Clasica de Almeria 2014: Results

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Sam Bennett (NetApp-Endura) wins the 2014 Clásica de Almería (Image credit: TNE/BettiniPhoto)

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The breakaway of the day, here with Raúl Alarcón (Louletano), Edwig Cammaerts (Cofidis) and Igor Merino (Burgos BH). Also in the group were Byron Guama (Ecuador), Jesús Ezquerra (ActiveJet) and Miguel Mínguez (Euskadi) (Image credit: Alberto Brevers)

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Peloton going across the Fuentes de Marbella, one of the most beautiful roads of Almería. (Image credit: Alberto Brevers)

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Cammaerts (Cofidis) leads through a climb a teared up, soon to be caught breakaway. (Image credit: Alberto Brevers)

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Cammaerts (Cofidis) takes a glance back to see how the peloton approaches. (Image credit: Alberto Brevers)

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Raúl Alarcón (Louletano) (Image credit: Alberto Brevers)

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Peloton driven by a selfless Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) (Image credit: Alberto Brevers)

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Higinio Fernández (Ecuador) before Ibai Salas (Burgos BH), who is literally clenching his teeth. (Image credit: Alberto Brevers)

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Ramón Domene (Caja Rural) (Image credit: Alberto Brevers)

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Fran Moreno (Louletano) (Image credit: Alberto Brevers)

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Gari Bravo (Efapel) (Image credit: Alberto Brevers)

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Favorites group passes the finish line for the first time, led by Pablo Lastras (Movistar) and Lluis Mas (Caja Rural) (Image credit: Alberto Brevers)

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Mikel Aristi (Euskadi) suffers with Pablo Hidalgo (Ecuador) (Image credit: Alberto Brevers)

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Ramón Domene (Caja Rural) before Fran Ventoso (Movistar) and the rest of the peloton. (Image credit: Alberto Brevers)

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Jorge Martín Montenegro (Louletano) lives in Granada, a city close to Almería. He was chilling out with his child at the start. "Time for him to enjoy the races". (Image credit: Alberto Brevers)

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Salvador Guardiola is one of the victims of the PinoRoad scam. Today he competed with the Spanish National team and showed his strength with a solid performance: he only lost contact with Movistar group in the final echelons. (Image credit: Alberto Brevers)

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A fan showing the jersey of Jazztel - Costa de Almería, local team that ran from 1999 to 2004 and rode several Vuelta a España. Its more celebrated riders were Fabio Roscioli and José Antonio Pecharromán. (Image credit: Alberto Brevers)

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The feet of Víctor Martín (Burgos BH) always have something curious. He usually wears his lucky socks, which feature Ché Guevara's face. Today he didn't utilised Ché, but freak, leopard-looking cycling shoes by Nike. (Image credit: Alberto Brevers)

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As well as most of the riders,Luis Ángel Maté (Cofidis) carried milk and other food to the podium as part of a donation campaign for a charity, Banco de Alimentos. (Image credit: Alberto Brevers)

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Three Efapel riders, with Ricardo Mestre (ex Euskaltel) on the left. (Image credit: Alberto Brevers)

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Fran Moreno, brother of Maribel Moreno, ex Androni and Caja Rural, now riding for Portuguese Continental team Loluletano. (Image credit: Alberto Brevers)

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The family of Igor Merino (Burgos BH) underwent a 12-hours drive from Balmaseda (Bizkaia, near Bilbao) to Almería in order to cheer his tot. He spent the day in the breakaway, so the trip was worth it. (Image credit: Alberto Brevers)

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Igor Merino (Burgos BH), before Cammaerts (Cofidis) and Mario González (Active Jet). (Image credit: Alberto Brevers)

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Sam Bennett (NetApp) (Image credit: Alberto Brevers)

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Efapel riders, led by Carlos Oyarzun (Image credit: Alberto Brevers)

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Bartolomiej Matysiak (CCC) (Image credit: Alberto Brevers)

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The traditional "family photo" with all the cyclist which were honored in the podium. (Image credit: Alberto Brevers)

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As special prize for being the best Andalusian rider, Juanjo Lobato (Movistar) got 150kg of gazpacho Solfrío. (Image credit: Alberto Brevers)

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And then Bennett tries to scratch it out. (Image credit: Alberto Brevers)

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Juanjo Lobato (Movistar) tells Bennett he has a kiss in his face... (Image credit: Alberto Brevers)

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Davide Vigano' (Caja Rural) finished third. He said he was not happy and wanted to win today. (Image credit: Alberto Brevers)

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Mínguez ready to get the kisses. (Image credit: Alberto Brevers)

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Miguel Mínguez (Euskadi) worked hard to get the Mountains classification. This is an important year for him, showing his quality and working for himself in a smaller team than Euskaltel. (Image credit: Alberto Brevers)

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Raúl Alarcón (Louletano) won the Intermediate Sprints competition. (Image credit: Alberto Brevers)

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Juanjo Lobato (Movistar) gets his trophy as best Andalusian rider. There was a strong wind coming from the West, as notorious in the hair of both the podium girls and ex volleyball player Juanjo Salvador. (Image credit: Alberto Brevers)

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Byron Guama (Ecuador) was awarded the most aggressive rider trophy. (Image credit: Alberto Brevers)

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Pablo Lastras (Movistar) was the road captain today for his team and was key in building up a success which wasn't complete because of Bennett's speed. (Image credit: Alberto Brevers)

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Tomasz Marczynski (CCC) (Image credit: Alberto Brevers)

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Jérôme Coppel (Cofidis) (Image credit: Alberto Brevers)

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Davide Rebellin (CCC) (Image credit: Alberto Brevers)

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Diego León Cuervo (Burgos BH) had an important crash while descending in the Fuentes de Marbella. He got hurt and had to retire; fortunately, "nothing is broken" according to his masseur. (Image credit: Alberto Brevers)

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ROTOR showed off some special edition cranksets for Carlos Sastre and Ryder Hesjedal (Image credit: Alberto Brevers)

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Alejandro Valverde and Nairo Quintana spent most of the day driving the chase for their Movistar teammates Juanjo Lobato and Fran Ventoso. (Image credit: Alberto Brevers)

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Despite the circumsntances, Bennett was strong enough to defeat Juanjo Lobato (Image credit: Alberto Brevers)

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Sam Bennett (NetApp) on the podium. (Image credit: Alberto Brevers)

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Sam Bennett (NetApp) gets the kisses. (Image credit: Alberto Brevers)

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The final podium: Lobato (Movistar), Bennett (NetApp) and Vigano (Caja Rural) l-r (Image credit: Alberto Brevers)

23-year-old Irishman Sam Bennett (Team NetApp – Endura) claimed his first professional win by out sprinting Juan Jose Lobato (Movistar) and Davide Vigano (Caja Rural) at the Clásica de Almería. The 29th edition of the race at 178 kilometres saw a break of seven riders get away but their advantage never went above 2:30 minutes. The break was caught with 50km to race and with 20km to race the winning break, which included four NetApp Endura riders, went away and built a one minute on the chasing peloton.

"The guys got me perfectly to about 600m to go. I was well position in the last corner. I had to go at 250m because the pace dropped. I came around everyone and took the inside line. At 100m to go my legs started to buckle and I thought I wasn't going to make it. But luckily I did," Sam Bennett said after his first professional win.

"I am so happy to have taken my first win as a pro with Team NetApp – Endura. It was a very nice race today great weather and great roads. Movistar set a nice hard tempo on the climbs and split it in the final with cross winds. It was good for me because it tired everyone else out and got rid of other sprinters. I want to thank all of my team mates who helped me every single chance they got. They really made my job easier and for sure this result came as a result of great team work", Bennett said

"I am very happy with today's results. An early win is so important for motivating the team. Our guys put in a great team performance yesterday, and today they even managed to surpass that effort. Iker Camano, Tiago Machado, and Erick Rowsell aren't usually Sam's lead-out riders," said Alex Sans Vega, Sport Director of Team NetApp – Endura.

"That is why I am all the more pleased that everything worked so perfectly today and that Sam is able to rely on all of his teammates. I hope that we will be able to maintain this level, the atmosphere in the team and this racing style for our upcoming races," Vega said.

Once the gun was fired, riders were launching multiple attacks at the start of the race which formed the main break of seven after 15 kilometres. The peloton never lost control and after the final climb, 50 kilometres before the finish line, the field all came back together.

The breakaway riders were caught soon thereafter and the field headed towards the finish line as one. The day’s winning break group pulled away 20 kilometres before the finish line with 19 riders and with support from his three teammates, Sam Bennett was able to conserve valuable energy for the final kilometres and win the sprint.

Full Results

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#	Rider Name (Country) Team	Result
1	Sam Bennett (Irl) Team Netapp - Endura	4:21:33
2	Juan Jose Lobato Del Valle (Spa) Movistar Team
3	Davide Vigano (Ita) Caja Rural - Seguros RGA
4	Francisco José Ventoso Alberdi (Spa) Movistar Team
5	Stéphane Poulhies (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
6	Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Movistar Team	0:00:02
7	Bartlomiej Matysiak (Pol) CCC Polsat Polkowice
8	Luis Angel Mate Mardones (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
9	Tiago Machado (Por) Team Netapp - Endura	0:00:06
10	Davide Rebellin (Ita) CCC Polsat Polkowice
11	David Arroyo Duran (Spa) Caja Rural - Seguros RGA
12	Lukasz Bodnar (Pol) Activejet Team
13	Luis Mas Bonet (Spa) Caja Rural - Seguros RGA
14	Jerome Coppel (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
15	Iker Camano Ortuzar (Spa) Team Netapp - Endura
16	Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Movistar Team
17	Erick Rowsell (GBr) Team Netapp - Endura	0:00:13
18	Tomasz Marczynski (Pol) CCC Polsat Polkowice	0:00:53
19	Pablo Lastras Garcia (Spa) Movistar Team	0:01:00
20	Rafael Silva (Por) Efapel - Glassdrive	0:02:42
21	Carlos Ivan Oyarzun Guinez (Chi) Efapel - Glassdrive
22	Filipe Duarte Sousa Cardoso (Por) Efapel - Glassdrive
23	Marek Rutkiewicz (Pol) CCC Polsat Polkowice	0:02:44
24	Lukasz Owsian (Pol) CCC Polsat Polkowice
25	Raul Alarcon Garcia (Spa) Louletano - Dunas Douradas
26	Pawel Franczak (Pol) Activejet Team
27	Antonio Piedra Perez (Spa) Caja Rural - Seguros RGA
28	Víctor De La Parte (Spa) Efapel - Glassdrive
29	Daniel Navarro Garcia (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
30	Ibai Salas (Spa) Burgos-BH	0:02:58
31	Emanuel Piaskowy (Pol) Activejet Team
32	Michal Podlaski (Pol) Activejet Team	0:03:03
33	Salvador Guardiola Tora (Spa) Pinoroad	0:03:36
34	Raul Garcia De Mateo Rubio (Spa) Louletano - Dunas Douradas
35	Martin Lestido (Spa)
36	Christophe Laporte (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
37	Micael Isidoro (Por) Louletano - Dunas Douradas
38	Victor Martin Hernandez (Spa) Burgos-BH
39	Edwig Cammaerts (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
40	José Joao Pimenta Costa Mendes (Por) Team Netapp - Endura
41	Carlos Barbero Cuesta (Spa) Euskadi
42	Antonio Molina (Spa) Caja Rural - Seguros RGA
43	Vicente Garcia De Mateos Rubio (Spa) Louletano - Dunas Douradas
44	Miguel Minguez Ayala (Spa) Euskadi
45	Cesare Benedetti (Ita) Team Netapp - Endura
46	Frantisek Padour (Cze) Team Netapp - Endura
47	Nairo Alexander Quintana Rojas (Col) Movistar Team
48	Higinio Fernandez (Spa) Team Ecuador
49	Bruno Duarte Ferreira Silva (Por) Efapel - Glassdrive
50	Yohan Bagot (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
51	Branislau Samoilau (Blr) CCC Polsat Polkowice
52	Adrian Honkisz (Pol) CCC Polsat Polkowice
53	Jorge Martin Montenegro (Arg) Louletano - Dunas Douradas
54	Ruben Fernandez (Spa) Caja Rural - Seguros RGA
55	José Herrada Lopez (Spa) Movistar Team
56	Grzegorz Stepniak (Pol) CCC Polsat Polkowice	0:05:32
57	Tomasz Mickiewicz (Pol) Activejet Team
58	Samuel Nicolás (Spa)
59	Francisco Javier Moreno Allue (Spa) Louletano - Dunas Douradas
60	Rui Vinhas (Por) Louletano - Dunas Douradas
61	Eugeniu Cozonac (Mda) Louletano - Dunas Douradas
62	Haritz Orbe Urrutia (Spa) Euskadi
63	Jon Aberasturi Izaga (Spa) Euskadi
64	Bayron Guama De La Cruz (Ecu) Team Ecuador
65	Pablo Lechuga Rodriguez (Spa) Euskadi
66	Romain Hardy (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
67	Mikel Iturria Segurola (Spa) Euskadi
68	Jaume Rovira Pous (Spa) Team Ecuador
69	Mario Gonzalez Salas (Spa) Activejet Team
70	Igor Merino Cortazar (Spa) Burgos-BH
71	Illart Zuazubiskar Gallastegi (Spa) Euskadi	0:13:55
72	Ricardo Mestre (Por) Efapel - Glassdrive
73	Federico Butto (Ita) Burgos-BH
74	Marcos Altur Boronat (Spa)
75	Henry Marcelo Velasco Cevallos (Ecu) Team Ecuador
76	Isaac Carbonell Rabat (Spa) Team Ecuador
77	Garikoitz Bravo Oiarbide (Spa) Efapel - Glassdrive
78	Konrad Dabkowski (Pol) Activejet Team
79	Jose Ragonessi (Ecu) Team Ecuador
80	Unai Arranz Alonso (Spa) Burgos-BH
81	Segundo Navarrete (Ecu) Team Ecuador
82	Álvaro Martínez (Spa)
83	Mikel Aristi Gardoki (Spa) Euskadi
84	Imanol Estévez (Spa)	0:15:45
DNF	Luis Leon Sanchez Gil (Spa) Caja Rural - Seguros RGA
DNF	Ramon Domene Reyes (Spa) Caja Rural - Seguros RGA
DNF	Javier Moreno Bazan (Spa) Movistar Team
DNF	Diego Leon Cuervo Zambraro (Spa) Burgos-BH
DNF	Ander Arranz Alonso (Spa) Burgos-BH
DNF	Alvaro Cuadros Morata (Spa) Etixx
DNF	Antonio Jesus Soto (Spa)
DNF	Diego Rubio (Spa) Efapel - Glassdrive
DNF	Pablo Miguel Hidalgo Vega (Ecu) Team Ecuador
DNF	Slawomir Chrzanowski (Pol) Activejet Team