The lack of news in a stage with several crashes and other complications in the closing part was the best headline from Movistar Team in the opening stage of the Vuelta a Murcia, ridden on Friday over a 178km route from San Pedro del Pinatar to Alhama.

The group commanded by DS José Luis Jaimerena managed to come together -only Erviti fell halfway into the race- into the line after two big crashes happened in the final kilometers -the latter one occured just into the final turn- due to slippery roads into showers falling over the region in the previous hourrs. The dangerous descent covered by the bunch in the finale allowed Fran Pérez to escape with 6km to go, along with Valls (GEO) and Jones (UHC), with a furious pace only reeled back by the peloton over the last kilometer’s ‘flamme rouge’. The accidented sprint saw Michael Matthews (RAB) succeed while minor gaps formed into the peloton, with Movistar Team’s Rubén Plaza and Carlos Oyarzun making the first part of the field.

The Queen stage in this year’s Murcian tour will be ridden on Saturday. It will be a 183km trek from Murcia to the Centro de Interpretación Sierra Espuña, featuring the demanding climbs to the ‘altos’ of La Zarzada (Cat. 2) and the traditional Collado Bermejo (1ª), just 8km from the arrival, in the second part of the race. Another opportunity for Movistar Team’s climbers to shine in the race that is likely to decide the outcome before minor adjustments are seen in Murcia’s final ITT on Sunday.