Matthews strikes again in Murcia sprint

Under 23 world road race champion Michael Matthews (Rabobank) won the first stage of the Vuelta Ciclista a la Region de Murcia, confirming yet again that he has the speed and tenacity to win sprints in his first season as a professional.

Matthews was given an excellent lead-out by the Rabobank team, which chased down the break of the day and a late three-rider attack. Rabobank also had Theo Bos in its roster for the Spanish race but Matthews won it, beating Team Sky’s Russell Downing and Davide Appollonio.

Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-SunGard) finished safely in the main peloton in 14th place.

The 178.7km hilly stage was characterised by a six-rider break that formed after just five kilometres. With the Spanish weather wet and cloudy, the peloton was happy to them hang out front for most of the stage.

Carlos Verona (Spain), Pablo Lechuga (Andalucía-Caja Granada), Laurent Mangel (Saur Sojasun), Albert Timmer (Skil-Shimano), Martijn Keizer (Vacansoleil-DCM) and José María Alcaraz (KTM-Murcia) opened a 5:50 gap after just 28km but that was as far as they got, as Rabobank, Team Sky and Saxo Bank-SunGard rode tempo to keep them under control.

Mangel was the first to the top of the three climbs during the stage and so secured the climber’s jersey, while Timmer won the intermediate sprint after 130km.

However the peloton closed them down and caught everyone except Mangel on the last climb and fast finale. And even Mangel was swept up with 10 kilometres to go as the sprinters’ teams prepared for a fast finish.

Rafael Valls (Geox-TMC), Francisco Pérez (Movistar) and Chris Jones (UnitedHealthcare) tried a late attack with three kilometres to go but they were also pulled back, with Valls the last to be caught inside the final kilometre.

Rabobank and Team Sky then took over but the Dutch ProTeam struck again, taking their eleventh win of the 2011 season.