In the eve of the big races from the old historical calendar, Movistar Team will be riding the Vuelta Ciclista a la Región de Murcia for one more year, the Southern stagerace starting on Friday 4th and holding all emotions for its 31st edition on three days of racing, with winning chances for all types of riders: a flat stage in the opener, a mountain trek in the second stage and a final individual time trial. For this race, José Luis Jaimerena will be directing a Movistar Team roster composed by Rubén Plaza, Vasil Kiryienka, Carlos Oyarzun, Mauricio Soler, Ignatas Konovalovas, Imanol Erviti and local Fran Pérez.

The seven Movistar Team riders held an official event in San Pedro del Pinatar on Thursday morning, attended by Telefónica’s chief executive for Murcia, Rafael Lloret, along with Sports General Director for the Region of Murcia and former olympic medalist Antonio Peñalver. During the media presentation, the spotlight was caught by the two Murcian riders from Movistar Team, José Joaquín Rojas -who will be departing tomorrow to Paris-Nice, the first 2011 UCI World Tour race in Europe- and Fran Pérez, who will be riding his home race from tomorrow with the aim, as well personally as Movistar Team-wise, to keep the great season opening the riders from the telephone squad are making up to the moment.

Starting from coastal San Pedro del Pinatar, the opening 178 kilometers of the Murcian race will favour the sprinters on their way to Alhama de Murcia. The second stage on Saturday 5th will be way more determining for the overall result: 183 kilometers from Murcia to the Centro de Interpretación Sierra Espuña refuge, with the demanding ascents to La Zarzada (Cat. 2) and the traditional Collado Bermejo (Cat. 1), the last one into the final 8km. A completely flat, 12km individual time trial in and around Murcia will take the race to its end on Sunday 6th as the squad directed by Eusebio Unzué already knows how to get the honours here through its long history, with four overall victories.