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Gonzalez takes Murcia Tour

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Staff Reporter / 2006-03-18 12:42:58

The 26th Tour of Murcia cycle race ended last week with victory for Santos Gonzalez of the 3 Molinas Resort team.
The Murcia based rider took the lead on stage four after finishing third to Carlos Garcia Quesada of Unibet and toppling stage 3 time trial winner Jose Ivan Gutierrez of Illes Balears on overall classification.

The high winds on the final 148km stage prevented the race helicopters from televising the event until it reached the suburbs of Murcia city. The riders took this opportunity to call a truce for safety and resumed racing for only the final three kilometres. This meant the last climb at the Cabezo de la Plata didn't bring the challenge to Gonzalez's lead as expected.

The sprint finish into Murcia was taken by German Heinrich Haussler of Gerolsteiner in front of Argentinian Ariel Rieleze of the Ceramica Panaria team.

Gonzalez was joined on the podium by Gutierrez in second and David Bernabeu from the Communitat Valenciana in third.

By Lawrence Cox