Navarro wins on uphill finish

Dani Navarro (Cofidis) beat Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) and Bauke Mollema (Blanco Cycling) on a testing uphill finish to win the Vuelta a Murcia.

The Spanish race has been reduced from a stage race to a one-day event, but it still attracted a quality field of riders keen to race in the warmer conditions of southern Europe.

The Movistar and Blanco teams rode to set up their leaders in the final kilometres, but Navarro was far too strong in the final surge to the line and had the strength to beat Mollema and Valverde.

Robert Gesink (Team Blanco) finished fourth after working for Mollema in the finale. Luis Ángel Maté (Cofidis) was fifth, Igor Antón (Euskaltel-Euskadi) sixth, Davide Rebellin (CC Polsat) seventh and Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) was eighth.

Full Results