2019 Vuelta a Murcia
Male Team 15 - 16 Feb

Vuelta a Murcia

365 Kilometers 2 Stages
Close

Participants list

  1. Alejandro Valverde
  2. Carlos Barbero
  3. Carlos Betancur
  4. Héctor Carretero
  5. Rubén Fernández
  6. José Joaquín Rojas
  7. Rafa Valls
Close

TV

There will be a live stream of the stage finishes at 7TV Región de Murcia.
Close

Timetable

Friday's stage will finish around 4.45pm local; Saturday's, in turn, will make easier for the teams racing the Clásica de Almería nearby to get there, as it ends at about 3.30pm.
Close

Social Media

There's a quite active, official Twitter profile: @VueltaMurcia. The hashtag they use is #VueltaCiclistaMurcia2019.
Close

Score

The Movistar Team has six victories to its name when the Vuelta a Murcia was held as a stagerace, including the latest to date under that formar: Nairo Quintana -in his maiden Blue success- took the 2012 race. Alejandro Valverde, an all-time record winner with five victories, has also won the race twice as a classic (2014 + 2017).

Stages

Analysis

01
Yecla - San Javier (188.8km)
15 February
Profile Routemeter
  1. 01 Pello Bilbao Astana Pro Team 4h15'02"
  2. 02 Omar Fraile Astana Pro Team +3"
  3. 03 Luis León Sánchez Astana Pro Team "
  4. 04 Alejandro Valverde Movistar Team "
  5. 11 José Joaquín Rojas Movistar Team +9"
  6. 27 Héctor Carretero Movistar Team "
  7. 31 Rafa Valls Movistar Team +14"
  8. 33 Rubén Fernández Movistar Team "
  9. 56 Carlos Barbero Movistar Team +2'56"
  10. 113 Carlos Betancur Movistar Team +9'42"
02
Beniel - Murcia (177.3km)
16 February
Profile Routemeter
  1. 01 Luis León Sánchez Astana Pro Team 4h14'33"
  2. 02 Alejandro Valverde Movistar Team "
  3. 03 Matteo Trentin Mitchelton-Scott +13"
  4. 28 Rubén Fernández Movistar Team +2'48"
  5. 29 José Joaquín Rojas Movistar Team "
  6. 44 Rafa Valls Movistar Team +7'57"
  7. 46 Héctor Carretero Movistar Team "
  8. —  Carlos Barbero Movistar Team DNF
  9. —  Carlos Betancur Movistar Team DNF

Analysis

The Spanish pro cycling calendar continues to strengthen its schedule after the rough times of financial crisis, and the 39th Vuelta a Murcia will be enjoying a second day of racing which brings it back to the stagerace format it had until 2012. On the other hand, the race will have slightly less hilly routes, and so both stages will offer chances for adventurers or sprinters alike.

Actually, the opening day (Friday 15) does seem destined for the fastest men in the bunch to go for the race lead, as the Alto de Cabeza de la Plata (Cat-3) is more than 30km away from San Javier’s finish – where crosswinds could play a factor. Saturday 16 will see the peloton tackle the famous Sierra Espuña, with the Collado Bermejo (Cat-1) halfway through stage two before the always challenging Cresta del Gallo (Cat-2) and its dangerous descent near the finish.