Alessandro Covi wins Vuelta a Murcia

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Alessandro Covi claimed victory at the Vuelta Ciclista a la Región de Murcia "Costa Calida" in an outstanding collective display from UAE Team Emirates. 

The Italian attacked a lead group of 20 riders with 5km to go and just about hung on, although Matteo Trentin was there just in case, winning the group sprint to make it a UAE one-two on the podium. 

The pair of them put the icing and the cherry on the cake but the groundwork was laid by Brandon McNulty, who went clear in a strong long-range break after the big half-way climb, before dropping his companions with 25km to go and riding solo all the way to the final 5km. 

Arkéa-Samsic had bust their guts to bring back the American and, as soon as the catch been made, Covi sprung out of the heavily reduced group. It was touch and go as he entered the final kilometre with just a few seconds in hand but he finished the job and got his hands in the air as he crossed the line, just as Trentin was doing the same behind.

“It’s my first victory as a pro and I’m very very happy,” Covi said. “It was a very hard 5km but when you see the victory you go faster. I went full gas for the victory and I won, Matteo second, McNulty [did a] good race, all the teammates good race, so I’m very happy for the team.”

The 183km route from Fortuna to the coastal city of Cartagena was punctuated by the big climb of the Collado Bermejo, dubbed the ‘Cima Marco Pantani’ in honour of the former Tour de France and Giro d’Italia winner. However, the much shorter Alto de Cedacero would prove to be decisive later on. 

The day’s breakaway was a two-up venture between Euskaltel-Euskadi’s Asier Etxeberria and Xabier Azparren. They built a lead of four minutes by the time they hit the Bermejo, where Anton Palzer (Bora-Hansgrohe) jumped from the bunch in a failed bid to bridge across. 

After the long descent, and with the breakaway duo caught, the race did open up, with McNulty forging clear alongside Warren Barguil (Arkéa-Samsic), Nils Politt (Bora-Hansgrohe), and Kobe Goosens (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux). 

They hit the Alto de Cedacero - 4km at nearly 6 per cent - with a lead of 30 seconds, and McNulty immediately put the hammer down. In turn and in the space of a few kilometres - Politt, Goosens, Barguil - his companions were dropped and he was alone. As the climb continued, he even took his advantage out to 50 seconds. 

There was, however, a response from behind, and Miguel Angel López (Astana Qazaqstan) moved clear with Trentin and Jesus Herrada (Cofidis) before launching a solo pursuit of McNulty. He crested the Cedacero 35 seconds in arrears of the American with 19.5km to go, but dramatically suffered hamstring cramps and was unceremoniously passed by the chasers. 

The small chase group was then absorbed by larger group to form a pack of 20 chasing down McNulty, with Arkéa-Samsic doing most of the heavy lifting. McNulty hung on gamely but started to fade in the final 10km and was caught with 5km to go. 

Immediately, Covi sprang out, not allowing the Arkea riders any pause for breath. He took it all the way to the line, where Trentin capped the team performance with a picture perfect finish line shot.