Tim Wellens opened his season in fine fashion taking 3rd place at the Vuelta Murcia in Spain today.

Wellens formed part of an elite chasing group which caught the days early breakaway over the top of the Cat 1 Collado Bermejo which crested at the halfway point of the race between Alhama de Murcia and Murcia(198.7km).

The group would split with -20km to go and Wellens was alone with Ben O'Connor (Decathlon AG2R) to form a powerful duo out front. O'Connor would prove the stronger on the day, dropping Wellens on the final categorised climb with -12km to go and going on to win the race.

Jan Tratnik (Visma-LAB) would catch Wellens in the closing kilometres, with the Belgium rounding out the podium.

Wellens : 'I'm pretty satisfied with how the race went. We knew that around the halfway mark that the race would be hard on the Cat 1 climb and there is where Visma pushed on. The stronger climbers moved away and I was among them so I was pleased with that. Unfortunately the cooperation was not so great when we caught the breakaway but that's to be expected. I went solo with Ben O Connor who was a really good guy to have as he was strong and we worked well and I was thinking of the victory. On the climb I went over my limit and I exploded and was counting the kilometres to the finish, Ben had the better legs today. I'm happy looking forward to the next race in Jaen knowing the shape is good.'

Meanwhile in Portugal Marc Hirschi took 6th place at the Figueira Classic which was won by Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quickstep). Strong displays were shown by youngsters Antonio Morgado and Isaac Del Toro who were aggressive and attacking throughout the race.

Vuelta Murcia results

1.Ben O' Connor (Decathlon Ag2r) 4:50:59

2.Jan Tratnik (Visma LAB) +58'

3.Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates) +59'

7.Alessandro Covi (UAE Team Emirates) +1'45'

Figueira Champions Classic results

1.Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quickstep) 4:42:26

2.Vito Braet (Intermarche- Wanty) 1:48

3.Simone Velasco (Astana) s.t

6.Marc Hirschi (UAE Team Emirates) s.t