Philippe Gilbert wins Vuelta a Murcia
By Cycling News published
BMC rider out-sprints Valverde
Philippe Gilbert took out the small bunch sprint to win the Vuelta Ciclista a la Región de Murcia, after getting a high-speed lead-out from BMC teammate Ben Hermans in the finale. Gilbert topped Movistar's Alejandro Valverde by a clean set of wheels, with Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha) pipping Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana) for the final podium spot.
"Today was just a great day. I won but it was really a win for the whole team," Gilbert said. "We really raced perfectly together. I've done a lot of races but I've never really seen anything like this in my life. There were 20 guys left at the top of the climb with 20 kilometers to go and I was suffering, but I was still there with the guys. To have all seven of us out of 20 guys was really amazing to see."
Gilbert had Tejay van Garderen, Ben Hermans, Samuel Sanchez, Darwin Atapuma, Brent Bookwalter and Damiano Caruso in the group with him, but they also faced a strong Movistar and Astana presence. Underterred, they took the initiative to keep the group away.
The Vuelta a Murcia kicked off from San Javier with 129 riders facing the 199.3km course, with the main difficulty, the category 1 Alto Collado Bermejo coming with 80km to go. Early on, Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise rider Sander Helven sparked the day-long breakaway that also included Miguel Angel Benito (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Artem Ovechkin (Gazprom-Rusvelo), Kleber Ramos (Funvic Soul Cycles - Carrefour), Benat Txoperena Matxikote (Euskadi Basque Country), and Kamil Gradek (Verva ActiveJet Pro Cycling Team).
The six riders worked together to build up a lead of nearly eight minutes on the peloton, but after racing 107km, the category 3 Alto de Aledo the peloton had reduced the gap to a more manageable 2:55. The Bermejo wiped out the gap, and under pressure from Movistar the peloton shattered, leaving a group of about 20 riders in the front of the race.
Among them was BMC's Tejay van Garderen, who attacked on the final climb, the category 3 Cresta del Gallo, with 13km to go and gained a 10 second lead. His attack didn't last, but it set up BMC with three riders in a group of nine, giving Gilbert the tactical advantage.
Hermans led the group into the final few hundred meters with Gilbert on his wheel, and when the former world champion jumped, none could follow. Valverde held off the charge for second, with Zararin narrowly taking third.
Full Results
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Philippe Gilbert (Bel) BMC Racing Team | 5:02:19 |
2 | Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team | |
3 | Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Team Katusha | |
4 | Luis Leon Sanchez (Spa) Astana Pro Team | |
5 | Ben Hermans (Bel) BMC Racing Team | 0:00:04 |
6 | Tanel Kangert (Est) Astana Pro Team | 0:00:15 |
7 | Tejay Van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team | 0:00:18 |
8 | Dario Cataldo (Ita) Astana Pro Team | 0:01:05 |
9 | Daniel Navarro (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | 0:01:06 |
10 | Víctor De La Parte (Spa) CCC Sprandi Polkowice | 0:01:09 |
11 | Jon Izaguirre (Spa) Movistar Team | |
12 | Jose Joaquin Rojas (Spa) Movistar Team | 0:02:06 |
13 | Ruben Fernandez (Spa) Movistar Team | |
14 | Samuel Sanchez (Spa) BMC Racing Team | |
15 | Lukasz Owsian (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice | |
16 | Garikoitz Bravo Oiarbide (Spa) Euskadi-Basque Country | |
17 | Darwin Atapuma (Col) BMC Racing Team | |
18 | Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team | 0:04:23 |
19 | Damiano Caruso (Ita) BMC Racing Team | |
20 | Pawel Cieslik (Pol) Verva ActiveJet Pro Cycling Team | 0:05:06 |
21 | Sergey Firsanov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo | |
22 | Jhonatan Restrepo (Col) Team Katusha | 0:06:16 |
23 | Felix Grossschartner (Aut) CCC Sprandi Polkowice | |
24 | Karel Hnik (Cze) Verva ActiveJet Pro Cycling Team | |
25 | Julien Simon (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
26 | Paul Voss (Ger) Bora-Argon 18 | |
27 | Jesus Herrada (Spa) Movistar Team | |
28 | Hugh Carthy (GBr) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | |
29 | Paolo Tiralongo (Ita) Astana Pro Team | |
30 | Arman Kamyshev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team | |
31 | Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team | |
32 | Dries Van Gestel (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise | |
33 | Bert Van Lerberghe (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise | |
34 | Alexey Kurbatov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo | |
35 | Sandro Filipe Silva Pinto (Por) Louletano - Hospital De Loule | |
36 | Kleber Ramos (Bra) Funvic Soul Cycles - Carrefour | |
37 | Francisco Gomez (Spa) Louletano - Hospital De Loule | 0:06:21 |
38 | Cristian Torres Cuenca (Spa) Spain | 0:06:23 |
39 | Xavier San Sebastian (Spa) Spain | |
40 | Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | 0:07:37 |
41 | Silvio Herklotz (Ger) Bora-Argon 18 | |
42 | Cristian Rodriguez (Spa) Southeast - Venezuela | |
43 | Angelo Tulik (Fra) Direct Energie | |
44 | Thomas Sprengers (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise | |
45 | Jaime Roson (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | |
46 | Joao Benta (Por) Louletano - Hospital De Loule | |
47 | Ibai Salas (Spa) Burgos BH | 0:08:54 |
48 | Jose Vicente Toribio Alcolea (Spa) Matrix Powertag | |
49 | José Manuel Díaz (Spa) Spain | |
50 | Etienne Van Empel (Ned) Roompot - Oranje Peloton | |
51 | Murilo Affonso (Bra) Funvic Soul Cycles - Carrefour | |
52 | Mikel Iturria Segurola (Spa) Euskadi-Basque Country | |
53 | Alexander Kolobnev (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo | |
54 | Jonathan Lastra Martinez (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | |
55 | Imanol Estevez (Spa) Euskadi-Basque Country | |
56 | Gijs Van Hoecke (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise | |
57 | Mikel Bizkarra (Spa) Euskadi-Basque Country | |
58 | Jordi Simon (Spa) Verva ActiveJet Pro Cycling Team | |
59 | Cesare Benedetti (Ita) Bora-Argon 18 | |
60 | Marcin Mrozek (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice | |
61 | Maciej Paterski (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice | |
62 | Luis Angel Mate (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
63 | Reinier Honig (Ned) Roompot - Oranje Peloton | |
64 | Jan Barta (Cze) Bora-Argon 18 | |
65 | Romain Hardy (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
66 | Vicente Garcia De Mateos Rubio (Spa) Louletano - Hospital De Loule | |
67 | Jerome Cousin (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
68 | Antonio Piedra Perez (Spa) Funvic Soul Cycles - Carrefour | |
69 | Jan Hirt (Cze) CCC Sprandi Polkowice | |
70 | Johnny Hoogerland (Ned) Roompot - Oranje Peloton | |
71 | Sjoerd Van Ginneken (Ned) Roompot - Oranje Peloton | |
72 | Michel Kreder (Ned) Roompot - Oranje Peloton | |
73 | Maurits Lammertink (Ned) Roompot - Oranje Peloton | |
74 | Egor Silin (Rus) Team Katusha | |
75 | Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Direct Energie | |
76 | Fabien Grellier (Fra) Direct Energie | |
77 | Benat Txoperena Matxikote (Spa) Euskadi-Basque Country | |
78 | Matvey Mamykin (Rus) Team Katusha | 0:10:58 |
79 | Alexander Foliforov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo | |
80 | Alexandre Pichot (Fra) Direct Energie | |
81 | Yohann Gene (Fra) Direct Energie | |
82 | Rory Sutherland (Aus) Movistar Team | |
83 | Michael Schwarzmann (Ger) Bora-Argon 18 | |
84 | Magno Prado Nazaret (Bra) Funvic Soul Cycles - Carrefour | |
85 | Eliot Lietaer (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise | |
86 | Pawel Franczak (Pol) Verva ActiveJet Pro Cycling Team | |
87 | Airan Fernandez Casasola (Spa) Matrix Powertag | |
88 | João Gaspar (Bra) Funvic Soul Cycles - Carrefour | 0:11:47 |
89 | Artur Ershov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo | |
90 | Patryk Stosz (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice | |
91 | Adam Stachowiak (Pol) Verva ActiveJet Pro Cycling Team | |
92 | Arnau Soe Vall (Spa) Burgos BH | |
93 | Pablo Torres Muino (Spa) Burgos BH | |
94 | Alexander Evtushenko (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo | |
95 | Flavio Cardoso (Bra) Funvic Soul Cycles - Carrefour | 0:13:30 |
96 | Artem Ovechkin (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo | 0:17:28 |
97 | Kamil Gradek (Pol) Verva ActiveJet Pro Cycling Team | |
98 | Maxim Belkov (Rus) Team Katusha | 0:17:38 |
99 | Vladimir Isaychev (Rus) Team Katusha | |
100 | Miguel Angel Benito (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | |
101 | Nick Van Der Lijke (Ned) Roompot - Oranje Peloton | |
102 | Miguel Angel Ballesteros (Spa) Spain | |
OTL | Aleksei Tcatevich (Rus) Team Katusha | 0:28:22 |
OTL | Antonio Jesus Soto (Spa) Spain | 0:30:09 |
OTL | Ruben Pols (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise | 0:35:20 |
OTL | Hayato Yoshida (Jpn) Matrix Powertag | |
OTL | Sander Helven (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise | |
OTL | Gotzon Udondo (Spa) Euskadi-Basque Country | |
OTL | Pablo Urtasun (Spa) Funvic Soul Cycles - Carrefour | 0:37:25 |
OTL | Rubén Montoya López (Spa) Spain | 0:37:40 |
OTL | Kenji Takubo (Jpn) Matrix Powertag | 0:38:38 |
DNF | Junya Sano (Jpn) Matrix Powertag | |
DNF | Sergio Pardilla (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | |
DNF | Luis Mas Bonet (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | |
DNF | Eloy Teruel Rovira (Spa) Louletano - Hospital De Loule | |
DNF | Davide Malacarne (Ita) Astana Pro Team | |
DNF | Adrien Petit (Fra) Direct Energie | |
DNF | Carlos Barbero (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | |
DNF | Alvaro Robredo Crespo (Spa) Burgos BH | |
DNF | Victor Martin Hernandez (Spa) Burgos BH | |
DNF | Igor Merino Cortazar (Spa) Burgos BH | |
DNF | Julien Morice (Fra) Direct Energie | |
DNF | Hugo Hofstetter (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
DNF | Ralf Matzka (Ger) Bora-Argon 18 | |
DNF | José Mendes (Por) Bora-Argon 18 | |
DNF | Daiki Yasuhara (Jpn) Matrix Powertag | |
DNF | Ander Barrenetxea (Spa) Euskadi-Basque Country | |
DNF | Juan Carlos Riutort Martinez (Spa) Burgos BH | |
DNF | Jiri Polnicky (Cze) Verva ActiveJet Pro Cycling Team | |
DNF | Jose Antonio De Segovia Botella (Spa) Louletano - Hospital De Loule | |
DNF | Antonio Pedrero (Spa) Movistar Team |

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