Great start for Astana Pro Team at Vuelta Ciclista a Murcia

ASTANA. KAZINFORM Great start for Astana Pro Team at the Vuelta Ciclista a la Región de Murcia Costa Cálida: the riders of the Kazakh team completed the whole podium of the first stage! Pello Bilbao became the stage winner after his attack inside the final kilometer as Omar Fraile and Luis Leon Sanchez took second and third podium places, the Kazakh team informs on its website.

The first stage of the Vuelta Ciclista a Murcia of 188.8 km started in Yecla and finished in San Javier. A group of 7 riders attacked from the peloton and went away on the only climb of the day Alto Cabeza de la Plata (4.2 km long, 4.9% average gradient) with four riders of Astana Pro Team inside this group: Pello Bilbao, Jakob Fuglsang, Luis Leon Sanchez and Omar Fraile.

This group worked very well during the final part of the race, holding an advantage of 15-20 seconds over the main peloton. With 2 km to go Luis Leon Sanchez tried to attack, but was caught by the reigned world champion Alejandro Valverde. The new attack from the side of Pello Bilbao became the decisive one: the Astana rider was able to get a small gap, enough to take the win.

In the sprint, Omar Fraile and Luis Leon Sanchez completed the podium with 2nd and 3rd places, while Jakob Fuglsang finished 6th.
Stage 2 of the race will be held tomorrow: 180.3 km from Beniel to Murcia.