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27th Vuelta a Murcia - 2.1
Spain, March 7-11, 2007
Main Page Results Overall standings Previous Stage
Stage 5 - March 11: Ceuti - Murcia, 151 km
Second GC win of the season for Valverde
By Shane Stokes
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The 26-year-old has been in excellent form this season, notching up another GC win just eight days ago in the Tour of Valencia. Yesterday, he continued his progression towards future Grand Tour success when he won the first time trial of his professional career.
Today's final stage finished in a bunch gallop into Murcia, with Italian rider Danilo Napolitano (Lapre-Fondital) taking the verdict ahead of Graeme Brown (Rabobank) and Valverde's Caisse d'Epargne team-mate Jose Joaquin Rojas.
Angel Vicioso (Relax Gam) finished fourth on the stage but remained 35 seconds behind Valverde in the overall, with Manuel Lloret (Fuerteventura-Canariasas) staying third in GC, 52 seconds in arrears.
The victory was the eighth of the season for the Caisse d'Epargne squad, and directeur sportif José Luis Jaimerena was delighted with the result.
"We started full of hope in this race, thinking that it was possible for us to realize something good. In the end, the balance is really a positive one, with two stage wins - José Joaquín Rojas in the first one and Alejandro Valverde in the time trial - plus the individual general classification and the teams' classification.
"Valverde's win in the time trial is very important because that represents a further step in his career, an expected one. He was showing since last year that he was improving and developing a lot in that speciality. His victory is a proof that the work he did gave results and that is very important for the future, to give him more confidence.
Although the French-registered team recently learned that the co-sponsorship of Illes Balears would not be renewed, the overall mood and achievements thus far have been high. Jaimerena is looking forward to more good performances. "The beginning of the season has been really an exceptional one for the team d'Epargne and now we will have to confirm that. Another important part of the season will start right now, with the ProTour events, and logically the level will be higher yet.
"To win is never easy, but I think that if we are lucky and able to take advantage of the situations, and that the riders are in good shape, I think that we will be able to win also some of the next races."
Valverde will now take a 20-day break from competition, pinning on a number again for the Criterium International at the end of the month.
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Foto Abarca Sports
- Jose Luis Jaimerena and Alejandro Valverde talk after the final stage of the Vuelta a Murcia.
Results
1 Danilo Napolitano (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 3.29.06 2 Graeme Brown (Aus) Rabobank 3 Jose Joaquin Rojas (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 4 Giuseppe Palumbo (Ita) Acqua Sapone-C.Mokambo 5 Angel Vicioso (Spa) Relax-Gam 6 Rodrigo Garcia (Spa) Fuerteventura-Canarias 7 Joaquin Sobrino (Spa) Relax-Gam 8 Baden Cooke (Aus) Unibet.com 9 José Adrian Bonilla (Crc) Fuerteventura-Canarias 10 Manuel Vazquez (Spa) Andalucia-Cajasur 11 Mario De Sarraga (Spa) Relax-Gam 12 Alexey Kolessov (Kaz) Astana 13 Jose Luis Carrasco (Spa) Andalucia-Cajasur 14 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team CSC 15 Michal Golas (Pol) Unibet.com 16 Diego Milan (Spa) Grupo Nicolas Mateos 17 David Abal (Spa) Karpin-Galicia 18 Enrique Salgueiro (Spa) Karpin-Galicia 19 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank 20 Michele Scarponi (Ita) Acqua Sapone-C.Mokambo 21 Oscar Sevilla (Spa) Relax-Gam 22 Michael Schär (Swi) Astana 23 Nicki Sörensen (Den) Team CSC 24 José Rujano (Ven) Unibet.com 25 Manuel Lloret (Spa) Fuerteventura-Canarias 26 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne 27 Miguel Ochoa (Spa) Grupo Nicolas Mateos 28 Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Acqua Sapone-C.Mokambo 29 Stefano Cavallari (Ita) Acqua Sapone-C.Mokambo 30 Pablo De Pedro (Spa) Grupo Nicolas Mateos 31 Mauricio A. Ardila (Col) Rabobank 32 Luis Perez Rodriguez (Spa) Andalucia-Cajasur 33 Dario Andriotto (Ita) Acqua Sapone-C.Mokambo 34 Vicente Ballester (Spa) Fuerteventura-Canarias 35 Massimo Codol (Ita) Acqua Sapone-C.Mokambo 36 Andrea Masciarelli (Ita) Acqua Sapone-C.Mokambo 37 Gilberto Simoni (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir 38 Michael Blaudzun (Den) Team CSC 39 Paolo Savoldelli (Ita) Astana 40 Luis Fernandez (Spa) Karpin-Galicia 41 Steve Morabito (Swi) Astana 42 Luis Pasamontes (Spa) Unibet.com 43 Marco Marzano (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 44 David Muñoz (Spa) Fuerteventura-Canarias 45 Jorge Azanza (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 46 Constantino Zaballa (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 47 Lander Aperribay (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 48 David De La Fuente (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 49 Koldo Gil (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 50 Ruben Lobato (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 51 Gonzalo Rabunal (Spa) Karpin-Galicia 52 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 53 Sébastien Portal (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne 54 Claudio José Casas (Spa) Andalucia-Cajasur 55 Paolo Tiralongo (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 56 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 57 Giampaolo Caruso (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 58 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Astana 59 Unai Uribarri (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 60 Jose Alberto Benitez (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 61 Giuseppe Muraglia (Ita) Acqua Sapone-C.Mokambo 62 Jorge Perez (Spa) Relax-Gam 63 Santiago Perez (Spa) Relax-Gam 64 Manuel Ortega (Spa) Andalucia-Cajasur 65 Jorge Ferrio (Spa) Andalucia-Cajasur 66 José Antonio Baños (Spa) Grupo Nicolas Mateos 67 Morris Possoni (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 68 Matteo Carrara (Ita) Unibet.com 69 Eddy Mazzoleni (Ita) Astana 70 David Bernabeu (Spa) Fuerteventura-Canarias 71 Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank 72 Lars Bak (Den) Team CSC 73 Evgeniy Sladkov (Kaz) Astana 74 Gustav Erik Larsson (Swe) Unibet.com 75 Daniel Navarro (Spa) Astana 76 Arkaitz Duran (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 77 Mathieu Perget (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne 78 Igor Anton (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 79 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 80 Antonio Olmo (Spa) Andalucia-Cajasur 81 Oscar Garcia (Spa) Relax-Gam 82 Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) Rabobank 83 Inigo Landaluze (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 84 Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) Lampre-Fondital 85 Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 86 José Angel Gomez (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 87 Marcos A. Serrano (Spa) Karpin-Galicia 88 Jose Ruiz (Spa) Andalucia-Cajasur 89 Isidro Nozal (Spa) Karpin-Galicia 90 Carlos Castaño (Spa) Karpin-Galicia 91 Julian Sanchez (Spa) Relax-Gam 92 Beñat Intxausti (Spa) Grupo Nicolas Mateos 93 Vicente Peiro (Spa) Grupo Nicolas Mateos 94 Gorka Amuriza (Spa) Grupo Nicolas Mateos 95 Joan Horrach (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 96 Inigo Cuesta (Spa) Team CSC 97 Iker Flores (Spa) Fuerteventura-Canarias 98 Dmitry Kozontchuk (Rus) Rabobank 99 Victor Hugo Peña (Col) Unibet.com 100 Matti Breschel (Den) Team CSC 101 Juan José Haedo (Arg) Team CSC 102 Jeremy Hunt (Gbr) Unibet.com Points 1 Danilo Napolitano (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 25 pts 2 Graeme Brown (Aus) Rabobank 20 3 Jose Joaquin Rojas (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 16 4 Giuseppe Palumbo (Ita) Acqua Sapone-C.Mokambo 14 5 Angel Vicioso (Spa) Relax-Gam 12 6 Rodrigo Garcia (Spa) Fuerteventura-Canarias 10 7 Joaquin Sobrino (Spa) Relax-Gam 9 8 Baden Cooke (Aus) Unibet.com 8 9 José Adrian Bonilla (Crc) Fuerteventura-Canarias 7 10 Manuel Vazquez (Spa) Andalucia-Cajasur 6 11 Mario De Sarraga (Spa) Relax-Gam 5 12 Alexey Kolessov (Kaz) Astana 4 13 Jose Luis Carrasco (Spa) Andalucia-Cajasur 3 14 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team CSC 2 15 Michal Golas (Pol) Unibet.com 1 Sprints Villanueva Del Rio, at 10.8km 1 Luis Pasamontes (Spa) Unibet.com 3 pts 2 Manuel Vazquez (Spa) Andalucia-Cajasur 2 3 Beñat Intxausti (Spa) Grupo Nicolas Mateos 1 Cieza at 28.4km 1 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 3 pts 2 Manuel Vazquez (Spa) Andalucia-Cajasur 2 3 Morris Possoni (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 1 Teams 1 Relax-Gam 10.27.18 2 Fuerteventura-Canariasas 3 Unibet.Com 4 Rabobank 5 Acqua Sapone-C.Mokambo 6 Andalucia-Cajasur 7 Astana 8 Grupo Nicolas Mateos 9 Caisse d'Epargne 10 Team CSC 11 Karpin-Galicia 12 Lampre-Fondital 13 Saunier Duval-Prodir 14 Euskaltel-Euskadi Final General Classification 1 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 11.45.41 2 Angel Vicioso (Spa) Relax-Gam 0.35 3 Manuel Lloret (Spa) Fuerteventura-Canarias 0.52 4 Koldo Gil (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 1.07 5 Michele Scarponi (Ita) Acqua Sapone-C.Mokambo 1.09 6 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team CSC 1.10 7 Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Acqua Sapone-C.Mokambo 1.17 8 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank 1.23 9 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 10 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne 1.37 11 David Bernabeu (Spa) Fuerteventura-Canarias 1.42 12 Jose Joaquin Rojas (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 1.50 13 Dario Andriotto (Ita) Acqua Sapone-C.Mokambo 1.53 14 Oscar Sevilla (Spa) Relax-Gam 1.56 15 Giuseppe Palumbo (Ita) Acqua Sapone-C.Mokambo 16 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 2.22 17 Marco Marzano (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 2.24 18 Nicki Sörensen (Den) Team CSC 2.32 19 Lars Bak (Den) Team CSC 2.36 20 Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank 2.41 21 Isidro Nozal (Spa) Karpin-Galicia 2.46 22 Luis Perez Rodriguez (Spa) Andalucia-Cajasur 2.48 23 Pablo De Pedro (Spa) Grupo Nicolas Mateos 2.56 24 Constantino Zaballa (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 2.58 25 Massimo Codol (Ita) Acqua Sapone-C.Mokambo 3.03 26 Eddy Mazzoleni (Ita) Astana 3.05 27 Matteo Carrara (Ita) Unibet.com 3.07 28 Michael Blaudzun (Den) Team CSC 29 Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) Rabobank 3.32 30 Carlos Castaño (Spa) Karpin-Galicia 3.41 31 Manuel Vazquez (Spa) Andalucia-Cajasur 3.43 32 Dmitry Kozontchuk (Rus) Rabobank 3.50 33 Baden Cooke (Aus) Unibet.com 3.55 34 Gustav Erik Larsson (Swe) Unibet.com 4.14 35 Andrea Masciarelli (Ita) Acqua Sapone-C.Mokambo 4.15 36 Michal Golas (Pol) Unibet.com 4.17 37 Jose Alberto Benitez (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 4.20 38 Luis Pasamontes (Spa) Unibet.com 4.50 39 Danilo Napolitano (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 4.53 40 Juan José Haedo (Arg) Team CSC 5.03 41 Joaquin Sobrino (Spa) Relax-Gam 5.09 42 Jeremy Hunt (Gbr) Unibet.com 5.30 43 Giampaolo Caruso (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 5.38 44 Paolo Tiralongo (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 5.45 45 Giuseppe Muraglia (Ita) Acqua Sapone-C.Mokambo 5.48 46 Graeme Brown (Aus) Rabobank 6.13 47 Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 6.33 48 Julian Sanchez (Spa) Relax-Gam 7.02 49 Inigo Cuesta (Spa) Team CSC 7.23 50 José Rujano (Ven) Unibet.com 7.26 51 Iker Flores (Spa) Fuerteventura-Canarias 52 Gilberto Simoni (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir 7.48 53 Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) Lampre-Fondital 7.49 54 José Angel Gomez (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 7.53 55 Paolo Savoldelli (Ita) Astana 8.01 56 Victor Hugo Peña (Col) Unibet.com 8.17 57 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Astana 8.18 58 Rodrigo Garcia (Spa) Fuerteventura-Canarias 8.32 59 Daniel Navarro (Spa) Astana 8.33 60 Jose Ruiz (Spa) Andalucia-Cajasur 8.34 61 José Adrian Bonilla (Crc) Fuerteventura-Canarias 8.49 62 Morris Possoni (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 8.56 63 Inigo Landaluze (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 9.00 64 Joan Horrach (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 9.01 65 Santiago Perez (Spa) Relax-Gam 9.15 66 Jose Luis Carrasco (Spa) Andalucia-Cajasur 9.27 67 Jorge Ferrio (Spa) Andalucia-Cajasur 9.34 68 Steve Morabito (Swi) Astana 9.35 69 Beñat Intxausti (Spa) Grupo Nicolas Mateos 9.37 70 Unai Uribarri (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 71 Marcos A. Serrano (Spa) Karpin-Galicia 9.40 72 Claudio José Casas (Spa) Andalucia-Cajasur 10.08 73 Oscar Garcia (Spa) Relax-Gam 10.20 74 David Abal (Spa) Karpin-Galicia 75 Mario De Sarraga (Spa) Relax-Gam 10.26 76 Ruben Lobato (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 10.29 77 Antonio Olmo (Spa) Andalucia-Cajasur 10.30 78 Manuel Ortega (Spa) Andalucia-Cajasur 10.31 79 Igor Anton (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 10.43 80 Jorge Perez (Spa) Relax-Gam 10.49 81 Mathieu Perget (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne 10.51 82 Luis Fernandez (Spa) Karpin-Galicia 10.54 83 Arkaitz Duran (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 11.01 84 Stefano Cavallari (Ita) Acqua Sapone-C.Mokambo 11.03 85 Sébastien Portal (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne 11.04 86 David De La Fuente (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 11.26 87 Mauricio A. Ardila (Col) Rabobank 11.43 88 Jorge Azanza (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 11.45 89 Matti Breschel (Den) Team CSC 11.51 90 Miguel Ochoa (Spa) Grupo Nicolas Mateos 11.52 91 Michael Schär (Swi) Astana 12.10 92 Vicente Ballester (Spa) Fuerteventura-Canarias 12.15 93 Alexey Kolessov (Kaz) Astana 12.32 94 Diego Milan (Spa) Grupo Nicolas Mateos 12.45 95 Lander Aperribay (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 13.11 96 José Antonio Baños (Spa) Grupo Nicolas Mateos 13.24 97 Gonzalo Rabunal (Spa) Karpin-Galicia 13.27 98 Evgeniy Sladkov (Kaz) Astana 14.20 99 Gorka Amuriza (Spa) Grupo Nicolas Mateos 15.35 100 Vicente Peiro (Spa) Grupo Nicolas Mateos 15.38 101 David Muñoz (Spa) Fuerteventura-Canarias 15.41 102 Enrique Salgueiro (Spa) Karpin-Galicia 16.12 Points Classification 1 Danilo Napolitano (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 57 pts 2 Graeme Brown (Aus) Rabobank 55 3 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 53 4 Jose Joaquin Rojas (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 49 5 Baden Cooke (Aus) Unibet.com 42 6 Angel Vicioso (Spa) Relax-Gam 40 7 Giuseppe Palumbo (Ita) Acqua Sapone-C.Mokambo 33 8 José Angel Gomez (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 26 9 Joaquin Sobrino (Spa) Relax-Gam 23 10 Juan José Haedo (Arg) Team CSC 22 11 Rodrigo Garcia (Spa) Fuerteventura-Canarias 19 12 Manuel Vazquez (Spa) Andalucia-Cajasur 18 13 Manuel Lloret (Spa) Fuerteventura-Canarias 14 14 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team CSC 12 15 Inigo Cuesta (Spa) Team CSC 12 16 José Rujano (Ven) Unibet.com 10 17 Koldo Gil (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 9 18 Lars Bak (Den) Team CSC 9 19 Mario De Sarraga (Spa) Relax-Gam 9 20 Michele Scarponi (Ita) Acqua Sapone-C.Mokambo 8 21 Michal Golas (Pol) Unibet.com 8 22 José Adrian Bonilla (Crc) Fuerteventura-Canarias 7 23 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank 6 24 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne 6 25 Gustav Erik Larsson (Swe) Unibet.com 6 Mountains Classification 1 Manuel Vazquez (Spa) Andalucia-Cajasur 9 pts 2 Pablo De Pedro (Spa) Grupo Nicolas Mateos 4 3 José Angel Gomez (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 3 4 Julian Sanchez (Spa) Relax-Gam 2 5 Daniel Navarro (Spa) Astana 2 6 Gonzalo Rabunal (Spa) Karpin-Galicia 2 7 Rodrigo Garcia (Spa) Fuerteventura-Canarias 1 8 Inigo Landaluze (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 1 Combination Classification 1 Manuel Vazquez (Spa) Andalucia-Cajasur 44 pts 2 Pablo De Pedro (Spa) Grupo Nicolas Mateos 64 3 José Angel Gomez (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 65 4 Rodrigo Garcia (Spa) Fuerteventura-Canarias 76 5 Julian Sanchez (Spa) Relax-Gam 85 6 Inigo Landaluze (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 105 7 Gonzalo Rabunal (Spa) Karpin-Galicia 140 8 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 4 9 Angel Vicioso (Spa) Relax-Gam 8 10 Manuel Lloret (Spa) Fuerteventura-Canarias 16 11 Jose Joaquin Rojas (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 16 Murcian Classification 1 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 2 Jose Joaquin Rojas (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 3 Claudio José Casas (Spa) Andalucia-Cajasur 4 José Antonio Baños (Spa) Grupo Nicolas Mateos Team Classification 1 Caisse d'Epargne 35.20.30 2 Unibet.Com 0.36 3 Acqua Sapone-C.Mokambo 0.52 4 Relax-Gam 1.16 5 Team CSC 1.19 6 Lampre-Fondital 1.50 7 Rabobank 3.04 8 Fuerteventura-Canariasas 4.09 9 Saunier Duval-Prodir 5.59 10 Andalucia-Cajasur 11.03 11 Astana 11.52 12 Karpin-Galicia 12.40 13 Euskaltel-Euskadi 15.29 14 Grupo Nicolas Mateos 20.58
