Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d’Epargne) won the Tour of Murcia on Sunday after finishing safely in the bunch during the final stage, a 151km leg from Ceuti to Murcia.

Danilo Napolitano (Lampre-Fondital) won the finale, outsprinting Graeme Brown (Rabobank) and José Joaquin Rojas (Caisse d’Epargne).

Valverde crossed 52nd to take the overall, 35 seconds ahead of runner-up Angel Vicioso (Relax-Gam). Manuel Lloret (Fuerteventura-Canari) was third at 52 seconds.

Valverde, who also won Murcia in 2004, had practically secured overall victory with a triumphant show of force in Saturday's individual 23.3km time trial and on Sunday was happy to sit back in the peloton.

Caisse d'Epargne sporting director Jose Luis Jaimerena - who saw his rider victorious earlier this month in the Tour of Valencia - believes Valverde's recent training regime is paying dividends.

"His win in the individual time trial was extremely important, because it represents a step forward in his career. Since last year he keeps improving himself and has evolved a lot in this area,” he said.

Tour of Murcia
Stage
1. Danilo Napolitano (I), Lampre-Fondital, 151km in 3:29:06
2. Graeme Brown (Aus), same time
3. José Joaquin Rojas (Sp), Caisse d’Epargne, s.t.
4. Giuseppe Palumbo (I), Acqua e Sapone, s.t.
5. Angel Vicioso (Sp), Relax-Gam, s.t.

Final overall
1. Alejandro Valverde (Sp), Caisse d'Epargne, 11:45:41
2. Angel Vicioso (Sp), Relax-Gam, at 0:35
3. Manuel Lloret (Sp), Fuerteventura-Canari, at 0:52
4. Koldo Gil (Sp), Saunier Duval, at 1:07
5. Michele Scarponi (I), Acqua e Sapone, at 1:09

Casper claims West Flanders crown
Jimmy Casper (Unibet.com) collected the overall victory at the Three Days of Western Flanders on Sunday in Ichtegem, Belgium

Wouter Weylandt (Quick Step-Innergetic) won the third and final stage, outsprinting Austrian Jochen Summer and the Netherlander Stefan Van Dijk after 182.5km of racing.

Casper led the race from the beginning, having won Friday’s first stage. It’s been a good week for the 28-year-old Frenchman, who also won Wednesday’s GP Samyn.

It was a good race for Americans, too — Slipstream-Chipotle's Will Frishkorn and Steven Cozza finished sixth and seventh overall, respectively, 25 seconds back of Casper.