Vuelta a Murcia 2010/2011 Live Dashboard Race Info, Previews, Live Video?, Results, Photos and Highlights Sammy Sanchez and Alejandro Valverde racing into Murcia during the 2009 Vuelta a Espana. All the big Spanish teams are boycotting this year's Vuelta Ciclista a Murcia due to unresolved grievances stemming from last year's race Route Map  |  Stage Details  |  Preview  |  News  |  Team Rosters  |  Live  |  TV

Also follow steephill on Twitter for the latest race info and video updates.

News and Updates for Vuelta a Murcia 2011

Vuelta a Murcia 2011 is MAR-04 to MAR-06 2011. If you see news on the route announcement before I do then please let me know. — Steve

Economic crisis hits Tour of Murcia — cyclingnews

News and Updates for Vuelta a Murcia 2010

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Stage 5 results: As expected Frantisek Rabon of HTC-Columbia wraps up the the general classification; Theo Bos wins the final sprint

Rabon wins Vuelta Murcia; Theo Bos wins final sprint stage — cyclingnews
Bosco Martin Stage 5 Photos — cyclingnews
  Stage 5 Highlights (low-quality) (10:59 Spanish) — 7rm.es
  Stage 5 Extended Highlights (high-quality) (18:08) — regmurcia
... more to come...

Stage 5 preview: Redyser (Murcia) → Murcia (flat)

March 7 update: Today's a rolling, loop around Murcia that should end in a sprint finish and the GC has been decided so switch over to the Paris-Nice channel for some live video when you are ready for the best one week race of the year. — Steve

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Stage 4 results: Frantisek Rabon of HTC-Columbia wins the crono by an impressive 33 seconds and should win the general classification tomorrow

Stage 4 results:
1  RABON, Frantisek THR        0:25:10
2  MENCHOV, Denis RAB        + 0:00:33 
3  WIGGINS, Bradley SKY      + 0:00:48
4  KLÖDEN, Andreas RSH       + 0:00:52
5  GRETSCH, Patrick THR      + 0:01:03
6  WESTRA, Lieuwe VAC        + 0:01:10
7  CLEMENT, Stef RAB         + 0:01:17
8  ARMSTRONG, Lance RSH      + 0:01:18
9  JUFRE, Josep AST          + 0:01:21
10 ZABRISKIE, David GRM      + 0:01:23
Full Results — regmurcia

General classification after stage 4
1  RABON, Frantisek THR        
2  MENCHOV, Denis RAB        + 0:00:38 
3  WIGGINS, Bradley SKY      + 0:00:53
...
7  ARMSTRONG, Lance RSH      + 0:01:23 
Full General classification — regmurcia

Rabon rolls to Murcia TT win — cyclingnews
Rabon rips TT, takes Murcia lead — velonews
Graham Watson Stage 4 Photos — grahamwatson
Bosco Martin Stage 4 Photos — cyclingnews
  Stage 4 ITT Highlights: Part 1 (08:48 Spanish) | Part 2 (09:51 Spanish) — 7rm.es
  Planet Armstrong : Murica time trial (1/2) — uk.eurosport
  Planet Armstrong : Murica time trial (2/2) — uk.eurosport
  Stage 4 Extended Highlights (high-quality) (20:22) — regmurcia

Stage 4 preview: Alhama de Murcia (individual time-trial)

Also follow steephill on Twitter for the latest race info and video updates.

March 5 update: Due largely to the top 30 riders of Friday's queen stage finishing in the same time, nothing has been decided after three stages so Saturday's Stage 4 straight and flat 22 km time-trial west of Alhama de Murcia will decide this hilly stage race. Since the GC will not change on the final flat stage, an excellent performance on the TT bike Saturday will likely make the TT winner the GC winner as well unless you are Dave Zabriskie of Garmin and lost 8+ minutes for some reason on stage 4. Perhaps he was saving himself for a good TT performance. From Jonathan Vaughters on twitter: "since i'm up... Murcia predictions: stage: Wiggins, Rabon (pictured left), Zabriskie...GC Rabon, Wiggins, Armstrong." Obviously, he thinks Wiggins will be beat Rabon by five or less seconds. — Steve

See the race summary links (right) for the interactive stage map, profile & timetable.
General Race Previews
Stage 4 Start Order and Times (Times are CET or GMT+1)

VERSUS Tour of Qatar VERSUS

Live Streaming Video and TV Coverage

media source	tv or internet	comments/restrictions
	live video? (spanish)   tv schedule (tba?)	Spain; TV Murcia Ch7 televised the Vuelta a Murcia last year (at the last minute). Update: no live video coverage this year, but good quality daily highlights are being posted
	video    live audio (english)   tv schedule (tba?)	Eurosport is on-site in Murcia but nothing is scheduled at the moment for either Eurosport 1 or 2. Five minute recaps are being aired in the Planet Armstrong time slot.
	live text updates ES live text updates EN	The Spanish website Biciciclismo will have the latest race updates
	steephill txt updates  #murcia twitter grp	short text updates from any and everyone
check back at race time for more and updated links; send a comment or a new live link

March 5 update: 2010 Paris-Nice: the latest race info including race preview, team rosters and live coverage details. Race starts this Sunday.

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Stage 3 results: Queen stage ends in a field sprint won by Luke Roberts of Milram

Stage 3 results:
1  Luke Roberts (Team Milram)         4:16:47
2  Sergey Lagutin (Vacansoleil)
3  Josep Jufré (Astana)
4  Denis Menchov (Rabobank)
5  Andreas Kloden (RadioShack)
6  Steven Kruijswijk (Rabobank)
7  Stefan Denifl (Cervélo)
8  Michel Kreder (Garmin-Transitions)
9  Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky)
10 José Herrada (Caja Rural)
11 Roman Kireyev (Astana)
12 Thomas Rohregger (Team Milram)
13 Martin Velits (Team HTC-Columbia)
14 Paolo Tiralongo (Astana)
15 Jack Bauer (Endura Racing)

General classification after stage 3
1  Josep Jufré (Astana)                 12:52:39
2  Luke Roberts (Milram)
3  Frantisek Rabon (Team HTC-Columbia)
4  Rob Ruijgh (Vacansoleil)
5  Thomas Rohregger (Team Milram) 

Roberts wins dash into Alhama de Murcia (full results) — cyclingnews
Hunter pulls out of Murcia as wife goes into labor — velonews
Luke Roberts stock photo — sirotti
  Lance Armstrong race interview including TT comments (04:11 english) — gazzetta.it
Initial Graham Watson Stage 3 Photos — biciciclismo
Roberts wins at Murcia, Jufre moves into lead — velonews
Graham Watson Stage 3 Photos — grahamwatson
Bosco Martin Stage 3 Photos — cyclingnews
Luis Leon Sanchez (Caisse d'Epargne) greets the passing peloton — cyclingnews
  Stage 3 Brief Highlights (low-quality) (01:00 Spanish) — 7rm.es
  Stage 3 Extended Highlights (low-quality) (10:56 Spanish) — 7rm.es
  Planet Armstrong: Lance pre-stage 3 and highlights (02:59) — eurosport
Roberts wins Tour of Murcia third stage — sbs.au
  Stage 3 Extended Highlights (high-quality) (18:37) — regmurcia
... extended video highlights coming ...

Stage 3 preview: Las Torres de Cotillas → Alhama de Murcia (mountainous)

Also follow steephill on Twitter for the latest race info and video updates.

March 5 update: Friday's Stage 3 is the queen stage since it has a two-tier set of cat 1 climbs 33 km before the downhill finish into Alhama de Murcia which will also host the decisive individual time-trial the next day. The two climbs are very similar in difficulty [profile comparison] to the French Pyrénées' Argeles-Gazost to Col du Soulor climb. The second of Friday's two back-to-back climbs, Collado Bermejo... designated the Cima Marco Pantini for this year's race, gains about 500m in 6.5 km so we should have some time gaps after the descent. We could get some rain during the stage.

With two stages in the books and no live video so far, it seems likely there won't be any live video for the remaining stages either. In previous years, the Vuelta a Murcia was broadcast live, but the boycott from all the Spanish teams has probably damaged this event and curtailed expenses. As a consolation, we'll continue to link to the extended high quality highlights on a daily basis.

See the race summary links (right) for the stage map, profile and timetable. — Steve
General Race Previews

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Stage 2 results: Top 3 same as yesterday; Robbie Hunter makes it two-for-two

Stage 2 results:
1  Robbie Hunter (Garmin-Transitions)  4:20:12            
2  Graeme Brown (Rabobank)  
3  Vicente Reynes (HTC-Columbia)
4  Alexander Blain (Endura Racing).
5  Daniel Schorn (Team NetApp) 

Hunter conquers all in Caravaca de la Cruz — cyclingnews
Hunter repeats at Murcia — velonews
Initial Graham Watson Stage 2 Photos — biciciclismo
Bosco Martin Stage 2 Photos — cyclingnews
Graham Watson Stage 2 Photos — grahamwatson
  Stage 2 Highlights (high-quality): Part 1 (07:22 Spanish) | Part 2 (09:58 Spanish) — 7rm.es
  Robbie Hunter Interview (02:00 English & Spanish) — laverdadtv.es
  Stage 2 Extended Highlights (high-quality) (17:20) — regmurcia
Armstrong feels physical demands of cycling — news.yahoo

Stage 2 preview: Calasparra → Caravaca de la Cruz (med. mountain)

Also follow steephill on Twitter for the latest race info and video updates.

March 3 update: Thursday's Stage 2 is a medium mountain day starting from the north part of the Murcia region. As the peloton makes their way back to the central part of the region, they'll do two passes over the cat 1 Alto de San Juan (1227m el) giving the many climbers a chance to test their early season form before the descent and finish in Caravaca De La Cruz.

This could be considered the queen stage, but it's really not that difficult. Last year's Vuelta a Espana stage 11 used the same Alto de San Juan to Caravaca De La Cruz finish and they rightly called Alto de San Juan a cat 2 climb but early season races are much more generous. Garmin's Tylar Farrar won a sprint finish that day ().

See the race summary links (right) for the interactive stage map, profile and timetable. — Steve
General Race Previews

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March 3 update: This event has been televised live in the past. Check back at race time for a further update. If you see something first then let me know. — Steve

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Stage 1 results: Robbie Hunter wins the fast, sprint finish in San Pedro del Pinatar

Stage 1 results:
1  Robbie Hunter (Garmin-Transitions)            
2  Graeme Brown (Rabobank)  
3  Vicente Reynes (HTC-Columbia)

Hunter scores for Garmin-Transitions — cyclingnews
Garmin kind of day: Hunter wins in Murcia; Pate in break — velonews
Initial Graham Watson Stage 1 Photos — biciciclismo
Graham Watson Stage 1 Photos — grahamwatson
Hunter scores! (Team Director Report) — slipstreamsports
Robbie Hunter, let the winning begin — slipstreamsports
  Stage 1 Highlights (low-quality) (00:58) — 7rm.es
Bosco Martin Stage 1 Photos — cyclingnews
  Stage 1 Extended Highlights (high-quality) (20:42) — regmurcia
  Stage 1 Highlights and Lance Armstrong Interview (01:10) — eurosport

Stage 1 preview: San Pedro del Pinatar → San Pedro del Pinatar (rolling)

Also follow steephill on Twitter for the latest race info and video updates.

March 3 update: Today's Stage 1 is a rolling out and back from San Pedro del Pinatar in the very southeast part of the Murcia region along the coast. After rolling around the small hills west of San Pedro del Pinatar, the peloton will return to the start four hours later for what normally would be dead flat sprint finish; however, there aren't many pure sprinters (Graeme Brown and Theo Boss) in the field and the riders will have a tail wind on the return leg so a break may succeed. Graeme Brown was the winner of last year's stage 1 that started in San Pedro del Pinatar. There was a 60% chance of rain in the morning, but the forecast calls for clear skies during the race as the very recent start photo (left) indicates.

See the race summary links (right) for the stage map, profile and timetable. — Steve
General Race Previews

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2010 Race Details/Preview

Also follow steephill on Twitter for the latest race info and video updates.

March 2 update: The Vuelta Ciclista a la Región de Murcia is a 5-day stage race in the southern, coastal area of Spain that is part of the UCI Europe Tour.

This year there will be two medium mountain stages, a flat 22 km individual time-trial and two rolling/hilly stages. See the profiles and timetables in the race summary table (right).

There are just 11 16 teams competing because several Spanish teams are boycotting this race due to unresolved grievances and Italian teams weren't invited due to Alejandro Valverde being persona non grata in Italy. But, there will be several strong ProTours teams attending including RadioShack, Rabobank, Garmin-Transitions and Team Sky. Some of the big names include Lance Armstrong, Andreas Kloeden, Bradley Wiggins, Denis Menchov and Dave Zabriskie.

In previous years, there has been live video for the race. More to come... — Steve

Wiggins and Armstrong go head to head in Murcia — cyclingnews
Armstrong returns to action in Murcia — cyclingnews
Preview: Vuelta Ciclista a La Region De Murcia — podiumcafe
Vuelta a Murcia bans Italian teams — velonews
Official Site

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2010 Vuelta a Murcia Mapa de la Ruta