People's Choice Classic

Rojas takes 9th in criterium preface to UCI WorldTour's opening stagerace Tour Down Under from Tuesday

The longest awaited return finally came for the seven Movistar Team riders present in the South Australia region for the last eight days. The telephone squad made its debut in the People’s Choice Classic -opening criterium for the seven days of racing Down Under, with the major stagerace starting the day after tomorrow-, dominated for the third time by German André Greipel (LTB) as the lads directed by José Luis Arrieta fought from halfway through the race to position José Joaquín Rojas in his comeback from an injury on stage 13 in the 2012 Vuelta a España.

The Murcian rider, slightly dropped from a short elite group split by the sprinters’ teams with two turns left, got back into the 9th position at the finish, showing great form before a Tour Down Under with chances for him in all six stages to open Movistar Team’s 2013 account. The first UCI WorldTour stagerace of the season will begin on Tuesday (01.30 CET), with 135km from Prospect to Lobethal with no major difficulties into the route.