Strong start in Andalucía for Izagirre

Ion Izagirre once again showed his pedigree against the clock with a strong prologue at the Vuelta a Andalucía on Sunday.

The 59th edition of the race kicked off with a six-kilometre long prologue in San Fernando de Cádiz, a discipline of course not traditionally suited to Galdeano's charges. Ion Izagirre showed he's still going strong after a solid start to the year, clinching 13th at only 12 seconds from victor Alejandro Valverde.

Gorka Verdugo also posted a respectable time with 36th, while crono specialist Ioannis Tamouridis came in 59th.

Results (full results here):

• (1, Alejandro Valverde (Movistar), 6:46)
• 13, Ion Izagirre, 0:12
• 36, Gorka Verdugo, 0:19
• 59, Ioannis Tamouridis, 0:27
• 72, Juan José Lobato, 0:29
• 86, Mikel Landa, 0:34
• 90, Mikel Nieve, 0:36
• 92, Igor Antón, 0:37

Over in Portugal, Miguel Minguez rode a creditable time trial of his own to finish a decent 21st overall at the Volta ao Algarve. The 24-year-old placed a noteworthy 12th on Saturday's mountain top finish, but his 36th over the 34,2km ITT saw him finish just outside the top 20.

Ricardo García, enjoying a rich vein of form, was the team's top rider in 32nd place.

Results (full results here):

• (1, Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-Quick Step), 45:09)
• 32, Ricardo García, 4:43
• 36, Miguel Minguez, 4:57
• 44, Ricardo Mestre, 5:23
• 55, Egoi Martínez, 6:10
• 64, Jorge Azanza, 6:38
• 125, Jure Kocjan, 9:41
• 128, Steffen Radochla,  10:00

Final general classification:

• (1, Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-Quick Steo), 15:36:26)
• 21, Miguel Minguez, 5:03
• 47, Ricardo Mestre, 8:24
• 48, Jorge Azanza, 8:25
• 52, Egoi Martínez, 8:48
• 94, Ricardo García, 15:04
• 126, Jure Kocjan, 33:35
• 128, Steffen Radochla, 33:54