia - San Pedro del Pinatar, 177 km
Mad Max moshes in Murcia
By Tim Maloney, European Editor in San Pedro del Pinatar
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So far this young season, the Big Blue Train of USPS-Berry Floor has won mainly in Spain. Today was no different as rejuvenated Dutch sprinter Max van Heeswijk took his third win and the American squad's sixth in 2004 by taking Stage 1 of the Tour De Murcia-Costa Calida in the quaint port city of San Pedro del Pinatar. On a warm, sunny Wednesday, local Murcia man Alejandro Valverde (Comunidad Valenciana-Kelme) was hoping the sun would shine for another sprint win as the Spanish super talent had dominated up the coast in Valencia the week before, but Valverde was just up against too many pure sprinters in today's final to grab the race win.
With big Pavel Padrnos, powerhouse Jose Luis Rubiera and neo pro talent Jurgen Van Den Broeck stoking the Blue Train on the autovia highway into town, the Postal posse put their brand on the front of the race with 50 riders left in the peloton, which had split earlier in the stage on the main climb of Alto de la Cuesta (km 92). Once on the winding roads on the final five kilometres into San Pedro del Pinatar, USPS-Berry Floor was challenged by an aggressive Saunier Duval-Prodir squad, but as Van Heeswijk came off his teammate Michael Barry's lead out of the final left hand bend with 300 meters to go, the Dutchman showed he's one of the strongest sprinters in the peloton so far in 2004, drag racing Erik Zabel to the line and just holding off fast closing Spanish sprinter Gutierrez (IBB).
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Post-race, Van Heeswijk was awarded the Amarillo jersey of race leader and the points tunic, partially monopolising the awards ceremonies in San Pedro. But Illes Baleares-Banesto also continued its good spring campaign, taking the lead in the team classification, sprinters Gutierrez and Galvez both in the top five and Lopez donning the climbers and combination jerseys.
How it unfolded
111 riders started from Murcia shortly before midday in pleasant 16 degree temperatures. The field was reduced to 110 after only 3 kilometres when Peter Wuyts (MrBookmaker-Palmans) abandoned. A kilometre later, Miguel Angel Martin Perdiguero (Saunier Duval) took the first intermediate sprint in Sangonera La Verde.
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The peloton neutralised all the early attacks until José Antonio López (Illes Balears) escaped at the 64 km mark. He was allowed three minutes lead, which was more than enough to cross the Cat. 3 Alto De La Cuesta after 91 km in first place and take the mountains jersey in the process. The Comunidad Valenciana-Kelme team was controlling the tempo at that point, and didn't let López get too far in front.
After a 74 km solo breakaway, López was finally caught after 138 km and immediately ended up in the back half of the peloton, which had split, with notable riders such as Jan Ullrich and Danilo Di Luca left behind. The second group was only a minute behind with 25 km to go, but gave up the chase and eventually finished 7'35 down on the front group, which contained 67 riders. In the sprint, US Postal-Berry Floor led out Max van Heeswijk for his third sprint win of the season, with José Ivan Gutierrez (Illes Balears-Banesto) and Erik Zabel (T-Mobile) picking up the minor placings.
Stage 2 - March 4: Lorca-Lorca Time Trial, 21 km
Tomorrow's mostly flat, fast time trial won't be the showcase showdown between five time Tour De France winner Lance Armstrong and his rival Jan Ullrich, as the German T-Mobile man is only riding in his third race of the season and finished in the main group on Stage 1, seven minutes down on Armstrong. However, Lance will be challenged by in-form Ruta del Sol winner and short distance TT specialist JC Dominguez (Saunier Duval-Prodir) and by German powerhouses Uwe Peschel and Michael Rich (both Gerolsteiner).
Photography
Images by AFP Photo
- Lance Armstrong (USPS-Berry Floor) emerges from the team bus
- Lance Armstrong and Jan Ullrich shake hands before the start as Alejandro Valverde looks on
- Lance Armstrong chats during the early part of the stage
- Jan Ullrich (T-Mobile) rides in front of Lance Armstrong (USPS-Berry Floor) during stage 1
- Mathieu Sprich (Brioches) attacks during the early part of the stage
- Lance Armstrong (USPS-Berry Floor) climbs during stage 1
- Jan Ullrich (T-Mobile) at the front during stage 1
- Jan Ullrich (T-Mobile) in action during stage 1 of the Tour of Murcia
- Jan Ullrich (T-Mobile) in the second peloton at the end of the day
- Max van Heeswijk (US Postal-Berry Floor, C) beats Jose Ivan Gutierrez (L) and Erik Zabel (R) to win the first stage
- Max van Heeswijk (US Postal-Berry Floor) dons the amarillo jersey after winning the first stage
Results
1 Max Van Heeswijk (Ned) U.S. Postal Service-Berry Floor 4.20.51 2 José Ivan Gutierrez (Spa) Illes Balears-Banesto 3 Erik Zabel (Ger) T-Mobile 4 Jan Svorada (Cze) Lampre 5 Isaac Galvez (Spa) Illes Balears-Banesto 6 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Com.Valenciana-Kelme 7 Miguel A M.Perdiguero (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 8 David Navas (Spa) Illes Balears-Banesto 9 Xavier Florencio (Spa) Relax-Bodysol 10 Ion Del Rio (Spa) Costa Almeria-Paternina 11 Alberto Hierro (Spa) Cafes Baque 12 Constantino Zaballa (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 13 Francisco Gutierrez (Spa) Cafes Baque 14 Björn Leukemans (Bel) Mrbookmaker.com-Palmans 15 Marcus Fothen (Ger) Gerolsteiner 16 Ruben Plaza (Spa) Com.Valenciana-Kelme 17 José Alberto Martinez (Spa) Relax-Bodysol 18 Juan Manuel Garate (Spa) Lampre 19 Michael Barry (Can) U.S. Postal Service-Berry Floor 20 David De La Fuente (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 21 David Etxebarria (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 22 Mariano Piccoli (Ita) Lampre 23 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 24 Antonio Colom (Spa) Illes Balears-Banesto 25 David Lopez (Spa) Cafes Baque 26 André Korff (Ger) T-Mobile 27 Javier Rodriguez (Spa) Com.Valenciana-Kelme 28 Juan Carlos Dominguez (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 29 Unai Yus (Spa) Brioches La Boulangere 30 Sven Krauss (Ger) Gerolsteiner 31 Inaki Isasi (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 32 Alexandre Naulleau (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere 33 Iban Mayo (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 34 Jose Cayetano Julia (Spa) Com.Valenciana-Kelme 35 Mickael Pichon (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere 36 Carlos Torrent (Spa) Costa Almeria-Paternina 37 Mikel Pradera (Spa) Illes Balears-Banesto 38 Marius Sabaliauskas (Ltu) Saeco 39 Jose Miguel Elias (Spa) Relax-Bodysol 40 Evgeni Petrov (Rus) Saeco 41 Cadel Evans (Aus) T-Mobile 42 Julio Lopez (Spa) Relax-Bodysol 43 Francisco J. Vila (Spa) Lampre 44 Pedro Arreitunandia (Spa) Cafes Baque 45 David Blanco (Spa) Com.Valenciana-Kelme 46 Joseba Zubeldia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 47 Gorka Verdugo (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 48 Aketza Peña (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 49 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Saeco 50 Pavel Padrnos (Cze) U.S. Postal Service-Berry Floor 51 Alessandro Cortinovis (Ita) Lampre 52 Maryan Hary (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere 53 Efrain Gutierrez (Spa) Cafes Baque 54 Kurt Van De Wouwer (Bel) Mrbookmaker.com-Palmans 55 Tomas Konecny (Cze) T-Mobile 56 Jose Luis Martinez (Spa) Com.Valenciana-Kelme 57 Lance Armstrong (USA) U.S. Postal Service-Berry Floor 58 José Angel Gomez (Spa) Costa Almeria-Paternina 59 José Luis Rubiera (Spa) U.S. Postal Service-Berry Floor 60 Manuel Beltran (Spa) U.S. Postal Service-Berry Floor 61 Hector Guerra (Spa) Relax-Bodysol 62 Daniel Rincon (Col) U.S. Postal Service-Berry Floor 63 Jurgen V.Den Broeck (Bel) U.S. Postal Service-Berry Floor 64 Leonardo Piepoli (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir 65 David Cañada (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 66 Francisco Cabello (Spa) Com.Valenciana-Kelme 67 Joan Horrach (Spa) Illes Balears-Banesto 68 Santiago Blanco (Spa) Relax-Bodysol 7.35 69 Frédéric Gabriel (Fra) Mrbookmaker.com-Palmans 70 Eddy Mazzoleni (Ita) Saeco 71 Anthony Charteau (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere 72 Rony Martias (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere 73 José Antonio Lopez (Spa) Illes Balears-Banesto 74 Javier Perez (Spa) Costa Almeria-Paternina 75 Oscar Laguna (Spa) Relax-Bodysol 76 Matthieu Sprick (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere 77 Uwe Peschel (Ger) Gerolsteiner 78 Moises Duenas (Spa) Relax-Bodysol 79 José Vicente Garcia (Spa) Illes Balears-Banesto 80 Juan Gomis (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 81 Eric Baumann (Ger) T-Mobile 82 Aitor Perez (Spa) Cafes Baque 83 Juan Fuentes (Spa) Saeco 84 Jan Ullrich (Ger) T-Mobile 85 Jens Renders (Bel) Mrbookmaker.com-Palmans 86 Fernando Torres (Spa) Cafes Baque 87 Fco.José Ventoso (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 88 Michael Rich (Ger) Gerolsteiner 89 Tobias Steinhauser (Ger) T-Mobile 90 Luciano A. Pagliarini (Bra) Lampre 91 Giuseppe Guerini (Ita) T-Mobile 92 Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) Saeco 93 Marco Pinotti (Ita) Lampre 94 Juan Miguel Cuenca (Spa) Com.Valenciana-Kelme 95 Torsten Schmidt (Ger) Gerolsteiner 96 Gianni Faresin (Ita) Gerolsteiner 97 Unai Elorriaga (Spa) Cafes Baque 98 Peter Wrolich (Aut) Gerolsteiner 99 Uwe Hardter (Ger) Gerolsteiner 100 Koldo Fernandez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 101 Eddy Lembo (Fra) Mrbookmaker.com-Palmans 102 Jeremy Hunt (GBr) Mrbookmaker.com-Palmans 103 Michele Scotto (Ita) Lampre 104 Mikel Elgezabal (Spa) Costa Almeria-Paternina 105 Lander Euba (Spa) Costa Almeria-Paternina 106 Alessandr Spezialetti (Ita) Saeco 107 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Saeco 108 Jo Planckaert (Bel) Mrbookmaker.com-Palmans 109 Dermot Nally (Irl) Costa Almeria-Paternina 110 Joaquim Lopez (Spa) Costa Almeria-Paternina Points 1 Max Van Heeswijk (Ned) U.S. Postal Service-Berry Floor 25 pts 2 José Ivan Gutierrez (Spa) Illes Balears-Banesto 20 3 Erik Zabel (Ger) T-Mobile 16 4 Jan Svorada (Cze) Lampre 14 5 Isaac Galvez (Spa) Illes Balears-Banesto 12 6 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Com.Valenciana-Kelme 10 7 Miguel A M.Perdiguero (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 9 8 David Navas (Spa) Illes Balears-Banesto 8 9 Xavier Florencio (Spa) Relax-Bodysol 7 10 Ion Del Rio (Spa) Costa Almeria-Paternina 6 11 Alberto Hierro (Spa) Cafes Baque 5 12 Constantino Zaballa (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 4 13 Francisco Gutierrez (Spa) Cafes Baque 3 14 Björn Leukemans (Bel) Mrbookmaker.com-Palmans 2 15 Marcus Fothen (Ger) Gerolsteiner 1 Mountains Alto De La Cuesta - Cat. 3, km 91.60 1 José Antonio Lopez (Spa) Illes Balears-Banesto 3 pts 2 Juan Miguel Cuenca (Spa) Com.Valenciana-Kelme 2 3 Jose Miguel Elias (Spa) Relax-Bodysol 1 Sprints Sangonera La Verde, km 4.20 1 Miguel A M.Perdiguero (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 3 pts 2 Eric Baumann (Ger) T-Mobile 2 3 Jan Svorada (Cze) Lampre 1 Cartagena, km 110.40 1 José Antonio Lopez (Spa) Illes Balears-Banesto 3 pts 2 Eric Baumann (Ger) T-Mobile 2 3 Juan Manuel Garate (Spa) Lampre 1 Teams 1 Illes Balears-Banesto 13.02.33 2 Saunier Duval-Prodir 3 Lampre 4 Comundidad Valenciana-Kelme 5 Cafes Baque 6 Relax-Bodysol 7 U.S. Postal Service-Berry Floor 8 T-Mobile 9 Euskaltel-Euskadi 10 Brioches La Boulangere 11 Costa Almeria-Paternina 12 Saeco 13 Gerolsteiner 7.35 14 Mrbookmaker.com-Palmans General classification after stage 1 1 Max Van Heeswijk (Ned) U.S. Postal Service-Berry Floor 4.20.51 2 José Ivan Gutierrez (Spa) Illes Balears-Banesto 3 Erik Zabel (Ger) T-Mobile 4 Jan Svorada (Cze) Lampre 5 Isaac Galvez (Spa) Illes Balears-Banesto 6 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Com.Valenciana-Kelme 7 Miguel A M.Perdiguero (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 8 David Navas (Spa) Illes Balears-Banesto 9 Xavier Florencio (Spa) Relax-Bodysol 10 Ion Del Rio (Spa) Costa Almeria-Paternina 11 Alberto Hierro (Spa) Cafes Baque 12 Constantino Zaballa (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 13 Francisco Gutierrez (Spa) Cafes Baque 14 Björn Leukemans (Bel) Mrbookmaker.com-Palmans 15 Marcus Fothen (Ger) Gerolsteiner 16 Ruben Plaza (Spa) Com.Valenciana-Kelme 17 José Alberto Martinez (Spa) Relax-Bodysol 18 Juan Manuel Garate (Spa) Lampre 19 Michael Barry (Can) U.S. Postal Service-Berry Floor 20 David De La Fuente (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 21 David Etxebarria (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 22 Mariano Piccoli (Ita) Lampre 23 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 24 Antonio Colom (Spa) Illes Balears-Banesto 25 David Lopez (Spa) Cafes Baque 26 André Korff (Ger) T-Mobile 27 Javier Rodriguez (Spa) Com.Valenciana-Kelme 28 Juan Carlos Dominguez (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 29 Unai Yus (Spa) Brioches La Boulangere 30 Sven Krauss (Ger) Gerolsteiner 31 Inaki Isasi (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 32 Alexandre Naulleau (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere 33 Iban Mayo (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 34 Jose Cayetano Julia (Spa) Com.Valenciana-Kelme 35 Mickael Pichon (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere 36 Carlos Torrent (Spa) Costa Almeria-Paternina 37 Mikel Pradera (Spa) Illes Balears-Banesto 38 Marius Sabaliauskas (Ltu) Saeco 39 Jose Miguel Elias (Spa) Relax-Bodysol 40 Evgeni Petrov (Rus) Saeco 41 Cadel Evans (Aus) T-Mobile 42 Julio Lopez (Spa) Relax-Bodysol 43 Francisco J. Vila (Spa) Lampre 44 Pedro Arreitunandia (Spa) Cafes Baque 45 David Blanco (Spa) Com.Valenciana-Kelme 46 Joseba Zubeldia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 47 Gorka Verdugo (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 48 Aketza Peña (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 49 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Saeco 50 Pavel Padrnos (Cze) U.S. Postal Service-Berry Floor 51 Alessandro Cortinovis (Ita) Lampre 52 Maryan Hary (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere 53 Efrain Gutierrez (Spa) Cafes Baque 54 Kurt Van De Wouwer (Bel) Mrbookmaker.com-Palmans 55 Tomas Konecny (Cze) T-Mobile 56 Jose Luis Martinez (Spa) Com.Valenciana-Kelme 57 Lance Armstrong (USA) U.S. Postal Service-Berry Floor 58 José Angel Gomez (Spa) Costa Almeria-Paternina 59 José Luis Rubiera (Spa) U.S. Postal Service-Berry Floor 60 Manuel Beltran (Spa) U.S. Postal Service-Berry Floor 61 Hector Guerra (Spa) Relax-Bodysol 62 Daniel Rincon (Col) U.S. Postal Service-Berry Floor 63 Jurgen V.Den Broeck (Bel) U.S. Postal Service-Berry Floor 64 Leonardo Piepoli (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir 65 David Cañada (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 66 Francisco Cabello (Spa) Com.Valenciana-Kelme 67 Joan Horrach (Spa) Illes Balears-Banesto 68 Santiago Blanco (Spa) Relax-Bodysol 7.35 69 Frédéric Gabriel (Fra) Mrbookmaker.com-Palmans 70 Eddy Mazzoleni (Ita) Saeco 71 Anthony Charteau (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere 72 Rony Martias (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere 73 José Antonio Lopez (Spa) Illes Balears-Banesto 74 Javier Perez (Spa) Costa Almeria-Paternina 75 Oscar Laguna (Spa) Relax-Bodysol 76 Matthieu Sprick (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere 77 Uwe Peschel (Ger) Gerolsteiner 78 Moises Duenas (Spa) Relax-Bodysol 79 José Vicente Garcia (Spa) Illes Balears-Banesto 80 Juan Gomis (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 81 Eric Baumann (Ger) T-Mobile 82 Aitor Perez (Spa) Cafes Baque 83 Juan Fuentes (Spa) Saeco 84 Jan Ullrich (Ger) T-Mobile 85 Jens Renders (Bel) Mrbookmaker.com-Palmans 86 Fernando Torres (Spa) Cafes Baque 87 Fco.José Ventoso (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 88 Michael Rich (Ger) Gerolsteiner 89 Tobias Steinhauser (Ger) T-Mobile 90 Luciano A. Pagliarini (Bra) Lampre 91 Giuseppe Guerini (Ita) T-Mobile 92 Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) Saeco 93 Marco Pinotti (Ita) Lampre 94 Juan Miguel Cuenca (Spa) Com.Valenciana-Kelme 95 Torsten Schmidt (Ger) Gerolsteiner 96 Gianni Faresin (Ita) Gerolsteiner 97 Unai Elorriaga (Spa) Cafes Baque 98 Peter Wrolich (Aut) Gerolsteiner 99 Uwe Hardter (Ger) Gerolsteiner 100 Koldo Fernandez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 101 Eddy Lembo (Fra) Mrbookmaker.com-Palmans 102 Jeremy Hunt (GBr) Mrbookmaker.com-Palmans 103 Michele Scotto (Ita) Lampre 104 Mikel Elgezabal (Spa) Costa Almeria-Paternina 105 Lander Euba (Spa) Costa Almeria-Paternina 106 Alessandr Spezialetti (Ita) Saeco 107 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Saeco 108 Jo Planckaert (Bel) Mrbookmaker.com-Palmans 109 Dermot Nally (Irl) Costa Almeria-Paternina 110 Joaquim Lopez (Spa) Costa Almeria-Paternina Points classification 1 Max Van Heeswijk (Ned) U.S. Postal Service-Berry Floor 25 pts 2 José Ivan Gutierrez (Spa) Illes Balears-Banesto 20 3 Erik Zabel (Ger) T-Mobile 16 4 Jan Svorada (Cze) Lampre 15 5 Isaac Galvez (Spa) Illes Balears-Banesto 12 6 Miguel A M.Perdiguero (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 12 7 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Com.Valenciana-Kelme 10 8 David Navas (Spa) Illes Balears-Banesto 8 9 Xavier Florencio (Spa) Relax-Bodysol 7 10 Ion Del Rio (Spa) Costa Almeria-Paternina 6 11 Alberto Hierro (Spa) Cafes Baque 5 12 Eric Baumann (Ger) T-Mobile 4 13 Constantino Zaballa (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 4 14 Francisco Gutierrez (Spa) Cafes Baque 3 15 José Antonio Lopez (Spa) Illes Balears-Banesto 3 16 Björn Leukemans (Bel) Mrbookmaker.com-Palmans 2 17 Marcus Fothen (Ger) Gerolsteiner 1 18 Juan Manuel Garate (Spa) Lampre 1 Mountains classification 1 José Antonio Lopez (Spa) Illes Balears-Banesto 3 pts 2 Juan Miguel Cuenca (Spa) Com.Valenciana-Kelme 2 3 Jose Miguel Elias (Spa) Relax-Bodysol 1 Combination classification 1 José Antonio Lopez (Spa) Illes Balears-Banesto 89 pts 2 Max Van Heeswijk (Ned) U.S. Postal Service-Berry Floor 2 3 José Ivan Gutierrez (Spa) Illes Balears-Banesto 4 4 Erik Zabel (Ger) T-Mobile 6 5 Jan Svorada (Cze) Lampre 8 6 Isaac Galvez (Spa) Illes Balears-Banesto 10 7 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Com.Valenciana-Kelme 13 8 Miguel A M.Perdiguero (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 13 9 David Navas (Spa) Illes Balears-Banesto 16 10 Xavier Florencio (Spa) Relax-Bodysol 18 11 Ion Del Rio (Spa) Costa Almeria-Paternina 20 Teams classification 1 Illes Balears-Banesto 13.02.33 2 Saunier Duval-Prodir 3 Lampre 4 Comundidad Valenciana-Kelme 5 Cafes Baque 6 Relax-Bodysol 7 U.S. Postal Service-Berry Floor 8 T-Mobile 9 Euskaltel-Euskadi 10 Brioches La Boulangere 11 Costa Almeria-Paternina 12 Saeco 13 Gerolsteiner 7.35 14 Mrbookmaker.com-Palmans
