Rubén Pérez and Mikel Nieve impress in Murcia

In the second stage of the Vuelta a Murcia Rubén Pérez confirmed that he's becoming a real sprinters with a fabulous second place behind Greg Henderson, leaving behing Brown, Goss and Aitor Galdós who became 13th. The third stage was a time trial so little was expected from our orange guys. Mikel Astarloza finished 24th but no one was able to put his stamp on the race. The fourth stage was the queen race of this year's Vuelta a Murcia. After 30 kilometres Amets Txurruka got in a break, but due to the hard work of leader Denis Menchov they were taken back before the finish. At the end a small group got away with Menchov, Siutsou, Mosquera, Plaza and ... Mikel Nieve! Our young neo-prof crossed the finish on a 9th place in the same time as winner Rubén Plaza. He just keeps on impressing me!! Damn he's good!

Results stage 2
1. Greg Henderson Columbia 2:07:27
2. Rubén Pérez ST
3. Julian Dean Garmin ST
...
13. Aitor Galdós ST
38. Jorge Azanza ST
71. Sergio De Lis ST
82. Amets Txurruka ST
95. Igor Anton ST
96. Mikel Nieve ST
100. Mikel Astarloza ST

Results Stage 3
1. Frantisek Rabon Columbia 19:17
2. Bert Grabsch Colubmia +0:19
3. Denis Menchov Rabobank +0:25
...
24. Mikel Astarloza +1:08
31. Rubén Pérez +1:15
36. Sergio De Lis +1:21
59. Igor Anton +1:53
64. Jorge Azanza +1:55
66. Amets Txurruka +1:57
74. Aitor Galdos +2:10
84. Mikel Nieve +2:28

Results Stage 4
1. Rubén Plaza Liberty Seguros 4:09:34
2. José Herrada Lopéz Contentpolis ST
3. Denis Menchov Rabobank ST
...
9. Mikel Nieve ST
31. Amets Txurruka +11:31
45. Rubén Pérez +18:03
48. Jorge Azanza +18:03
90. Sergio De Lis +26:51
91. Igor Antón +26:51
92. Aitor Galdós +26:51
95. Mikel Astarloza +26:51

General Classification
1. Denis Menchov Rabobank 11:43:20
2. Rubén Plaza Liberty Seguros +0:20
3. Pieter Weening Rabobank +0:35
...
17. Mikel Nieve +3:52
30. Amets Txurruka +14:52
37. Rubén Pérez +18:53
45. Jorge Azanza +19:33
63. Mikel Astarloza +27:34
65. Sergio De Lis +27:47
78. Igor Antón +30:08
82. Aitor Galdós +30:25