Fifth podium result in just nine racing days in 2018
Movistar Team leader finished behind Luis León Sánchez (AST) after long breakaway starting on slopes of Collado Bermejo.
Alejandro Valverde extended his brilliant start to the 2018 season on Saturday as he finished 2nd in his home race, the Vuelta Ciclista a la Región de Murcia, behind fellow countryman Luis León Sánchez (AST), following another exhibition on the attack which started on the slopes of the Collado Bermejo, more than 60km from the finish line.
The two local riders, joined by Jakob Fuglsang (AST), reached down a four-man lead group stemming from a monster break (40 riders) jumping away from the field in the beginning of the race, and including two of the Movistar Team: Imanol Erviti and Eduardo Sepúlveda. The trio bridged back to Jungels, Serry, Gilbert (QST) and Trentin (MTS), and after the descent of the Collado Bermejo, Valverde y Sánchez left the others behind with a duo attack which only Gilbert (3rd) attempted to bring down.
As winds picked up in the final descent towards the finish, Sánchez anticipated Valverde’s strong sprint with a well-timed attack with 2km from the finish. The Movistar Team leader would end up taking his fifth podium result in just nine racing days in 2018, while at the pursuit groups, José Joaquín Rojas took 9th place and Andrey Amador came close to another top-ten finish with his 12th spot.
REACTION, Alejandro Valverde:
“The race did become really difficult for us in the beginning with such a big breakaway. We had Imanol and Eduardo into the escape, but there were some teams, like Quick Step or Bora, with a majority of their riders at the front, and also some extremely talented guys like Trentin. There were moments when I thought we would never make it back. However, huge work from both Astana and especially my team-mates made it possible for us to reach the lead group – hats off to the Blues, because otherwise it’d have been impossible.
“The two Astanas and me attacked at the Collado Bermejo, we got on well with each other quickly and were able to open a gap and get to the front. After the descent, ‘Luisle’ and I profited from a slight uphill to attack, and seeing that no one was able to follow us, we soon agreed it was better to go on taking turns until the end. ‘Luisle’ is doing really, really well at the moment, and even though I myself tried to leave him behind in the finale, he took a strong turn with 2km to go and it caught be out of strength. I’m still happy, though, because my legs continue to feel really well after my injury. Now it’s time to keep on working hard before my next race, the Abu Dhabi Tour.”
Picture (c): Vuelta a Murcia