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27th Vuelta a Murcia - 2.1
Spain, March 4-8, 2008
Main Page Results Overall standings Previous Stage Next Stage
Stage 4 - March 7: Alhama de Murcia - Aledo ITT, 23.1km
Valverde squeaks out a win
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Local hero Alejandro Valverde took over the lead in the Vuelta a Murcia on the 23.1 kilometre stage four time trial from Alhama de Murcia to Aledo. The Caisse d'Epargne rider edged Italia Stefano Garzelli out by just two seconds on the uphill parcours, while Astana's Alberto Contador took third six second slower. The top three on the general classification now looks identical to the day's stage results, with Valverde, Garzelli and Contador well ahead of fourth placed Antonio Colom (Astana).
With 400 metres of climbing over the final 10 kilometres of today's course, it was expected that the climbers would come to the fore, and there were no surprises. Valverde had made it clear that he came to the 27th edition of the race to defend the title he won last year, and despite his slim lead it is expected that he will be able to maintain the leader's jersey through tomorrow's stage into Murcia.
The morning's leader Aitor Perez had no end of troubles with the time trial, struggling to find his rhythm and then crashing in the closing kilometres. He finished the day more than two minutes back and plummeted to 12th place in the overall.
Photography
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Images by Susanne Goetze/www.cyclinginside.com
- Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne as the leader.
- The leaders of the Tour.
- Francisco Perez Sanchez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne.
- Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi.
- Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne.
- Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne.
- Thomas Dekker (Ned) Rabobank.
- Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana.
- Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank.
- Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne on the podium.
Results
1 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 33.32 (41.33 km/h) 2 Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Acqua Sapone - Caffe Mokambo 0.02 3 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana 0.06 4 Branislau Samoilau (Blr) Acqua Sapone - Caffe Mokambo 0.07 5 Iñigo Cuesta López (Spa) Team CSC 0.09 6 Evgeny Petrov (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems 0.17 7 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC 0.23 8 José Rujano Guillen (Ven) Caisse d'Epargne 0.27 9 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank 0.43 10 Thomas Dekker (Ned) Rabobank 0.47 11 Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 0.48 12 Antonio Colom Mas (Spa) Astana 0.51 13 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne 0.57 14 Eloy Teruel Rovira (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia 1.00 15 Luis Pasamontes Rodriguez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 1.08 16 Sergio Miguel Moreira Paulinho (Por) Astana 1.09 17 Julian Sanchez Pimienta (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia 1.17 18 Daniel Navarro Garcia (Spa) Astana 1.18 19 Vasili Kiryienka (Blr) Tinkoff Credit Systems 1.19 20 Isidro Nozal Vega (Spa) Liberty Seguros 1.22 21 Michael Blaudzun (Den) Team CSC 1.23 22 José Luis Rubiera Vigil (Spa) Astana 1.25 23 Massimo Codol (Ita) Acqua Sapone - Caffe Mokambo 1.31 24 Francisco Perez Sanchez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 1.35 25 Jose Ruiz Sanchez (Spa) Andalucía - Cajasur 1.36 26 Francesco Masciarelli (Ita) Acqua Sapone - Caffe Mokambo 1.37 27 Ezequiel Mosquera Miguez (Spa) Karpin Galicia 1.42 28 Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 1.43 29 Joan Horrach Rippoll (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 30 Volodymir Gustov (Ukr) Team CSC 1.45 31 Inaki Isasi Flores (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 32 David Herrero Llorente (Spa) Karpin Galicia 1.46 33 Alexander Khatuntsev (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems 1.53 34 Iban Mayoz (Spa) Karpin Galicia 1.55 35 José Luis Carrasco Gamiz (Spa) Andalucía - Cajasur 1.57 36 José Herrada Lopez (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia 2.02 37 Enrique Salgueiro Alonso (Spa) Extremadura-Gruppo Gallardo 2.03 38 Javier Etxarri Marin (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia 2.08 39 Alexander Serov (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems 40 Walter Fernando Pedraza Morales (Col) Tinkoff Credit Systems 2.12 41 Aitor Perez Arrieta (Spa) Extremadura-Gruppo Gallardo 2.16 42 Jurgen Van Goolen (Bel) Team CSC 2.17 43 Gustavo Dominguez Lemos (Spa) Karpin Galicia 2.20 44 Hernani Broco (Por) Liberty Seguros 2.21 45 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Astana 46 Javier Moreno Bazan (Spa) Andalucía - Cajasur 2.26 47 Serguei Klimov (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems 2.31 48 Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz) Astana 2.33 49 Rui Miguel Sousa (Por) Liberty Seguros 50 Jorge Azanza Soto (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 51 Josu Agirre Aseginolaza (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 2.44 52 Nuno Ribeiro (Por) Liberty Seguros 2.50 53 Giuseppe Palumbo (Ita) Acqua Sapone - Caffe Mokambo 54 Benjamin Noval Gonzalez (Spa) Astana 2.55 55 José Antonio Redondo Ramos (Spa) Karpin Galicia 2.59 56 Francisco Terciado Sacedo (Spa) Extremadura-Gruppo Gallardo 3.00 57 Sergio Domínguez Muñoz (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia 3.04 58 Iban Velasco Murillo (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 59 Dario Andriotto (Ita) Acqua Sapone - Caffe Mokambo 3.20 60 César Quiteiro (Por) Liberty Seguros 3.30 61 Arnaud Coyot (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne 3.32 62 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank 3.33 63 Adrian Palomares Villaplana (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia 64 Jesus Ramirez Torres (Spa) Extremadura-Gruppo Gallardo 3.37 65 Nikolay Trusov (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems 3.44 66 Oleg Chuzhda (Ukr) Contentpolis - Murcia 3.45 67 David Garcia Dapena (Spa) Karpin Galicia 3.50 68 Delio Fernández Cruz (Spa) Karpin Galicia 69 Jan Boven (Ned) Rabobank 3.51 70 Francisco José Ventoso Alberdi (Spa) Andalucía - Cajasur 3.54 71 Dimitri Kozontchuk (Rus) Rabobank 3.56 72 Diego Milán Jiménez (Spa) Acqua Sapone - Caffe Mokambo 4.00 73 Yon Bru Pascal (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 4.04 74 Gonzalo Zambrano Calderon (Spa) Extremadura-Gruppo Gallardo 75 Manuel Vazquez Hueso (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia 4.07 76 Nicki Sørensen (Den) Team CSC 4.08 77 Claudio José Casas Gallego (Spa) Andalucía - Cajasur 4.09 78 Juan José Haedo (Arg) Team CSC 4.10 79 Fabien Patanchon (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne 80 Koldo Fernández (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 4.12 81 Carlos Castano Panadero (Spa) Karpin Galicia 4.18 82 Kasper Klostergaard Larsen (Den) Team CSC 4.29 83 Ricardo Serrano González (Spa) Tinkoff Credit Systems 4.42 84 Jesus Rosendo Prado (Spa) Andalucía - Cajasur 4.57 85 Josu Mondelo (Spa) Extremadura-Gruppo Gallardo 5.02 86 Antonio Jesús (Por) Liberty Seguros 5.13 87 Ignacio Sarabia Diaz (Mex) Extremadura-Gruppo Gallardo 5.14 88 José Antonio Lopez Gil (Spa) Andalucía - Cajasur 89 Tom Leezer (Ned) Rabobank 5.46 90 Xabat Otxotorena (Spa) Extremadura-Gruppo Gallardo 6.01 91 Jesus Cobelo Fojo (Spa) Karpin Galicia 6.23 92 Pablo Urtasun Perez (Spa) Liberty Seguros 6.46 93 Graeme Brown (Aus) Rabobank 7.24 ABN Massimiliano Gentili (Ita) Acqua Sapone - Caffe Mokambo Points 1 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 25 pts 2 Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Acqua Sapone - Caffe Mokambo 20 3 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana 16 4 Branislau Samoilau (Blr) Acqua Sapone - Caffe Mokambo 14 5 Iñigo Cuesta López (Spa) Team CSC 12 6 Evgeny Petrov (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems 10 7 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC 9 8 José Rujano Guillen (Ven) Caisse d'Epargne 8 9 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank 7 10 Thomas Dekker (Ned) Rabobank 6 11 Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 5 12 Antonio Colom Mas (Spa) Astana 4 13 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne 3 14 Eloy Teruel Rovira (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia 2 15 Luis Pasamontes Rodriguez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 1 Teams 1 Caisse d'Epargne 1.42.00 2 Acqua Sapone - Caffe Mokambo 0.16 3 Team CSC 0.31 4 Astana 0.42 5 Tinkoff Credit Systems 2.05 6 Euskaltel - Euskadi 2.52 7 Contentpolis - Murcia 2.55 8 Rabobank 3.39 9 Karpin Galicia 3.59 10 Andalucia - Cajasur 4.35 11 Liberty Seguros 4.52 12 Extremadura-Grupo Gallardo 5.55 General classification after stage 4 1 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 13.23.11 2 Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Acqua Sapone - Caffe Mokambo 0.02 3 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana 0.06 4 Antonio Colom Mas (Spa) Astana 0.51 5 Branislau Samoilau (Blr) Acqua Sapone - Caffe Mokambo 1.11 6 Iñigo Cuesta López (Spa) Team CSC 1.13 7 Vasili Kiryienka (Blr) Tinkoff Credit Systems 1.15 8 José Luis Rubiera Vigil (Spa) Astana 1.19 9 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC 1.27 10 Ezequiel Mosquera Miguez (Spa) Karpin Galicia 1.42 11 Javier Etxarri Marin (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia 2.08 12 Aitor Perez Arrieta (Spa) Extremadura-Gruppo Gallardo 2.10 13 Luis Pasamontes Rodriguez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 2.12 14 Julian Sanchez Pimienta (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia 2.21 15 Massimo Codol (Ita) Acqua Sapone - Caffe Mokambo 2.35 16 Francisco Perez Sanchez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 2.39 17 Francesco Masciarelli (Ita) Acqua Sapone - Caffe Mokambo 2.41 18 Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 2.47 19 José Luis Carrasco Gamiz (Spa) Andalucía - Cajasur 3.01 20 José Herrada Lopez (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia 3.06 21 Hernani Broco (Por) Liberty Seguros 3.25 22 Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz) Astana 3.37 23 Nuno Ribeiro (Por) Liberty Seguros 3.54 24 Manuel Vazquez Hueso (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia 4.07 25 Isidro Nozal Vega (Spa) Liberty Seguros 4.23 26 Adrian Palomares Villaplana (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia 4.37 27 Ricardo Serrano González (Spa) Tinkoff Credit Systems 4.42 28 Inaki Isasi Flores (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 6.02 29 Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 6.50 30 Walter Fernando Pedraza Morales (Col) Tinkoff Credit Systems 7.09 31 Rui Miguel Sousa (Por) Liberty Seguros 7.23 32 Joan Horrach Rippoll (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 7.45 33 Evgeny Petrov (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems 8.11 34 Serguei Klimov (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems 8.33 35 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne 8.41 36 Eloy Teruel Rovira (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia 8.44 37 Giuseppe Palumbo (Ita) Acqua Sapone - Caffe Mokambo 8.52 38 Jose Ruiz Sanchez (Spa) Andalucía - Cajasur 9.20 39 David Herrero Llorente (Spa) Karpin Galicia 9.30 40 Iban Mayoz (Spa) Karpin Galicia 9.39 41 Enrique Salgueiro Alonso (Spa) Extremadura-Gruppo Gallardo 9.47 42 Volodymir Gustov (Ukr) Team CSC 9.49 43 Gustavo Dominguez Lemos (Spa) Karpin Galicia 10.04 44 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank 11.17 45 José Rujano Guillen (Ven) Caisse d'Epargne 12.36 46 Daniel Navarro Garcia (Spa) Astana 13.27 47 Oleg Chuzhda (Ukr) Contentpolis - Murcia 13.29 48 Jurgen Van Goolen (Bel) Team CSC 14.26 49 Jorge Azanza Soto (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 14.42 50 Sergio Domínguez Muñoz (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia 15.13 51 Thomas Dekker (Ned) Rabobank 15.50 52 Sergio Miguel Moreira Paulinho (Por) Astana 16.12 53 Gonzalo Zambrano Calderon (Spa) Extremadura-Gruppo Gallardo 16.13 54 José Antonio Redondo Ramos (Spa) Karpin Galicia 18.02 55 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank 22.04 56 Claudio José Casas Gallego (Spa) Andalucía - Cajasur 22.08 57 Michael Blaudzun (Den) Team CSC 22.44 58 César Quiteiro (Por) Liberty Seguros 22.47 59 Alexander Khatuntsev (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems 23.14 60 Alexander Serov (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems 23.29 61 Javier Moreno Bazan (Spa) Andalucía - Cajasur 23.47 62 Benjamin Noval Gonzalez (Spa) Astana 24.16 63 Josu Mondelo (Spa) Extremadura-Gruppo Gallardo 24.19 64 Iban Velasco Murillo (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 24.25 65 Arnaud Coyot (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne 24.53 66 Nikolay Trusov (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems 25.05 67 Josu Agirre Aseginolaza (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 25.07 68 David Garcia Dapena (Spa) Karpin Galicia 25.11 69 Dario Andriotto (Ita) Acqua Sapone - Caffe Mokambo 25.12 70 Francisco José Ventoso Alberdi (Spa) Andalucía - Cajasur 25.15 71 Yon Bru Pascal (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 25.25 72 Diego Milán Jiménez (Spa) Acqua Sapone - Caffe Mokambo 25.27 73 Nicki Sørensen (Den) Team CSC 25.29 74 Juan José Haedo (Arg) Team CSC 25.31 75 Koldo Fernández (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 25.33 76 Delio Fernández Cruz (Spa) Karpin Galicia 26.17 77 Ignacio Sarabia Diaz (Mex) Extremadura-Gruppo Gallardo 26.35 78 Kasper Klostergaard Larsen (Den) Team CSC 26.36 79 Carlos Castano Panadero (Spa) Karpin Galicia 26.50 80 Xabat Otxotorena (Spa) Extremadura-Gruppo Gallardo 27.22 81 Jan Boven (Ned) Rabobank 27.40 82 Graeme Brown (Aus) Rabobank 28.45 83 José Antonio Lopez Gil (Spa) Andalucía - Cajasur 29.24 84 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Astana 31.06 85 Antonio Jesús (Por) Liberty Seguros 32.22 86 Fabien Patanchon (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne 32.55 87 Jesus Rosendo Prado (Spa) Andalucía - Cajasur 33.42 88 Tom Leezer (Ned) Rabobank 34.55 89 Francisco Terciado Sacedo (Spa) Extremadura-Gruppo Gallardo 36.36 90 Jesus Ramirez Torres (Spa) Extremadura-Gruppo Gallardo 37.12 91 Pablo Urtasun Perez (Spa) Liberty Seguros 38.17 92 Dimitri Kozontchuk (Rus) Rabobank 41.52 93 Jesus Cobelo Fojo (Spa) Karpin Galicia 47.12 Points classification 1 Graeme Brown (Aus) Rabobank 41 pts 2 Koldo Fernández (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 40 3 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 39 4 Aitor Perez Arrieta (Spa) Extremadura-Gruppo Gallardo 36 5 Juan José Haedo (Arg) Team CSC 34 6 Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Acqua Sapone - Caffe Mokambo 34 7 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana 29 8 José Luis Rubiera Vigil (Spa) Astana 25 9 Vasili Kiryienka (Blr) Tinkoff Credit Systems 24 10 Giuseppe Palumbo (Ita) Acqua Sapone - Caffe Mokambo 24 11 Nikolay Trusov (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems 24 12 Francisco José Ventoso Alberdi (Spa) Andalucía - Cajasur 24 13 Ricardo Serrano González (Spa) Tinkoff Credit Systems 18 14 Branislau Samoilau (Blr) Acqua Sapone - Caffe Mokambo 14 15 Iñigo Cuesta López (Spa) Team CSC 12 16 Alexander Serov (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems 11 17 Pablo Urtasun Perez (Spa) Liberty Seguros 11 18 Antonio Colom Mas (Spa) Astana 11 19 Manuel Vazquez Hueso (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia 11 20 Evgeny Petrov (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems 10 21 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC 9 22 Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz) Astana 9 23 Diego Milán Jiménez (Spa) Acqua Sapone - Caffe Mokambo 9 24 Ezequiel Mosquera Miguez (Spa) Karpin Galicia 8 25 José Rujano Guillen (Ven) Caisse d'Epargne 8 26 Luis Pasamontes Rodriguez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 7 27 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank 7 28 Xabat Otxotorena (Spa) Extremadura-Gruppo Gallardo 7 29 José Antonio Lopez Gil (Spa) Andalucía - Cajasur 7 30 José Herrada Lopez (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia 6 31 Thomas Dekker (Ned) Rabobank 6 32 David Garcia Dapena (Spa) Karpin Galicia 6 33 Javier Etxarri Marin (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia 5 34 Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 5 35 Gustavo Dominguez Lemos (Spa) Karpin Galicia 5 36 Inaki Isasi Flores (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 4 37 Jesus Rosendo Prado (Spa) Andalucía - Cajasur 4 38 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne 3 39 Arnaud Coyot (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne 3 40 José Luis Carrasco Gamiz (Spa) Andalucía - Cajasur 2 41 Serguei Klimov (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems 2 42 Eloy Teruel Rovira (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia 2 43 César Quiteiro (Por) Liberty Seguros 2 44 Iban Mayoz (Spa) Karpin Galicia 1 45 Oleg Chuzhda (Ukr) Contentpolis - Murcia 1 Sprint classification 1 Alexander Serov (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems 11 pts 2 Pablo Urtasun Perez (Spa) Liberty Seguros 11 3 José Antonio Lopez Gil (Spa) Andalucía - Cajasur 7 4 Jesus Rosendo Prado (Spa) Andalucía - Cajasur 4 5 Serguei Klimov (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems 2 6 Oleg Chuzhda (Ukr) Contentpolis - Murcia 1 Mountains classification 1 Julian Sanchez Pimienta (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia 14 pts 2 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 10 3 Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Acqua Sapone - Caffe Mokambo 10 4 José Herrada Lopez (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia 9 5 Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 8 6 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana 6 7 Gustavo Dominguez Lemos (Spa) Karpin Galicia 6 8 José Luis Rubiera Vigil (Spa) Astana 5 9 Yon Bru Pascal (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 4 10 Oleg Chuzhda (Ukr) Contentpolis - Murcia 3 11 José Antonio Redondo Ramos (Spa) Karpin Galicia 3 12 José Antonio Lopez Gil (Spa) Andalucía - Cajasur 3 13 Manuel Vazquez Hueso (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia 2 14 Jorge Azanza Soto (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 2 15 Alexander Serov (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems 2 16 Pablo Urtasun Perez (Spa) Liberty Seguros 2 17 Ricardo Serrano González (Spa) Tinkoff Credit Systems 1 18 Dario Andriotto (Ita) Acqua Sapone - Caffe Mokambo 1 19 Jesus Rosendo Prado (Spa) Andalucía - Cajasur 1 Best Murcian rider classification 1 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 13.23.11 2 Francisco Perez Sanchez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 2.39 3 Eloy Teruel Rovira (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia 8.44 4 Sergio Domínguez Muñoz (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia 15.13 5 Claudio José Casas Gallego (Spa) Andalucía - Cajasur 22.08 Teams classification 1 Astana 40.11.33 2 Acqua Sapone - Caffe Mokambo 1.04 3 Caisse d'Epargne 1.32 4 Contentpolis - Murcia 3.23 5 Tinkoff Credit Systems 6.22 6 Liberty Seguros 9.25 7 Team CSC 9.47 8 Euskaltel - Euskadi 13.39 9 Karpin Galicia 18.51 10 Extremadura-Grupo Gallardo 25.06 11 Andalucia - Cajasur 27.50 12 Rabobank 47.11
