VUELTA A MURCIA RESULTS: MENCHOV WINS OVERALL, BROWN TAKES FINAL STAGE
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;setCaption(document.image_thumb); "Graeme Brown (Australia), wins the fifth and final stage of the 2009 Vuelta a Murcia. Photo: Cor Vos.")
;setCaption(document.image_extra_one_thumb); "Denis Menchov (Russia) takes the overall win at the 2009 Vuelta a Murcia. Photo: Cor Vos.")
;setCaption(document.image_extra_two_thumb); "Rabobank's 2009 Team Issue TCR Advanced SL.")
;setCaption(document.image_extra_three_thumb); "Graeme Brown (Australia), winner of Stage 1 and 5 of the 2009 Vuelta a Murcia. Photo: Cor Vos.")
Team Rabobank dominates Spanish race with two stage wins and the overall
Russian Denis Menchov’s overall victory at the Vuelta a Murcia capped a dominant performance by Team Rabobank at the five-day Spanish stage race. In addition to the overall win by Menchov, Rabobank sprinter Graeme Brown took two stage victories.
Menchov, a two-time winner of the Vuelta a España, surged into the overall race lead on Saturday with a third-place finish in the decisive 156-kilometer Stage 4.
The Rabobank squad, riding their Giant TCR Advanced SL team bikes, protected Menchov’s 20-second lead in Sunday’s final stage and also managed to set Brown up for the stage victory. The Aussie beat Columbia-Highroad sprinter Greg Henderson to the line to win the final stage of the race, a hilly 142.5-kilometer trek from Santiago de la Ribera to Murcia.
The five-day Vuelta a Murcia features many of the top contenders for the upcoming Giro d’Italia. The complete Rabobank team roster for the Vuelta a Murcia included Menchov, Brown, Stef Clement, Laurens Ten Dam, Koos Moerenhout, Bauke Mollema, Tom Leezer and Pieter Weening.
Read the full report on cyclingnews.com