Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) won the overall classification of the Ruta del Sol, Spain, on Thursday.
Valverde won the five-day race's second stage, and safely kept hold of the leader's jersey to the final day in Andalucia. The Spaniard won a stage of the Tour Down Under in January, his first race back after serving a two-year suspension for an anti-doping infringement.
Daniel Moreno won the final stage, giving Katusha its second successive win in the race after former World Champion Oscar Friere won on Wednesday.
Estonian Rein Taaramae (Cofidis) finished second overall behind Valverde at three seconds. Frenchman Jerome Coppel (Saur-Sojosun) was third at eight seconds.
Last year's Ruta del Sol winner Markel Irizar (RadioShack-Nissan) failed to make an impact on the 2012 race, ending up in 51st place overall. However, he had three RadioShack-Nissan team-mates in the top ten including Frank Schleck in seventh.
No British riders took part in the race.
Results
Ruta del Sol 2012, Prologue: San Fernando to San Fernando, 6km ITT
1. Patrick Gretsch (Ger) Project 1T4I in 6-49
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
2. Markel Irizar (Spa) RadioShack-Nissan at 2 secs
3. Jerome Coppel (Fra) Saur-Sojasun at 3 secs
Stage one: Zahara de los Atunes to Benalmadena, 197.9km
1. Javier Ramirez (Spa) Andalucia in 5-02-10
2. Luis Angel Mate (Spa) Cofidis at same time
3. Will Routley (Can) Spidertech at 3 secs
Stage two: Malaga to Alto Santuario, 150.7km
1. Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar in 4-02-37
2. Denis Menchov (Rus) Katusha at 10 secs
3. Rein Taaramae (Est) Cofidis at same time
Stage three: Montemayor to Las Gabias, 157.1km
1. Oscar Freire (Spa) Katusha in 3-41-55
2. Daniel Schorn (Aut) NetApp
3. Michael Matthews (Aus) Rabobank at same time
Stage four: Jaen to La Guardia de Jaen, 135.7km
1. Daniel Moreno (Spa) Katusha in 3-14-54
2. Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar at 2 secs
3. Samuel Sanchez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi at same time
Final overall classification
1. Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar in 16-08-49
2. Rein Taaramae (Est) Cofidis at 3 secs
3. Jerome Coppel (Fra) Saur-Sojasun at 8 secs
4. Denis Menchov (Rus) Katusha at 14 secs
5. Sergey Lagutin (Uzb) Vacansoleil-DCM at 15 secs
6. Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Project 1T4I at 18 secs
7. Frank Schleck (Lux) RadioShack-Nissan at 22 secs
8. Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) RadioShack-Nissan at 26 secs
9. Maxime Monfort (Bel) RadioShack-Nissan at 27 secs
10. Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Rabobank at 28 secs
Daniel Moreno wins the final stage
Alejandro Valverde celebrates his overall win
Related links
Ruta del Sol 2012 photo gallery
Valverde returns to top, like it or not
Thank you for reading 20 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access
Nigel Wynn worked as associate editor on CyclingWeekly.com, he worked almost single-handedly on the Cycling Weekly website in its early days. His passion for cycling, his writing and his creativity, as well as his hard work and dedication, were the original driving force behind the website’s success. Without him, CyclingWeekly.com would certainly not exist on the size and scale that it enjoys today. Nigel sadly passed away, following a brave battle with a cancer-related illness, in 2018. He was a highly valued colleague, and more importantly, an exceptional person to work with - his presence is sorely missed.
