Valverde wins Vuelta Murcia with solo attack

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Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) won the Vuelta Ciclista a la Region de Murcia – his home race – for a fifth time thanks to an aggressive solo attack some 70km from the finish.

The veteran Spanish rider attacked in the mist on the Collado Bermejo climb and then fought a headwind to win alone, with the rest of the race unable to pull him back. Jhonatan Restrepo (Katusha-Alpecin) beat Patrick Konrad (Bora-hansgrohe) to win the sprint for second place, 2:10 down on Valverde.

The Spanish race has been reduced from a stage race to a one-day affair, but that only seemed to motivate Valverde, who is proud of his Murcia origins.

"It's always special for me to win on home roads – this victory goes to all the people in this region, who always cheer for me so much when I'm racing abroad. It truly is the most beautiful of the five I've achieved here; it was a big effort and so tough to keep up against the wind and the climbs to win here," Valverde said.

Strong winds, hard racing

The strong wind made for a hard day out, splitting the peloton early on. Sam Bewley (Orica-Scott), Evan Huffman (Rally Cycling) and Jelle Wallays (Lotto Soudal) formed an early break, but the Movistar team pulled them back, sending out an ominous sign that Valverde was keen to win on home roads.

Movistar brought the race back together at the foot of the Alto Collado Bermejo (8.4km at 6,7 percent) and then Valverde took over despite more than 70km left to race. He attacked at the bottom of the climb, followed by Jon Izagirre (Bahrain-Merida), Tjesj Benoot and Gallopin (Lotto Soudal), Simon Spilak (Katusha) and Garikoitz Bravo (Euskadi). However, they failed to get onto his wheel and Valverde took advantage of the misty conditions and local knowledge of the decent to push on alone.

He had a 2:25 lead after the descent, with 35km to go, with the chasers eventually caught by the peloton.

Valverde had been hoping for some help from a small group but decided to push on alone and time trialled to the finish. He reached Murcia with a two-minute lead and so was able to celebrate his solo victory in front of his local crowd.

"I just had to give it a try, even if it was so far away from the finish and it was a long shot, but that was the only point where I could win solo from. I took that chance, and I succeeded."

Ready for the Ruta del Sol

Valverde's victory confirmed he is already on form before riding next week's Ruta del Sol stage race where he will clash with Alberto Contador.

"After Nairo's success in Valencia, things are looking really promising for us this season - it's just taking from where we left off, after we won those four consecutive WorldTour titles all the way up to 2016," Valverde said.

"Now it's about having some rest and taking the start of the Ruta del Sol on Wednesday. There, we'll find Alberto Contador and many other big riders, and we will have to try and continue this streak."

La entrada triunfal de @alejanvalverde en la Gran Vía de Murcia, vía @la7_tv. Su 98; éxito en profesionales. #VueltaCiclistaMurcia2017 pic.twitter.com/jz4PnZNh7H

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