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26th Vuelta a Murcia - 2.1
Spain, March 1-5, 2006
Main Page Results Overall standings Previous Stage Next Stage
Stage 2 - March 2: Alcantarilla-Alhama De Murcia , 172.4 km
Valverde opens his account
Vicioso new leader
Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears) has done what he hasn't been able to do so far this year: won a stage in one of the early season Spanish stage races. At the end of a fast 172.4 km between Alcantarilla and Alhama De Murcia, Valverde won a nine man sprint ahead of Angel Vicioso (Liberty Seguros-Wurth) and Giuliano Figueras (Lampre). However, Vicioso was awarded the leader's jersey at the end of the day, despite sharing the same overall time with Valverde.
The stage started at 11:30, and it didn't take long for the first breakaway of the day to establish itself: José Cayetano Juliá (Illes Balears), Claudio Casas (Comunidad Valenciana), José Antonio Baños (3 Molinos Resort), José Antonio López (Kaiku), Manuel Vázquez (Andalucia-Paul Versan), Francisco José Terciado (Relax-Gam), Giuliano Figueras (Lampre-Fondital), Fumiyuki Beppu (Discovery), Javier Ramirez (Liberty Seguros), Marc Wauters (Rabobank), Anton Luengo (Euskaltel), and Beat Zberg (Gerolsteiner) took advantage of a lull in the peloton and rode clear, gaining 2'34 after 17 km.
With so many teams represented, it fell to Unibet.com and Panaria to control the peloton, making sure things didn't get out of hand. The gap reduced as the first sprint in Cartagena (km 48) approached, and it was just 25 seconds when José Antonio Lopez won the points ahead of Claudio José Casas and Francisco José Terciado. The proximity of the peloton caused the break to disintegrate a little, and after 53 km, there were two groups in the lead. The first contained Terciado, Vázquez and López; the second had Ramirez, Cayetano Juliá, Casas and Bañós at 40 seconds, with the peloton following at 1'35.
The two groups came back together and on the Cat. 3 Alto Los Ruices (km 70,3), Lopez won the points ahead of Casas and Terciado, continuing his attack on the other side of the mountain. Lopez couldn't stay away though, and was caught by the other six near the sprint at Mazarrón (km 87), with the peloton still close behind at a minute. Lopez did take the points in the sprint ahead of Terciado and Cayetano Julia.
The break was finally caught in Fuentelibrilla, and the bunch hit the Cat. 1 Alto De La Perdiz as one. Lampre-Fondital set the pace with Sylvester Szmyd, causing overnight leader Haussler to lose contact, as did Cayetano Juliá, Alexandre Vinokourov, Denis Menchov and Michael Rasmussen. Igor Anton (Euskaltel), on the other hand, attacked the now small group of 25 riders. But he was caught, and shortly before the summit, a nine man group containing Valverde and Gutierrez (Caisse d'Epargne), Vicioso (Liberty), Figueras (Lampre), Carlos Garcia (Unibet), Gonzalez and Hruska (3 Molinos), Bernabeu (Comunidad Valenciana), and Sella (Panaria) got clear. The group was able to build up a lead of 1'04 by the finish and Valverde was too fast for Vicioso in the sprint to the line.
Results
1 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 4.02.36 (42.638 km/h) 2 Angel Vicioso (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Wurth 3 Giuliano Figueras (Ita) Lampre 4 Carlos Garcia (Spa) Unibet.Com 5 Santos Gonzalez (Spa) 3 Molinos Resort 6 David Bernabeu (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 7 José Ivan Gutierrez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 8 Jan Hruska (Cze) 3 Molinos Resort 9 Emanuele Sella (Ita) Ceramica Panaria-Navigare 10 Marc De Maar (Ned) Rabobank 1.04 11 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre 12 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Discovery Channel 13 Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) Lampre 14 Luis Pasamontes (Spa) Unibet.Com 15 Jesus Del Nero (Spa) 3 Molinos Resort 16 Theo Eltink (Ned) Rabobank 17 Juan Carlos Dominguez (Spa) Unibet.Com 18 Alberto Losada (Spa) Kaiku 19 Francisco Cabello (Spa) Andalucia-Paul Versan 20 Pieter Weening (Ned) Rabobank 21 Juan Gomis (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 22 Francisco Perez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 23 Manuel Beltran (Spa) Discovery Channel 24 Ezequiel Mosquera (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 25 Julian Sanchez (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 26 Heinrich Haussler (Ger) Gerolsteiner 3.02 27 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Unibet.Com 28 Egoi Martinez (Spa) Discovery Channel 29 Gorazd Stangelj (Slo) Lampre 30 Angel Castresana (Spa) Unibet.Com 3.16 31 Aketza Pena (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 32 Jose Miguel Elias (Spa) Relax-Gam 33 Joseba Zubeldia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 34 Jose Luis Carrasco (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 35 Igor Anton (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 36 Trent Lowe (Aus) Discovery Channel 37 Ivan Gilmartin (Spa) Kaiku 38 Beat Zberg (Swi) Gerolsteiner 39 Marcos Antoni Serrano (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Wurth 40 Paolo Tiralongo (Ita) Lampre 41 Georg Totschnig (Aut) Gerolsteiner 42 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Ceramica Panaria-Navigare 43 Jaume Rovira (Spa) Andalucia-Paul Versan 44 Iban Mayo (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 6.22 45 Benat Albizuri (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 46 Mikel Pradera (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 47 Joan Horrach (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 48 Ruben Perez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 49 David Muñoz (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 50 Miguel Angel Rubiano (Col) Ceramica Panaria-Navigare 51 David Etxebarria (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Wurth 52 Sergio Dominguez (Spa) 3 Molinos Resort 53 Pedro Luis Marichalar (Spa) Andalucia-Paul Versan 54 José Adrian Bonilla (CRc) Comunidad Valenciana 55 José Luis Martinez (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 56 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank 57 Oscar Garcia (Spa) Relax-Gam 58 Isidro Cerrato (Spa) 3 Molinos Resort 59 Carlos Abellan (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Wurth 60 José Mario Almagro (Spa) Relax-Gam 61 Gustavo Cesar (Spa) Kaiku 10.17 62 Matthew White (Aus) Discovery Channel 10.54 63 Michael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank 64 Niels Scheuneman (Ned) Rabobank 65 Thorwald Veneberg (Ned) Rabobank 66 Guennadi Mikhailov (Rus) Discovery Channel 67 Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) Liberty Seguros-Wurth 68 Jesus Buendia (Spa) 3 Molinos Resort 69 Florent Brard (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 70 Angel Edo (Spa) Andalucia-Paul Versan 71 Peter Wrolich (Aut) Gerolsteiner 72 Carlos Castaño (Spa) Kaiku 73 Dionisio Galparsoro (Spa) Kaiku 74 Tadej Valjavec (Slo) Lampre 75 Ivan Santos (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Wurth 76 Anton Luengo (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 77 Marzio Bruseghin (Ita) Lampre 12.24 78 Julio Garcia (Spa) 3 Molinos Resort 13.20 79 Claudio José Casas (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 14.09 80 José Antonio Banos (Spa) 3 Molinos Resort 81 Nacor Burgos (Spa) Relax-Gam 82 Baden Cooke (Aus) Unibet.Com 83 Kurt V. De Wouwer (Bel) Unibet.Com 84 Frank Vandenbroucke (Bel) Unibet.Com 85 Sergiy Matveyev (Ukr) Ceramica Panaria-Navigare 86 Unai Uribarri (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 87 Javier Ramirez (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Wurth 88 Jose Cayetano Julia (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 89 Markus Fothen (Ger) Gerolsteiner 90 José Antonio Lopez (Spa) Kaiku 91 Angel Vallejo (Spa) Relax-Gam 92 Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn) Discovery Channel 93 Marco Marzano (Ita) Lampre 94 Manuel Ortega (Spa) Andalucia-Paul Versan 95 Max Van Heeswijk (Ned) Discovery Channel 96 Julio A. Perez Cuapio (Mex) Ceramica Panaria-Navigare 97 Thomas Fothen (Ger) Gerolsteiner 98 Ariel Richeze (Arg) Ceramica Panaria-Navigare 99 Aitor Galdos (Spa) Ceramica Panaria-Navigare 100 Marc Wauters (Bel) Rabobank 101 Pablo Urtasun (Spa) Kaiku 15.51 102 Fco. José Terciado (Spa) Relax-Gam 103 Francisco José Lara (Spa) Andalucia-Paul Versan 104 Fco. Jose Martinez (Spa) Andalucia-Paul Versan 105 José Martinez (Spa) Relax-Gam 17.00 106 Mario De Sarraga (Spa) Relax-Gam 107 Michael Rich (Ger) Gerolsteiner 19.37 108 Manuel Vazquez (Spa) Andalucia-Paul Versan Points 1 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 25 pts 2 Angel Vicioso (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Wurth 20 3 Giuliano Figueras (Ita) Lampre 16 4 Carlos Garcia (Spa) Unibet.Com 14 5 Santos Gonzalez (Spa) 3 Molinos Resort 12 6 David Bernabeu (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 10 7 José Ivan Gutierrez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 9 8 Jan Hruska (Cze) 3 Molinos Resort 8 9 Emanuele Sella (Ita) Ceramica Panaria-Navigare 7 10 Marc De Maar (Ned) Rabobank 6 11 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre 5 12 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Discovery Channel 4 13 Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) Lampre 3 14 Luis Pasamontes (Spa) Unibet.Com 2 15 Jesus Del Nero (Spa) 3 Molinos Resort 1 Mountains Alto Los Ruices - Cat. 3, km 70,30 1 José Antonio Lopez (Spa) Kaiku 3 pts 2 Claudio José Casas (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 2 3 Fco. José Terciado (Spa) Relax-Gam 1 Alto De La Perdiz - Cat. 1, km 155,60 1 Santos Gonzalez (Spa) 3 Molinos Resort 10 pts 2 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 8 3 Angel Vicioso (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Wurth 6 4 Carlos Garcia (Spa) Unibet.Com 4 5 David Bernabeu (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 2 6 José Ivan Gutierrez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 1 Sprints Intermedios Etapa Cartagena, km 48,00 1 José Antonio Lopez (Spa) Kaiku 3 pts 2 Fco. José Terciado (Spa) Relax-Gam 2 3 Manuel Vazquez (Spa) Andalucia-Paul Versan 1 Mazarron, km 87,20 1 José Antonio Lopez (Spa) Kaiku 3 pts 2 Fco. José Terciado (Spa) Relax-Gam 2 3 Jose Cayetano Julia (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 1 Teams 1 3 Molinos Resort 12.08.52 2 Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 3 Lampre 1.04 4 Unibet.com 5 Comunidad Valenciana 6 Rabobank 2.08 7 Discovery Channel 4.06 8 Gerolsteiner 8.30 9 Liberty Seguros - Wurth 8.34 10 Ceramica Panaria-Navigare 11 Euskaltel-Euskadi 8.44 12 Andalucia-Paul Versan 9.38 13 Kaiku 13.33 14 Relax-Gam 14.56 General classification after stage 2 1 Angel Vicioso (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Wurth 8.05.54 2 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 3 José Ivan Gutierrez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 4 Santos Gonzalez (Spa) 3 Molinos Resort 5 Carlos Garcia (Spa) Unibet.Com 6 David Bernabeu (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 7 Jan Hruska (Cze) 3 Molinos Resort 8 Emanuele Sella (Ita) Ceramica Panaria-Navigare 9 Giuliano Figueras (Ita) Lampre 10 Jesus Del Nero (Spa) 3 Molinos Resort 1.04 11 Theo Eltink (Ned) Rabobank 12 Juan Carlos Dominguez (Spa) Unibet.Com 13 Luis Pasamontes (Spa) Unibet.Com 14 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Discovery Channel 15 Francisco Perez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 16 Marc De Maar (Ned) Rabobank 17 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre 18 Alberto Losada (Spa) Kaiku 19 Juan Gomis (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 20 Manuel Beltran (Spa) Discovery Channel 21 Francisco Cabello (Spa) Andalucia-Paul Versan 22 Ezequiel Mosquera (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 23 Pieter Weening (Ned) Rabobank 24 Julian Sanchez (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 25 Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) Lampre 26 Heinrich Haussler (Ger) Gerolsteiner 3.02 27 Gorazd Stangelj (Slo) Lampre 28 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Unibet.Com 29 Egoi Martinez (Spa) Discovery Channel 30 Jose Luis Carrasco (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 3.16 31 Angel Castresana (Spa) Unibet.Com 32 Igor Anton (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 33 Ivan Gilmartin (Spa) Kaiku 34 Aketza Pena (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 35 Paolo Tiralongo (Ita) Lampre 36 Beat Zberg (Swi) Gerolsteiner 37 Jaume Rovira (Spa) Andalucia-Paul Versan 38 Marcos Antoni Serrano (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Wurth 39 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Ceramica Panaria-Navigare 40 Joseba Zubeldia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 41 Georg Totschnig (Aut) Gerolsteiner 42 Jose Miguel Elias (Spa) Relax-Gam 43 Trent Lowe (Aus) Discovery Channel 44 David Muñoz (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 6.22 45 Benat Albizuri (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 46 Pedro Luis Marichalar (Spa) Andalucia-Paul Versan 47 José Adrian Bonilla (CRc) Comunidad Valenciana 48 Oscar Garcia (Spa) Relax-Gam 49 Mikel Pradera (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 50 José Mario Almagro (Spa) Relax-Gam 51 José Luis Martinez (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 52 Miguel Angel Rubiano (Col) Ceramica Panaria-Navigare 53 Carlos Abellan (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Wurth 54 Joan Horrach (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 55 Ruben Perez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 56 Sergio Dominguez (Spa) 3 Molinos Resort 57 Isidro Cerrato (Spa) 3 Molinos Resort 58 Iban Mayo (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 59 David Etxebarria (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Wurth 60 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank 61 Gustavo Cesar (Spa) Kaiku 10.17 62 Peter Wrolich (Aut) Gerolsteiner 10.54 63 Angel Edo (Spa) Andalucia-Paul Versan 64 Guennadi Mikhailov (Rus) Discovery Channel 65 Matthew White (Aus) Discovery Channel 66 Ivan Santos (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Wurth 67 Dionisio Galparsoro (Spa) Kaiku 68 Tadej Valjavec (Slo) Lampre 69 Thorwald Veneberg (Ned) Rabobank 70 Niels Scheuneman (Ned) Rabobank 71 Anton Luengo (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 72 Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) Liberty Seguros-Wurth 73 Florent Brard (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 74 Jesus Buendia (Spa) 3 Molinos Resort 75 Michael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank 76 Carlos Castaño (Spa) Kaiku 77 Marzio Bruseghin (Ita) Lampre 12.24 78 Baden Cooke (Aus) Unibet.Com 14.09 79 Ariel Richeze (Arg) Ceramica Panaria-Navigare 80 Markus Fothen (Ger) Gerolsteiner 81 Nacor Burgos (Spa) Relax-Gam 82 Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn) Discovery Channel 83 Claudio José Casas (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 84 Jose Cayetano Julia (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 85 José Antonio Banos (Spa) 3 Molinos Resort 86 Aitor Galdos (Spa) Ceramica Panaria-Navigare 87 Javier Ramirez (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Wurth 88 Max Van Heeswijk (Ned) Discovery Channel 89 Sergiy Matveyev (Ukr) Ceramica Panaria-Navigare 90 Manuel Ortega (Spa) Andalucia-Paul Versan 91 José Antonio Lopez (Spa) Kaiku 92 Kurt V. De Wouwer (Bel) Unibet.Com 93 Frank Vandenbroucke (Bel) Unibet.Com 94 Thomas Fothen (Ger) Gerolsteiner 95 Marco Marzano (Ita) Lampre 96 Marc Wauters (Bel) Rabobank 97 Unai Uribarri (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 98 Julio A. Perez Cuapio (Mex) Ceramica Panaria-Navigare 99 Angel Vallejo (Spa) Relax-Gam 14.34 100 Pablo Urtasun (Spa) Kaiku 15.51 101 Francisco José Lara (Spa) Andalucia-Paul Versan 102 Fco. Jose Martinez (Spa) Andalucia-Paul Versan 103 Fco. José Terciado (Spa) Relax-Gam 104 Mario De Sarraga (Spa) Relax-Gam 17.00 105 José Martinez (Spa) Relax-Gam 17.32 106 Manuel Vazquez (Spa) Andalucia-Paul Versan 19.37 107 Michael Rich (Ger) Gerolsteiner 108 Julio Garcia (Spa) 3 Molinos Resort 19.49 Points classification 1 Angel Vicioso (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Wurth 32 pts 2 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 29 3 Heinrich Haussler (Ger) Gerolsteiner 25 4 Ariel Richeze (Arg) Ceramica Panaria-Navigare 20 5 Jesus Del Nero (Spa) 3 Molinos Resort 17 6 Giuliano Figueras (Ita) Lampre 16 7 Carlos Garcia (Spa) Unibet.Com 14 8 Baden Cooke (Aus) Unibet.Com 14 9 Santos Gonzalez (Spa) 3 Molinos Resort 12 10 David Bernabeu (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 10 11 Peter Wrolich (Aut) Gerolsteiner 10 12 José Ivan Gutierrez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 9 13 David Muñoz (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 9 14 Jan Hruska (Cze) 3 Molinos Resort 8 15 Angel Edo (Spa) Andalucia-Paul Versan 8 16 Emanuele Sella (Ita) Ceramica Panaria-Navigare 7 17 Gorazd Stangelj (Slo) Lampre 7 18 José Antonio Lopez (Spa) Kaiku 6 19 Marc De Maar (Ned) Rabobank 6 20 Pablo Urtasun (Spa) Kaiku 6 21 Theo Eltink (Ned) Rabobank 5 22 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre 5 23 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Discovery Channel 4 24 Ruben Perez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 4 25 Markus Fothen (Ger) Gerolsteiner 4 Mountains classification 1 Santos Gonzalez (Spa) 3 Molinos Resort 10 pts 2 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 8 3 Angel Vicioso (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Wurth 6 4 Egoi Martinez (Spa) Discovery Channel 4 5 Carlos Garcia (Spa) Unibet.Com 4 6 Julian Sanchez (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 4 7 Ezequiel Mosquera (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 3 8 José Antonio Lopez (Spa) Kaiku 3 9 David Bernabeu (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 2 10 Claudio José Casas (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 2 11 José Ivan Gutierrez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 1 Combination classification 1 Angel Vicioso (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Wurth 5 pts 2 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 6 3 Santos Gonzalez (Spa) 3 Molinos Resort 14 4 Carlos Garcia (Spa) Unibet.Com 17 5 David Bernabeu (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 25 6 José Ivan Gutierrez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 26 7 José Antonio Lopez (Spa) Kaiku 117 8 Fco. José Terciado (Spa) Relax-Gam 142 9 Giuliano Figueras (Ita) Lampre 15 10 Jesus Del Nero (Spa) 3 Molinos Resort 15 11 Jan Hruska (Cze) 3 Molinos Resort 21 Teams classification 1 3 Molinos Resort 24.18.46 2 Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 3 Unibet.com 1.04 4 Lampre 5 Comunidad Valenciana 6 Rabobank 2.08 7 Discovery Channel 4.06 8 Gerolsteiner 8.30 9 Ceramica Panaria-Navigare 8.34 10 Liberty Seguros - Wurth 11 Euskaltel-Euskadi 8.44 12 Andalucia-Paul Versan 9.38 13 Kaiku 13.33 14 Relax-Gam 14.56
