Rojas nets home region victory

By Monika Prell

José Joaquín Rojas, winner of the first stage of the Vuelta a Murcia, is very happy about his victory. "A victory in your region is like two. It's a success that has a special worth because we are here in my region." He dedicated the victory to his brother Mariano, who also was a professional cyclist before passing away in 1996.

Rojas explains that "the sprint was easy because of the falls. I had a lot of luck, but you have to recognise that my team was one of the most active teams today, and it was not an easy day due to the wind."

The 21 year-old Caisse d'Epargne rider presented his goals to todociclismo.com. "We are having a great season start with the victories of Luis León Sánchez in Mallorca, [Iván] Gutiérrez in the Tour Méditerranéen and [Alejandro] Valverde in Valencia. In Murcia we will give it all to maintain the run of luck of this first phase of the season, and in my region it's me who wants the victory."

In the crashed that occurred 500 meters to go were also some Spaniards, like David Herrero (Karpin-Galicia) and Aitor Galdos and Iñaki Flores (both Euskaltel-Euskadi), who all had to abandon the five-day race. Isasi is reported to have a fractured left collarbone.

The race continues today with stage 2, from Totana to Fortuna.