Rabobank’s super-season continues with young Aussie star’s first European victory
Michael Matthews (Rabobank) won the opening stage of the Vuelta a la Region de Murcia between San Pedro del Pinatar and Alhama de Murcia in a bunch sprint. The Australian under-23 World champion beat the Team Sky duo of Russell Downing and Davide Appollonio into second and third at the end of the hilly 178km stage.
Despite losing teammates Theo Bos and Graeme Brown to crashes in the closing stages, Matthews managed to position himself well in the peloton. “I was in fourth position,” he said. “Very well so. Then I could finish myself”
“This is really specially. It’s a reward for the first few months and I dedicate it to the team. I am fantastically coached during my first professional races in Europe; of course I have ridden here, but that was as an amateur.
“This is totally different and I had to get used to the higher speeds, but the adjustment period is now behind us; it’s fine now.
“Thanks to the team. The atmosphere is so awesome; it’s a big family.”
The day’s breakaway came after just 5km of the day’s stage, when six riders escaped. Laurent Mangel (Saur-Sojasun), Albert Timmer (Skil-Shimano) and Martijn Keizer (Vacansoleil-DCM), Carlos Verona (Burgos 2016), Pablo Lechuga (Andalucia-Caja Granada) and Jose Maria Alcaraz (KTM-Murcia) managed to build a lead of almost 6 minutes over the hilly parcours.
An acceleration from the peloton mean that the breakaway was doomed long before the finish though and five of them were caught at the 25km to go mark; Mangel tried to resist alone but he was finally captured with just 10km remaining.
Raphael Valls (Geox-TMC), Francisco Perez (Movistar) and Chris Jones (UnitedHealthCare) tried to make a late break for is on the approach to the finish but they were not able to get far.
The long, fast descent to the finish saw a number of riders come down, including Bos; a bigger crash happened inside the final kilometre though, taking out Brown and Team Sky’s Chris Froome.
Despite being isolated Matthews managed to take the sprint and, although he won a stage of January’s Tour Down Under, this was his first professional win in Europe.