Matthews wins Vuelta Rioja
Lasca, Barbero round out podium
Michael Matthews took Orica-GreenEdge’s first win on European soil for the 2014 season with a convincing bunch sprint victory at the Vuelta a La Rioja in Basque Country. Matthews bettered his second place position at this event last year ahead of Francesco Lasca (Caja Rural- Seguros RGA) in second and Carlos Barbero (Euskadi) in third.
“It’s obviously nice to win at any time, but the first win of the year is always hard to get,” said Matthews. “Once you get the first one they usually keep coming. The lead out was perfect today, probably the best lead-out I’ve experienced with any team. Hopefully the win today gives the team confidence that I can win and if we can keep these lead outs going there should be more wins to come.”
The team went into the 164.7 kilometre warm up race for this week’s six day Vuelta al Pais Vasco firmly focused on getting Matthews to the line for the win.
“Everything went to plan today,” Matthews said. “We came here and were expected to win. We had to work a little harder than we would have liked to bring back the break at the end and we had to sacrifice a few guys.
“Hopefully they can recover ahead of the first stage of Pais Vasco tomorrow,” added Matthews. “We’ve done recon on that stage and it’s going to be harder than we first expected. We’ll be giving it a good go tomorrow.”
With the team’s first win of the European season coming relatively late in comparison with previous years, the confidence garnered from Matthew’s win has come at an ideal time ahead of the Basque tour that brought so much success for the team in 2013.
“This win is really good for morale ahead of Pais Vasco,” said Stephens. “We’ve given our older guys a bit of a rest, which meant our younger guys had the chance to take a few opportunities, which they did quite successfully. Now our more experienced riders are back in the mix, and we’re going to try to win some bike race again. It’s taken a little while to get our first victory in Europe this year, but this is a great sign of things to come in the weeks ahead.”
Full Results
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Michael Matthews (Aus) Orica Greenedge | 3:54:34 |
2 | Francesco Lasca (Ita) Caja Rural - Seguros | Row 1 - Cell 2 |
3 | Carlos Barbero (Spa) Euskadi | Row 2 - Cell 2 |
4 | Vicente Garcia (Spa) Louletano - D. Doura | Row 3 - Cell 2 |
5 | Sergey Shilov (Rus) Lokosphinx | Row 4 - Cell 2 |
6 | Jorge Montenegro (Ecu) Louletano - D. Doura | Row 5 - Cell 2 |
7 | Evgeny Shalunov (Rus) Lokosphinx | Row 6 - Cell 2 |
8 | Brett Lancaster (Aus) Orica Greenedge | Row 7 - Cell 2 |
9 | Pablo Lastras (Spa) Movistar Team | Row 8 - Cell 2 |
10 | Jon Aberasturi (Spa) Euskadi | Row 9 - Cell 2 |
11 | Jesus Herrada (Spa) Movistar Team | Row 10 - Cell 2 |
12 | Ibai Salas (Spa) Burgos-Bh | Row 11 - Cell 2 |
13 | Dmitry Sokolov (Rus) Lokosphinx | Row 12 - Cell 2 |
14 | Federico Figueiredo (Por) Radio Popular | Row 13 - Cell 2 |
15 | Alexander Vdovin (Rus) Lokosphinx | Row 14 - Cell 2 |
16 | Pablo Torres (Spa) Burgos-Bh | Row 15 - Cell 2 |
17 | Sergey Vdovin (Rus) Lokosphinx | Row 16 - Cell 2 |
18 | Francisco Moreno (Spa) Louletano - D. Doura | Row 17 - Cell 2 |
19 | Micael Isidoro (Por) Louletano - D. Doura | Row 18 - Cell 2 |
20 | Mikel Aristi (Spa) Euskadi | Row 19 - Cell 2 |
21 | Haritz Orbe (Spa) Euskadi | Row 20 - Cell 2 |
22 | Peio Bilbao (Spa) Caja Rural - Seguros | Row 21 - Cell 2 |
23 | César Fonte (Por) Radio Popular | Row 22 - Cell 2 |
24 | Igor Anton (Spa) Movistar Team | Row 23 - Cell 2 |
25 | Jesus Del Pino (Spa) Burgos-Bh | Row 24 - Cell 2 |
26 | Manuel Sola (Spa) Keith Mobel - Partiz | Row 25 - Cell 2 |
27 | Christian Meier (Can) Orica Greenedge | Row 26 - Cell 2 |
28 | Jose Ragonessi (Ecu) Team Ecuador | Row 27 - Cell 2 |
29 | Esteban Plaza (Spa) Keith Mobel - Partiz | Row 28 - Cell 2 |
30 | Aleksey Rybalkin (Rus) Lokosphinx | Row 29 - Cell 2 |
31 | Daniel Silva (Por) Radio Popular | Row 30 - Cell 2 |
32 | Nuno Matos (Por) Radio Popular | Row 31 - Cell 2 |
33 | Victor Martin (Spa) Burgos-Bh | Row 32 - Cell 2 |
34 | Jaime Roson (Spa) Team Ecuador | Row 33 - Cell 2 |
35 | Segundo Navarrete (Ecu) Team Ecuador | Row 34 - Cell 2 |
36 | Leonidas Novoa (Ecu) Team Ecuador | Row 35 - Cell 2 |
37 | Javier Aramendia (Spa) Caja Rural - Seguros | Row 36 - Cell 2 |
38 | Arkimedes Arguelyes (Rus) Lokosphinx | Row 37 - Cell 2 |
39 | Antonio Cabello (Spa) Team Ecuador | Row 38 - Cell 2 |
40 | Virgilio Santos (Por) Radio Popular | Row 39 - Cell 2 |
41 | Carlos Quisphe (Ecu) Team Ecuador | Row 40 - Cell 2 |
42 | Dario Hernandez (Spa) Burgos-Bh | Row 41 - Cell 2 |
43 | Andreas Keuser (Ger) Keith Mobel - Partiz | Row 42 - Cell 2 |
44 | Hernani Broco (Spa) Louletano - D. Doura | Row 43 - Cell 2 |
45 | Rui Sousa (Por) Radio Popular | Row 44 - Cell 2 |
46 | Igor Merino (Spa) Burgos-Bh | Row 45 - Cell 2 |
47 | Miguel Minguez (Spa) Euskadi | Row 46 - Cell 2 |
48 | Celio Sousa (Por) Radio Popular | Row 47 - Cell 2 |
49 | Michael Albasini (Swi) Orica Greenedge | Row 48 - Cell 2 |
50 | Marcos Garcia (Spa) Caja Rural - Seguros | Row 49 - Cell 2 |
51 | Jon Larrinaga (Spa) Euskadi | Row 50 - Cell 2 |
52 | Victor Etxebarria (Spa) Euskadi | Row 51 - Cell 2 |
53 | Raul Rubio (Spa) Louletano - D. Doura | Row 52 - Cell 2 |
54 | Alvaro Robredo (Spa) Burgos-Bh | 0:00:26 |
55 | Sandro Pinto (Por) Louletano - D. Doura | Row 54 - Cell 2 |
56 | Marcos Jurado (Spa) Keith Mobel - Partiz | 0:00:28 |
57 | Pieter Weening (Ned) Orica Greenedge | 0:00:35 |
58 | Davide Vigano (Ita) Caja Rural - Seguros | 0:00:37 |
59 | Luis Mas (Spa) Caja Rural - Seguros | 0:01:01 |
60 | Raul Alarcon (Spa) Louletano - D. Doura | 0:01:16 |
61 | Antonio Molina (Spa) Caja Rural - Seguros | Row 60 - Cell 2 |
62 | Karol Domagalski (Pol) Caja Rural - Seguros | Row 61 - Cell 2 |
63 | Javier Moreno (Spa) Movistar Team | 0:01:26 |
64 | Enrique Sanz (Spa) Movistar Team | Row 63 - Cell 2 |
65 | Illart Zuazubiskar (Spa) Euskadi | 0:01:41 |
66 | Jaume Rovira (Spa) Team Ecuador | 0:02:01 |
67 | David Belda (Spa) Burgos-Bh | 0:02:29 |
68 | Simon Yates (GBr) Orica Greenedge | 0:02:52 |
69 | Isaac Carbonell (Spa) Team Ecuador | 0:03:13 |
70 | Juan C. Ramirez (Spa) Keith Mobel - Partiz | 0:06:29 |
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