Jose Luis “Chechu” Rubiera won the queen stage in the Tour of Murcia after a thrilling finale.  With three kilometers to go, Rubiera attacked in the streets of Totana. Only two other riders, out of the front group of 12, could close the gap. In the sprint, Chechu, the veteran of Astana Cycling Team, was faster than Aitor Pérez and Vasil Kyrienka. Alberto Contador finished 7th, Antonio Colom 9th.

It was snowing on the last climb of the day, the Alto Collado Bermejo. In those terrible conditions, five riders reached the top still 30 kilometers from the finish, with 30 seconds advantage: Alberto Contador, Stefano Garzelli, Alejando Valverde, Ricardo Serrano and Ezequiel Mosquera.  In the descent, seven riders including Rubiera and Colom, were able to catch the leaders. Garzelli gave the strongest impression, but Chechu Rubiera was the cleverest rider.

“3 K from the finish was the perfect moment to attack”, said the happy Asturian rider. “Toni Colom didn’t feel strong enough to attack. Neither did I, but I tried. And it worked. More than having good legs, you have to be lucky in such situations. The legs were good of course. Already in the Tour of California, you could see that I had the good shape.”

This victory will not change Rubiera’s plans to end his cycling career at the end of this season. The ideal team mate participated in 19 big Tours (four times top ten in GC and two stage victories in Giro d’Italia), “It is super nice to stop with these feelings. It is time to do something else. The decision has been taken. Definite for sure.”

“What a day. We were so close to cancelling this stage. It was dangerous in the peloton. With a few riders, and I was one of them, we wanted to cancel the stage after 40 kilometers. We stopped riding, but after a short discussion, we went further. I don’t regret it any more. For me it is a nice victory but without Alain, Toni, Alberto, Jani, Benjamin, Sergio, Daniel and Maxim, it would have been impossible.”
 
Aitor Pérez starts tomorrow in the yellow jersey. Rubiera is in the overall rankings 2nd in the same time. Kyrienka is 3th at 2 seconds. Alberto Contador 4th at 6 seconds.

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Stage 2: March 5, 2008: Calasparra - Totana (153 km):
1 José Luis Rubiera Vigil (Spa) Astana       04:18:14
2 Aitor Perez Arrieta (Spa) Extremadura-Gruppo Gallardo               
3 Vasili Kiryienka (Blr) Tinkoff Credit Systems                    0.02
4 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne               0.06
5 Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Acqua Sapone - Caffe Mokambo                 
6 Ricardo Serrano González (Spa) Tinkoff Credit Systems               
7 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana                               
8 Ezequiel Mosquera Miguez (Spa) Karpin Galicia                       
9 Antonio Colom Mas (Spa) Astana                                      
10 Manuel Vazquez Hueso (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia                   
11 Javier Etxarri Marin (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia                   
12 Massimiliano Gentili (Ita) Acqua Sapone - Caffe Mokambo         0.26
13 Luis Pasamontes Rodriguez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne                1.10
14 José Luis Carrasco Gamiz (Spa) Andalucía - Cajasur                 
15 Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz) Astana                                       
16 José Herrada Lopez (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia                     
17 Julian Sanchez Pimienta (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia                
18 Hernani Broco (Por) Liberty Seguros                                
19 Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi                
20 Francisco Perez Sanchez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne                     
21 Branislau Samoilau (Blr) Acqua Sapone - Caffe Mokambo              
22 Nuno Ribeiro (Por) Liberty Seguros                                 
23 Massimo Codol (Ita) Acqua Sapone - Caffe Mokambo                   
24 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC                                
25 Francesco Masciarelli (Ita) Acqua Sapone - Caffe Mokambo           
26 Iñigo Cuesta López (Spa) Team CSC                                  
27 Adrian Palomares Villaplana (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia            
28 Isidro Nozal Vega (Spa) Liberty Seguros                         3.07
29 Inaki Isasi Flores (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi                    4.23
30 Rui Miguel Sousa (Por) Liberty Seguros                          4.56
31 Walter Fernando Pedraza Morales (Col) Tinkoff Credit Systems    5.03
32 Joan Horrach Rippoll (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne                     6.08
33 Giuseppe Palumbo (Ita) Acqua Sapone - Caffe Mokambo                
34 Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi                  
35 Serguei Klimov (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems                        
36 Oleg Chuzhda (Ukr) Contentpolis - Murcia                        7.50
37 Eloy Teruel Rovira (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia                     
38 David Herrero Llorente (Spa) Karpin Galicia                        
39 Volodymir Gustov (Ukr) Team CSC                                    
40 Enrique Salgueiro Alonso (Spa) Extremadura-Gruppo Gallardo         
41 Jose Ruiz Sanchez (Spa) Andalucía - Cajasur                        
42 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne                            
43 Iban Mayoz (Spa) Karpin Galicia                                    
44 Evgeny Petrov (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems                         
45 Gustavo Dominguez Lemos (Spa) Karpin Galicia                       
46 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank                                       
47 Sergio Domínguez Muñoz (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia             12.15
48 José Rujano Guillen (Ven) Caisse d'Epargne                         
49 Daniel Navarro Garcia (Spa) Astana                                 
50 Gonzalo Zambrano Calderon (Spa) Extremadura-Gruppo Gallardo        
51 Jorge Azanza Soto (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi                        
52 Jurgen Van Goolen (Bel) Team CSC                                   
53 Sergio Miguel Moreira Paulinho (Por) Astana                    15.09
54 Thomas Dekker (Ned) Rabobank                                       
55 José Antonio Redondo Ramos (Spa) Karpin Galicia                    
56 Delio Fernández Cruz (Spa) Karpin Galicia                          
57 Claudio José Casas Gallego (Spa) Andalucía - Cajasur           18.05
58 César Quiteiro (Por) Liberty Seguros                           19.23
59 Josu Mondelo (Spa) Extremadura-Gruppo Gallardo                     
60 Graeme Brown (Aus) Rabobank                                    21.27
61 Xabat Otxotorena (Spa) Extremadura-Gruppo Gallardo                 
62 Juan José Haedo (Arg) Team CSC                                     
63 Francisco José Ventoso Alberdi (Spa) Andalucía - Cajasur           
64 Michael Blaudzun (Den) Team CSC                                    
65 Alexander Khatuntsev (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems                  
66 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank                                       
67 Javier Moreno Bazan (Spa) Andalucía - Cajasur                      
68 Carlos Castano Panadero (Spa) Karpin Galicia                       
69 David Garcia Dapena (Spa) Karpin Galicia                           
70 Alexander Serov (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems                       
71 Nikolay Trusov (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems                        
72 Jesus Rosendo Prado (Spa) Andalucía - Cajasur                      
73 Kasper Klostergaard Larsen (Den) Team CSC                          
74 Yon Bru Pascal (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi                           
75 Dario Andriotto (Ita) Acqua Sapone - Caffe Mokambo                 
76 Iban Velasco Murillo (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi                     
77 Ignacio Sarabia Diaz (Mex) Extremadura-Gruppo Gallardo             
78 Arnaud Coyot (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne                                
79 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Astana                                       
80 Josu Agirre Aseginolaza (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi                  
81 Jan Boven (Ned) Rabobank                                           
82 Fabien Patanchon (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne                            
83 Benjamin Noval Gonzalez (Spa) Astana                               
84 José Antonio Lopez Gil (Spa) Andalucía - Cajasur                   
85 Koldo Fernández (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi                          
86 Nicki Sørensen (Den) Team CSC                                      
87 Diego Milán Jiménez (Spa) Acqua Sapone - Caffe Mokambo         21.33
88 Francisco Terciado Sacedo (Spa) Extremadura-Gruppo Gallardo        
89 Pablo Urtasun Perez (Spa) Liberty Seguros                      27.15
90 Antonio Jesús (Por) Liberty Seguros                                
91 Jesus Cobelo Fojo (Spa) Karpin Galicia                         28.56
92 Tom Leezer (Ned) Rabobank                                          
93 Dimitri Kozontchuk (Rus) Rabobank                                  
94 Jesus Ramirez Torres (Spa) Extremadura-Gruppo Gallardo             
95 Koldo Gil Perez (Spa) Liberty Seguros                          29.00

Overall rankings after stage 2:
1 Aitor Perez Arrieta (Spa) Extremadura-Gruppo Gallardo       09:18:25
2 José Luis Rubiera Vigil (Spa) Astana                                
3 Vasili Kiryienka (Blr) Tinkoff Credit Systems                    0.02
4 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana                            0.06
5 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne                  
6 Manuel Vazquez Hueso (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia                    
7 Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Acqua Sapone - Caffe Mokambo                 
8 Antonio Colom Mas (Spa) Astana                                      
9 Ezequiel Mosquera Miguez (Spa) Karpin Galicia                       
10 Ricardo Serrano González (Spa) Tinkoff Credit Systems              
11 Javier Etxarri Marin (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia                   
12 Massimiliano Gentili (Ita) Acqua Sapone - Caffe Mokambo         0.26
13 Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz) Astana                                    1.10
14 José Herrada Lopez (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia                     
15 Luis Pasamontes Rodriguez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne                   
16 Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi                
17 Francisco Perez Sanchez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne                     
18 Massimo Codol (Ita) Acqua Sapone - Caffe Mokambo                   
19 José Luis Carrasco Gamiz (Spa) Andalucía - Cajasur                 
20 Nuno Ribeiro (Por) Liberty Seguros                                 
21 Hernani Broco (Por) Liberty Seguros                                
22 Adrian Palomares Villaplana (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia            
23 Julian Sanchez Pimienta (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia                
24 Francesco Masciarelli (Ita) Acqua Sapone - Caffe Mokambo           
25 Branislau Samoilau (Blr) Acqua Sapone - Caffe Mokambo              
26 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC                                
27 Iñigo Cuesta López (Spa) Team CSC                                  
28 Isidro Nozal Vega (Spa) Liberty Seguros                         3.07
29 Inaki Isasi Flores (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi                    4.23
30 Rui Miguel Sousa (Por) Liberty Seguros                          4.56
31 Walter Fernando Pedraza Morales (Col) Tinkoff Credit Systems    5.03
32 Giuseppe Palumbo (Ita) Acqua Sapone - Caffe Mokambo             6.08
33 Serguei Klimov (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems                        
34 Joan Horrach Rippoll (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne                        
35 Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi                  
36 Oleg Chuzhda (Ukr) Contentpolis - Murcia                        7.50
37 Gustavo Dominguez Lemos (Spa) Karpin Galicia                       
38 Eloy Teruel Rovira (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia                     
39 David Herrero Llorente (Spa) Karpin Galicia                        
40 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne                            
41 Evgeny Petrov (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems                         
42 Enrique Salgueiro Alonso (Spa) Extremadura-Gruppo Gallardo         
43 Iban Mayoz (Spa) Karpin Galicia                                    
44 Volodymir Gustov (Ukr) Team CSC                                    
45 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank                                       
46 Jose Ruiz Sanchez (Spa) Andalucía - Cajasur                        
47 Jorge Azanza Soto (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi                    12.15
48 Jurgen Van Goolen (Bel) Team CSC                                   
49 José Rujano Guillen (Ven) Caisse d'Epargne                         
50 Sergio Domínguez Muñoz (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia                 
51 Daniel Navarro Garcia (Spa) Astana                                 
52 Gonzalo Zambrano Calderon (Spa) Extremadura-Gruppo Gallardo        
53 Sergio Miguel Moreira Paulinho (Por) Astana                    15.09
54 Thomas Dekker (Ned) Rabobank                                       
55 José Antonio Redondo Ramos (Spa) Karpin Galicia                    
56 Claudio José Casas Gallego (Spa) Andalucía - Cajasur           18.05
57 César Quiteiro (Por) Liberty Seguros                           19.23
58 Josu Mondelo (Spa) Extremadura-Gruppo Gallardo                     
59 Graeme Brown (Aus) Rabobank                                    21.27
60 Francisco José Ventoso Alberdi (Spa) Andalucía - Cajasur           
61 Juan José Haedo (Arg) Team CSC                                     
62 Xabat Otxotorena (Spa) Extremadura-Gruppo Gallardo                 
63 Nikolay Trusov (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems                        
64 Koldo Fernández (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi                          
65 Alexander Serov (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems                       
66 Arnaud Coyot (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne                                
67 Yon Bru Pascal (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi                           
68 David Garcia Dapena (Spa) Karpin Galicia                           
69 Ignacio Sarabia Diaz (Mex) Extremadura-Gruppo Gallardo             
70 Alexander Khatuntsev (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems                  
71 Carlos Castano Panadero (Spa) Karpin Galicia                       
72 Michael Blaudzun (Den) Team CSC                                    
73 Iban Velasco Murillo (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi                     
74 Javier Moreno Bazan (Spa) Andalucía - Cajasur                      
75 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank                                       
76 Benjamin Noval Gonzalez (Spa) Astana                               
77 Josu Agirre Aseginolaza (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi                  
78 Nicki Sørensen (Den) Team CSC                                      
79 Diego Milán Jiménez (Spa) Acqua Sapone - Caffe Mokambo         21.33
80 Dario Andriotto (Ita) Acqua Sapone - Caffe Mokambo             21.43
81 Kasper Klostergaard Larsen (Den) Team CSC                      22.13
82 Delio Fernández Cruz (Spa) Karpin Galicia                      22.33
83 José Antonio Lopez Gil (Spa) Andalucía - Cajasur               23.05
84 Jan Boven (Ned) Rabobank                                       23.55
85 Pablo Urtasun Perez (Spa) Liberty Seguros                      27.15
86 Antonio Jesús (Por) Liberty Seguros                                
87 Jesus Rosendo Prado (Spa) Andalucía - Cajasur                  28.51
88 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Astana                                       
89 Fabien Patanchon (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne                            
90 Tom Leezer (Ned) Rabobank                                      28.56
91 Jesus Ramirez Torres (Spa) Extremadura-Gruppo Gallardo             
92 Francisco Terciado Sacedo (Spa) Extremadura-Gruppo Gallardo    28.57
93 Jesus Cobelo Fojo (Spa) Karpin Galicia                         36.20
94 Dimitri Kozontchuk (Rus) Rabobank                                  
95 Koldo Gil Perez (Spa) Liberty Seguros                          36.24

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