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29th Vuelta Ciclista a la Región de Murcia - 2.1
Spain, March 4-8, 2009
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Stage 2 - March 5: Las Torres de Cotillas - Caravaca, 100km
Henderson tops on shortened stage in Murcia
Team Columbia's Greg Henderson grabbed the sprint victory and the overall lead in the Vuelta Murcia on a stage which was drastically shortened due to high winds on Thursday. The New Zealander bested Euskaltel-Euskadi's Ruben Perez and countryman Julian Dean (Garmin-Slipstream), taking the overall lead from the shoulders of Australian Graeme Brown of Rabobank.
Normally, the 175-kilometre route would not have been the domain of the sprinters as it featured the Alto de San Juan, a category one climb which rises to 1,227m, but organisers were forced to skip the climb shorten the stage and due to wind gusts of up to 90km/h.
At first, the race jury planned to cut out the climb, leaving about 100km of racing, but the strong, gusty winds, rain and even hail caused them to neutralise all but the final three kilometres of the stage.
"We raced for about 50 kilometres but then it got very windy and guys were getting blown off the road, so the organisers decided to neutralise most of the stage," Henderson explained. "They then told us that the racing would start again just three kilometres from the line. When we reached that point of the course, everybody knew that was when racing would start so there'd been a lot of fighting for position beforehand. On top of that it had just started to rain and the road surfaces weren't brilliant, so it was all very tense."
"I took one right-hand curve well," added Henderson, "and then was about fifth or sixth back coming into a second bend, a sharp left-hander, with about 350 metres to go. Me and Hoffie [sports director Tristan Hoffman] had looked at the route book during the stage to get an idea of the finish and he'd told me to take this corner full gas. It was only when I came into the corner in fifth or sixth place at full gas and noticed at the last moment that everybody else was braking that I got worried!"
Henderson held on to take the stage comfortably and don the overall leader's jersey, but he is uncertain whether he will be able to maintain his standing in Friday's 16km time trial.
"I'll do my best to defend the lead in the time trial tomorrow. Even though time trialing is not really my thing, I'll give it 100 percent and see what happens."
Results
1 Greg Henderson (NZl) Team Columbia - High Road 2.07.27 (47.077 km/h) 2 Rubén Pérez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 3 Julian Dean (NZl) Garmin-Slipstream 4 David Calatayud (Spa) Spanish National Team 5 Tom Leezer (Ned) Rabobank 6 Graeme Brown (Aus) Rabobank 7 Giuseppe Palumbo (Ita) Acqua e Sapone 8 Mathew Goss (Aus) Team Saxo Bank 9 Mathieu Drujon (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne 10 Manuel Cardoso (Por) Liberty Seguros 11 Pieter Weening (Ned) Rabobank 12 Egoitz García (Spa) Spanish National Team 13 Aitor Galdós (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 14 Aitor Pérez Arrieta (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia 15 Bert Grabsch (Ger) Team Columbia - High Road 16 Manuel Ortega (Spa) Andalucia - Cajasur 17 Edgar Miguel Pinto (Por) Liberty Seguros 18 Konstantin Siutsou (Blr) Team Columbia - High Road 19 Diego Milán (Spa) Acqua e Sapone 20 José Antonio Carrasco (Spa) Andalucia - Cajasur 21 Gert Dockx (Bel) Team Columbia - High Road 22 Vicente García De Mateo (Spa) Andorra - Grandvalira 23 Oleg Chuzhda (Ukr) Contentpolis - Murcia 24 Frantisek Rabon (Cze) Team Columbia - High Road 25 Salvador Guardiola (Spa) Spanish National Team 26 Morris Possoni (Ita) Team Columbia - High Road 27 Tom Danielson (USA) Garmin-Slipstream 28 Rubén Plaza (Spa) Liberty Seguros 29 Jason Donald (USA) Garmin-Slipstream 30 Andrés Vigil (Spa) Spanish National Team 31 Gonzalo Rabuñal (Spa) Xacobeo Galicia 32 Christian Meier (Can) Garmin-Slipstream 33 José Herrada López (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia 34 Craig Lewis (USA) Team Columbia - High Road 35 Javier Chacón (Spa) Spanish National Team 36 Jurgen Van Goolen (Bel) Team Saxo Bank 37 Carlos Nozal (Spa) Liberty Seguros 38 Jorge Azanza (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 39 Jesús Merino (Spa) Spanish National Team 40 Timothy Duggan (USA) Garmin-Slipstream 41 Nuno Ribeiro (Por) Liberty Seguros 42 Juan José Haedo (Arg) Team Saxo Bank 43 Lars Ytting Bak (Den) Team Saxo Bank 44 Blake Caldwell (USA) Garmin-Slipstream 45 Francisco Pérez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 46 Dmytro Chuzhda (Ukr) Andorra - Grandvalira 47 Carlos Torrent (Spa) Andorra - Grandvalira 48 Marcos García (Spa) Xacobeo Galicia 49 Arnold Jeannesson (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne 50 Rui Sousa (Por) Liberty Seguros 51 Raúl García De Mateo (Spa) Andorra - Grandvalira 52 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Rabobank 53 Héctor Guerra (Spa) Liberty Seguros 54 Luis Pasamontes (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 55 Ángel Vicioso (Spa) Andalucia - Cajasur 56 Luca Paolini (Ita) Acqua e Sapone 57 Pedro Merino (Spa) Spanish National Team 58 Eloy Teruel (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia 59 Ángel Vallejo (Spa) Andorra - Grandvalira 60 Alessandro Donati (Ita) Acqua e Sapone 61 Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Acqua e Sapone 62 Hubb Duyn (Ned) Garmin-Slipstream 63 Jaume Rovira (Spa) Andorra - Grandvalira 64 Michael Mørkøv (Den) Team Saxo Bank 65 Jonathan Bellis (GBr) Team Saxo Bank 66 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank 67 Xavier Tondo (Spa) Andalucia - Cajasur 68 Ezequiel Mosquera (Spa) Xacobeo Galicia 69 Antonio Tauler (Spa) Spanish National Team 70 Gustavo César Veloso (Spa) Xacobeo Galicia 71 Sergio De Lis (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 72 Javier Benítez (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia 73 Massimo Codol (Ita) Acqua e Sapone 74 José Joao Mendes (Por) Liberty Seguros 75 Juan Javier Estrada (Spa) Andalucia - Cajasur 76 Dario Andriotto (Ita) Acqua e Sapone 77 Dennis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank 78 Stef Clement (Ned) Rabobank 79 Nicolas Portal (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne 80 Anders Lund (Den) Team Saxo Bank 81 Koos Moerenhout (Ned) Rabobank 82 Amets Txurruka (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 83 José Vicente García (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 84 Claudio Casas (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia 85 José Ruiz (Spa) Andalucia - Cajasur 86 Manuel Vázquez (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia 87 José Antonio Redondo (Spa) Andalucia - Cajasur 88 David Herrero (Spa) Xacobeo Galicia 89 Pedro J. Vera (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia 90 Jason McCartney (USA) Team Saxo Bank 91 Xabier Zandio (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 92 Aitor Aznar (Spa) Andorra - Grandvalira 93 Carlos Castaño (Spa) Xacobeo Galicia 94 Alberto Losada (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 95 Igor Antón (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 96 Mikel Nieve (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 97 José Antonio López (Spa) Andalucia - Cajasur 98 Lucas Euser (USA) Garmin-Slipstream 99 Didac Ortega (Spa) Acqua e Sapone 100 Mikel Astarloza (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 101 Iván Raña (Spa) Xacobeo Galicia DNS Serafín Martínez (Spa) Xacobeo Galicia Sprints Cieza. Memorial Mariano Rojas 1 Pedro J. Vera (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia 3 pts 2 Giuseppe Palumbo (Ita) Acqua e Sapone 2 3 José Antonio López (Spa) Andalucia - Cajasur 1 Teams 1 Rabobank 6.22.21 2 Team Columbia - High Road 3 Spain 4 Euskaltel - Euskadi 5 Liberty Seguros 6 Garmin - Slipstream 7 Contentpolis-Ampo 8 Acqua & Sapone - Caffe Mokambo 9 Team Saxo Bank 10 Andalucia Cajasur 11 Caisse d'Epargne 12 Andorra-Grandvalira 13 Xacobeo Galicia General classification after stage 1 1 Greg Henderson (NZl) Team Columbia - High Road 7.14.04 2 Rubén Pérez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 3 Graeme Brown (Aus) Rabobank 4 Tom Leezer (Ned) Rabobank 5 Mathew Goss (Aus) Team Saxo Bank 6 David Calatayud (Spa) Spanish National Team 7 Mathieu Drujon (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne 8 Bert Grabsch (Ger) Team Columbia - High Road 9 Giuseppe Palumbo (Ita) Acqua e Sapone 10 Aitor Pérez Arrieta (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia 11 Rubén Plaza (Spa) Liberty Seguros 12 Edgar Miguel Pinto (Por) Liberty Seguros 13 Frantisek Rabon (Cze) Team Columbia - High Road 14 Craig Lewis (USA) Team Columbia - High Road 15 Konstantin Siutsou (Blr) Team Columbia - High Road 16 Lars Ytting Bak (Den) Team Saxo Bank 17 Jorge Azanza (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 18 Francisco Pérez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 19 Luis Pasamontes (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 20 Luca Paolini (Ita) Acqua e Sapone 21 José Antonio Carrasco (Spa) Andalucia - Cajasur 22 Tom Danielson (USA) Garmin-Slipstream 23 José Herrada López (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia 24 Diego Milán (Spa) Acqua e Sapone 25 Gert Dockx (Bel) Team Columbia - High Road 26 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Rabobank 27 Gonzalo Rabuñal (Spa) Xacobeo Galicia 28 Carlos Nozal (Spa) Liberty Seguros 29 Hubb Duyn (Ned) Garmin-Slipstream 30 Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Acqua e Sapone 31 Jurgen Van Goolen (Bel) Team Saxo Bank 32 Ángel Vallejo (Spa) Andorra - Grandvalira 33 Arnold Jeannesson (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne 34 Eloy Teruel (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia 35 Xavier Tondo (Spa) Andalucia - Cajasur 36 Dennis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank 37 David Herrero (Spa) Xacobeo Galicia 38 Pieter Weening (Ned) Rabobank 39 Pedro Merino (Spa) Spanish National Team 40 Jaume Rovira (Spa) Andorra - Grandvalira 41 Sergio De Lis (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 42 Nicolas Portal (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne 43 Ezequiel Mosquera (Spa) Xacobeo Galicia 44 Koos Moerenhout (Ned) Rabobank 45 Carlos Castaño (Spa) Xacobeo Galicia 46 Massimo Codol (Ita) Acqua e Sapone 47 Dario Andriotto (Ita) Acqua e Sapone 48 Mikel Astarloza (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 49 Didac Ortega (Spa) Acqua e Sapone 50 José Vicente García (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 51 Lucas Euser (USA) Garmin-Slipstream 52 Ángel Vicioso (Spa) Andalucia - Cajasur 0.11 53 Michael Mørkøv (Den) Team Saxo Bank 54 Xabier Zandio (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 0.13 55 Julian Dean (NZl) Garmin-Slipstream 0.21 56 Marcos García (Spa) Xacobeo Galicia 57 Pedro J. Vera (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia 58 José Antonio López (Spa) Andalucia - Cajasur 59 Juan José Haedo (Arg) Team Saxo Bank 0.42 60 Manuel Cardoso (Por) Liberty Seguros 1.49 61 Salvador Guardiola (Spa) Spanish National Team 62 Jason Donald (USA) Garmin-Slipstream 63 Morris Possoni (Ita) Team Columbia - High Road 64 Egoitz García (Spa) Spanish National Team 65 Aitor Galdós (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 66 Oleg Chuzhda (Ukr) Contentpolis - Murcia 67 Christian Meier (Can) Garmin-Slipstream 68 Nuno Ribeiro (Por) Liberty Seguros 69 Vicente García De Mateo (Spa) Andorra - Grandvalira 70 Blake Caldwell (USA) Garmin-Slipstream 71 Javier Chacón (Spa) Spanish National Team 72 Dmytro Chuzhda (Ukr) Andorra - Grandvalira 73 Héctor Guerra (Spa) Liberty Seguros 74 Rui Sousa (Por) Liberty Seguros 75 Timothy Duggan (USA) Garmin-Slipstream 76 Raúl García De Mateo (Spa) Andorra - Grandvalira 77 Carlos Torrent (Spa) Andorra - Grandvalira 78 Gustavo César Veloso (Spa) Xacobeo Galicia 79 José Joao Mendes (Por) Liberty Seguros 80 Javier Benítez (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia 81 Amets Txurruka (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 82 Antonio Tauler (Spa) Spanish National Team 83 Juan Javier Estrada (Spa) Andalucia - Cajasur 84 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank 85 Alberto Losada (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 86 José Antonio Redondo (Spa) Andalucia - Cajasur 87 Mikel Nieve (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 88 Anders Lund (Den) Team Saxo Bank 89 Manuel Vázquez (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia 90 José Ruiz (Spa) Andalucia - Cajasur 91 Igor Antón (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 92 Manuel Ortega (Spa) Andalucia - Cajasur 4.17 93 Andrés Vigil (Spa) Spanish National Team 94 Jesús Merino (Spa) Spanish National Team 95 Jonathan Bellis (GBr) Team Saxo Bank 96 Alessandro Donati (Ita) Acqua e Sapone 97 Claudio Casas (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia 98 Aitor Aznar (Spa) Andorra - Grandvalira 99 Jason McCartney (USA) Team Saxo Bank 100 Iván Raña (Spa) Xacobeo Galicia 101 Stef Clement (Ned) Rabobank 10.43 Points classification 1 Graeme Brown (Aus) Rabobank 25 pts 2 Greg Henderson (NZl) Team Columbia - High Road 20 3 Rubén Pérez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 16 4 Mathew Goss (Aus) Team Saxo Bank 14 5 Tom Leezer (Ned) Rabobank 12 6 Luca Paolini (Ita) Acqua e Sapone 10 7 Mathieu Drujon (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne 9 8 Luis Pasamontes (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 8 9 David Herrero (Spa) Xacobeo Galicia 7 10 David Calatayud (Spa) Spanish National Team 6 11 Lars Ytting Bak (Den) Team Saxo Bank 5 12 Hubb Duyn (Ned) Garmin-Slipstream 4 13 Pedro J. Vera (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia 3 14 Manuel Cardoso (Por) Liberty Seguros 3 15 Rubén Plaza (Spa) Liberty Seguros 3 16 Francisco Pérez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 2 17 Giuseppe Palumbo (Ita) Acqua e Sapone 2 18 José Antonio López (Spa) Andalucia - Cajasur 2 19 Craig Lewis (USA) Team Columbia - High Road 1 20 José Herrada López (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia 1 21 Marcos García (Spa) Xacobeo Galicia 1 Sprint classification 1 Pedro J. Vera (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia 3 pts 2 Manuel Cardoso (Por) Liberty Seguros 3 3 José Antonio López (Spa) Andalucia - Cajasur 2 4 Giuseppe Palumbo (Ita) Acqua e Sapone 2 5 Marcos García (Spa) Xacobeo Galicia 1 6 José Herrada López (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia 1 Mountains classification 1 José Antonio López (Spa) Andalucia - Cajasur 3 pts 2 Pedro J. Vera (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia 2 3 Marcos García (Spa) Xacobeo Galicia 1 Murcian rider classification 1 David Calatayud (Spa) Spanish National Team 7.14.04 2 Francisco Pérez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 3 Eloy Teruel (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia 4 Pedro J. Vera (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia 0.21 5 Salvador Guardiola (Spa) Spanish National Team 1.49 6 Javier Chacón (Spa) Spanish National Team 7 Claudio Casas (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia 4.17 Teams classification 1 Rabobank 21.42.12 2 Team Columbia - High Road 3 Caisse d'Epargne 4 Euskaltel - Euskadi 5 Acqua & Sapone - Caffe Mokambo 6 Liberty Seguros 7 Team Saxo Bank 8 Garmin - Slipstream 9 Contentpolis-Ampo 10 Xacobeo Galicia 11 Andalucia Cajasur 0.11 12 Spain 1.49 13 Andorra-Grandvalira
