# Vuelta a Murcia

The Vuelta Ciclista a Murcia (English: Tour of Murcia) is a road bicycle race held in and around Murcia, Spain. The first four editions were reserved to amateurs. Originally the race was held in early March and consisted of five stages. However, due to Spain's financial turmoil, the race was scaled back to three stages in 2011 and two stages in 2012. From 2013 to 2018 the Vuelta a Murcia was organised as a single-day race and shifted to mid-February on the international calendar. In 2019 the race was expanded to two stages. It is part of the UCI Europe Tour as a 2.1 event. However, due to the postponement of the 2021 edition to May, the race was reverted to its one-day nature, with the expectation that the race will continue as a two-day event in future editions.

## Controversies

All Italian teams were banned from taking part in the 2010 edition of the race by race organizers. This decision was made due to the banning of Spanish cyclist Alejandro Valverde by the Italian Olympic Committee due to his links with the Operación Puerto blood doping ring.
In 2011 Alberto Contador won both the overall and points classification after winning Stage 2 and the Stage 3 individual time trial. However, in February 2012 he was suspended and all his results after July 2010 were voided, awarding Jérôme Coppel of Saur Sojasun the overall victory.

## Past winners – men's race

| Year | Country | Rider | Team |
| 1981 | Spain | Pedro Delgado | |
| 1982 | Spain | Salvador Sanchis | |
| 1983 | Spain | Francisco Javier Cedena | |
| 1984 | Spain | Ricardo Martinez | |
| 1985 | Spain | José Recio | Kelme |
| 1986 | Spain | Miguel Induráin | Reynolds |
| 1987 | Spain | Pello Ruiz Cabestany | Caja Rural–Seat |
| 1988 | Spain | Carlos Hernández | Teka |
| 1989 | Spain | Marino Alonso | Teka |
| 1990 | Netherlands | Tom Cordes | Buckler–Colnago–Decca |
| 1991 | Spain | José Luis Villanueva | ONCE |
| 1992 | Colombia | Álvaro Mejía | Postobón |
| 1993 | Spain | Carlos Galarreta | Deportpublic |
| 1994 | Spain | Melcior Mauri | Banesto |
| 1995 | Italy | Adriano Baffi | Mapei–GB |
| 1996 | Spain | Melcior Mauri | ONCE |
| 1997 | Spain | Juan Carlos Domínguez | Kelme–Costa Blanca |
| 1998 | Italy | Alberto Elli | Casino–Ag2r |
| 1999 | Italy | Marco Pantani | Mercatone Uno–Bianchi |
| 2000 | Spain | David Cañada | ONCE–Deutsche Bank |
| 2001 | Spain | Aitor González | Kelme–Costa Blanca |
| 2002 | Colombia | Víctor Hugo Peña | U.S. Postal Service |
| 2003 | Spain | Javier Pascual Llorente | Kelme–Costa Blanca |
| 2004 | Spain | Alejandro Valverde | Comunidad Valenciana-Kelme |
| 2005 | Spain | Koldo Gil | Liberty Seguros–Würth |
| 2006 | Spain | José Iván Gutiérrez | Caisse d'Epargne–Illes Balears |
| 2007 | Spain | Alejandro Valverde | Caisse d'Epargne |
| 2008 | Spain | Alejandro Valverde | Caisse d'Epargne |
| 2009 | Russia | Denis Menchov | Rabobank |
| 2010 | Czech Republic | František Raboň | Team HTC–Columbia |
| 2011 | France | Jérôme Coppel | Saur–Sojasun |
| 2012 | Colombia | Nairo Quintana | Movistar Team |
| 2013 | Spain | Daniel Navarro | Cofidis |
| 2014 | Spain | Alejandro Valverde | Movistar Team |
| 2015 | Estonia | Rein Taaramäe | Astana |
| 2016 | Belgium | Philippe Gilbert | BMC Racing Team |
| 2017 | Spain | Alejandro Valverde | Movistar Team |
| 2018 | Spain | Luis León Sánchez | Astana |
| 2019 | Spain | Luis León Sánchez | Astana |
| 2020 | Belgium | Xandro Meurisse | Circus–Wanty Gobert |
| 2021 | Spain | Antonio Jesús Soto | Euskaltel–Euskadi |
| 2022 | Italy | Alessandro Covi | UAE Team Emirates |
| 2023 | Great Britain | Ben Turner | Ineos Grenadiers |
| 2024 | Australia | Ben O'Connor | Decathlon–AG2R La Mondiale |
| 2025 | Switzerland | Fabio Christen | Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team |

## Past winners – women's race

| Year | Country | Rider | Team |
| 2018 | Spain | Gloria Rodriguez | Movistar Team |