Rodriguez tops Valverde in GP Indurain

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Spain's Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) continued his run of success on Saturday, winning the Gran Premio Miguel Indurain one-day race in the Basque region of northern Spain. The event is traditionally the curtain raiser to the Vuelta a Pais Vasco stage race that begins on Monday and is named after the five-time Tour de France winner, who cut the ribbon to start the 12th edition of the race.

Former Spanish national champion Rodriguez surged away in the final three hundred metres of the race to win by six seconds ahead of former Caisse d'Epargne teammate Alejandro Valverde.

Michel Kreder (Garmin-Transitions) continued his run of good results, taking third at eight seconds. The young Dutchman finished in the top five on three stages of the recent Volta a Catalunya and was seventh overall behind Rodriguez.

The 179km race twisted and turned around the Basque hills near Miguel Indurain's hometown. The early breakaway of two and then seven riders was kept under control and then Katusha hit the front and brought the last riders back.

The bunch split into several groups as Katusha applied the pressure on the climb to the finish. Igor Anton (Euskaltel-Euskadi) tried to attack alone but was caught and passed in the final kilometre, before Rodriguez jumped away to victory.

"I'm really happy with my form at the moment. It's a special moment for me. Now I'm going to ride Pais Vasco with sky high morale as I look for a stage win. I want to thank all my teammates for their help here," Rodriguez said.