24th Vuelta a Murcia - 2.3

Spain, March 3-7, 2004

2003 results Stage List Preview Start List Past winners

The Stages

Stage 1 - March 3: Murcia - San Pedro del Pinatar, 177 km
Stage 2 - March 4: Lorca - Lorca ITT, 21.3 km
Stage 3 - March 5: Yecla - Catlike (Yecla), 156.4 km
Stage 4 - March 6: Totana - Alto Collado Bermejo, 169 km
Stage 5 - March 7: Murcia - Murcia, 133 km

Armstrong and Ullrich in 24th Vuelta Ciclista a Murcia

This week's five day Spanish stage race is a little different to the norm, as it features a much discussed encounter between Tour de France rivals Lance Armstrong (US Postal-Berry Floor) and Jan Ullrich (T-Mobile). Armstrong appears to be in good shape after his time trial victory in the Volta ao Algarve, where he finished 5th overall. Ullrich has had only one day of competition so far this season (last Sunday in Almeria) and will not be putting himself under any pressure in Murcia.

Although last year's third and fourth place getters in the Tour, Alexandre Vinokourov and Tyler Hamilton, will not be present in Murcia, the fifth and sixth place finishers, Iban Mayo and Haimar Zubeldia (both Euskaltel) will. These two riders are also in the very early stages of their seasons, and not a great deal will be expected from them.

A couple more riders in Ullrich's T-Mobile squad are Erik Zabel and Cadel Evans, both of whom are stage win candidates after their performances so far this year. In the time trial, watch out for Germans Uwe Peschel and Michael Rich (Gerolsteiner), both proven performers against the watch. Antonio Colom (Illes Balears-Banesto) will be looking to make up for his near miss in the Vuelta a Comunidad Valenciana, however his rival there Alejandro Valverde (Comunidad Valenciana-Kelme) will start in Murcia with ambitions and the form to win.

The key stages in Murcia are the stage 2 time trial in Lorca (21.3 km) and the fourth stage between Totana and the Alto Collado Bermejo (169 km). The latter is a Cat. 1 climb rising to 1,150 metres, with the riders having to climb 900 metres in the final 18 kilometres.

Start list

Comunidad Valenciana-Kelme          U.S. Postal Service-Berry Floor
 
1 Alejandro Valverde (Spa)          11 Lance Armstrong (USA)
2 Javier Rodriguez (Spa)            12 Michael Barry (Can)
3 David Blanco (Spa)                13 Manuel Beltran (Spa)
4 Ruben Plaza (Spa)                 14 Pavel Padrnos (Cze)
5 Francisco Cabello (Spa)           15 Daniel Rincon (Col)
6 Jose Cayetano Julia (Spa)         16 José Luis Rubiera (Spa)
7 Jose Luis Martinez (Spa)          17 Jurgen V.Den Broeck (Bel)
8 Juan Miguel Cuenca (Spa)          18 Max Van Heeswijk (Ned)
 
Illes Balears-Banesto               Lampre
 
21 José Ivan Gutierrez (Spa)        31 Mariano Piccoli (Ita)
22 Antonio Colom (Spa)              32 Michele Scotto (Ita)
23 Isaac Galvez (Spa)               33 Juan Manuel Garate (Spa)
24 Joan Horrach (Spa)               34 Luciano A. Pagliarini (Bra)
25 José Vicente Garcia (Spa)        35 Marco Pinotti (Ita)
26 David Navas (Spa)                36 Jan Svorada (Cze)
27 Mikel Pradera (Spa)              37 Francisco J. Vila (Spa)
28 José Antonio Lopez (Spa)         38 Alessandro Cortinovis (Ita)
 
Euskaltel-Euskadi                   T-Mobile
 
41 Iban Mayo (Spa)                  51 Eric Baumann (Ger)
42 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa)            52 Jan Ullrich (Ger)
43 David Etxebarria (Spa)           53 Cadel Evans (Aus)
44 Inaki Isasi (Spa)                54 Giuseppe Guerini (Ita)
45 Joseba Zubeldia (Spa)            55 Tomas Konecny (Cze)
46 Koldo Fernandez (Spa)            56 Erik Zabel (Ger)
47 Aketza Peña (Spa)                57 Tobias Steinhauser (Ger)
48 Gorka Verdugo (Spa)              58 André Korff (Ger)
 
Relax-Bodysol                       Saeco
 
61 Moises Duenas (Spa)              71 Danilo Di Luca (Ita)
62 Jose Miguel Elias (Spa)          72 Juan Fuentes (Spa)
63 Xavier Florencio (Spa)           73 Damiano Cunego (Ita)
64 José Alberto Martinez (Spa)      74 Alessandr Spezialetti (Ita)
65 Santiago Blanco (Spa)            75 Eddy Mazzoleni (Ita)
66 Hector Guerra (Spa)              76 Evgeni Petrov (Rus)
67 Julio Lopez (Spa)                77 Marius Sabaliauskas (Ltu)
68 Oscar Laguna (Spa)               78 Sylvester Szmyd (Pol)
 
Costa Almeria-Paternina             Gerolsteiner
 
81 Ion Del Rio (Spa)                91 Gianni Faresin (Ita)
82 Carlos Torrent Carlos (Spa)      92 Marcus Fothen (Ger)
83 Lander Euba (Spa)                93 Sven Krauss (Ger)
84 Mikel Elgezabal (Spa)            94 Uwe Hardter (Ger)
85 José Angel Gomez (Spa)           95 Uwe Peschel (Ger)
86 Joaquim Lopez (Spa)              96 Michael Rich (Ger)
87 Javier Perez (Spa)               97 Torsten Schmidt (Ger)
88 Dermot Nally (Irl)               98 Peter Wrolich (Aut)
 
Saunier Duval-Prodir                Brioches La Boulangere
 
101 Leonardo Piepoli (Ita)          111 Rony Martias (Fra)
102 Miguel A M.Perdiguero (Spa)     112 Alexandre Naulleau (Fra)
103 Constantino Zaballa (Spa)       113 Anthony Charteau (Fra)
104 Juan Carlos Dominguez (Spa)     114 Maryan Hary (Fra)
105 David Cañada (Spa)              115 Mickael Pichon (Fra)
106 David De La Fuente (Spa)        117 Matthieu Sprick (Fra)
107 Juan Gomis (Spa)                118 Unai Yus (Spa)
108 Fco.José Ventoso (Spa)
 
Cafes Baque                         Mrbookmaker.com-Palmans
 
121 Pedro Arreitunandia (Spa)       131 Kurt Van De Wouwer (Bel)
122 Unai Elorriaga (Spa)            132 Eddy Lembo (Fra)
123 David Lopez (Spa)               133 Jens Renders (Bel)
124 Francisco Gutierrez (Spa)       134 Jeremy Hunt (GBr)
125 Aitor Perez (Spa)               135 Frédéric Gabriel (Fra)
126 Efrain Gutierrez (Spa)          137 Björn Leukemans (Bel)
127 Alberto Hierro (Spa)            138 Jo Planckaert (Bel)
128 Fernando Torres (Spa)

Past winners

2003 
1 Javier Pascual Llorente (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca   15.58.18
2 Jan Hruska (Cze) ONCE-Eroski                           0.17
3 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi                0.23

2002
1 Victor Hugo Peña (Col) U.S. Postal                 16.49.36
2 Jan Hruska (Cze) ONCE-Eroski                           0.05
3 Oscar Camenzind (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems           0.10

2001
1 Aitor Gonzalez (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca            15.52.40
2 Javier Pascual Llorente (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca       0.25
3 Mikel Zarrabeitia (Spa) ONCE                           0.36

2000
1 David Canada (Spa) ONCE-Deutsche Bank              18.09.31
2 Javier Pascual Llorente (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca       0.51
3 Jose Alberto Martinez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi          1.10

1999

1 Marco Pantani (Ita) Mercatone Uno-Bianchi 17.54.32
2 Javier Pascual Rodriguez (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 0.24
3 Beat Zberg (Swi) Rabobank 0.42

1998

1 Alberto Elli (Ita) Casino 16.35.03
2 Alexander Vinokourov (Kaz) Casino 0.41
3 Marco Pantani (Ita) Mercatone Uno 0.41

1997

1 Juan Carlos Domínguez (Spa)
2 Ignacio García Camacho (Spa)
3 Santos González (Spa)

1996

1 Melchor Mauri (Spa)
2 Wladimir Belli (Ita)
3 Rodolfo Massi (Ita)

1995

1 Adriano Baffi (Ita)
2 Erik Breukink (Ned)
3 Maurizio Fondriest (Ita)

1994

1 Melchor Mauri (Spa)
2 Aitor Garmendia (Spa)
3 H. Díaz Zabala (Spa)

1993

1 Carlos Galarreta (Spa)
2 Laudelino Cubino (Spa)
3 Eddy Bouwmans (Bel)

1992 Alvaro Meija (Col)
1991 José-Luis Villanueva (Spa)
1990 Tom Cordes (Ned)
1989 Marino Alonso (Spa)
1988 Carlos Hernandez-Bailo (Spa)
1987 Pello Ruiz-Cabestany (Spa)
1986 Miguel Indurain (Spa)
1985 José Recio (Spa)
Past winners by Mario Stiehl, www.world-of-cycling.com