Happy 2008 !!

It's now 40 minutes before the new year will start and I would like to take the opportunity to wish you all a very good year ! I hope you will all stay healthy, that you will have everything that you need AND of course that you will stay a fan of Euskaltel and keep on reading this blog :D For cycling I wish a year without a lot of doping crap and definitely not within Euskaltel ! For Euskaltel I hope that there will be a few youngstars that break through and that Haimar Zubeldia wins a good race once again.

Once again a HAPPY NEWYEAR

Your blogger Yort :D

Juan Jose Oroz in 2007

Juan Jose Oroz has only been with Euskaltel since 12 may, but still he did get the opportunity to ride some strong races like Tour de Suisse, Paris-Tours and Lombardia. Of course we couldn't expect good results right away, but in the Tour of Poland he got his first top 30 result in the fifth stage. There he also helped his team in the Team Time Trial to a great ninth place.

Catalunya : 22-101-110-84-96-127-46 => 78
Suisse : 74-163-96-115-88-51-86-101-78 => 90
Deutschland : 60-19-88-69-74-87-86-40-39 => 62
Vatenfall Cyclassics : 68
Poland : 9-54-96-61-28-31-34 => 32
Paris-Tours : 97
Lombardia : 92

Euskaltel in 2008 : No Giro ??

Miguel Madariaga announced in DEIA some new things about Euskaltel's season in 2008. The team won't ride the Tour of California, so this also means that they wont practise their time trial skills in San Diego. Another big thing is that they might won't ride the Giro. The last years they didn't do well there and if they can find a good alternative, Euskaltel won't feature in one of the three biggest tours in the world. Please ride the Giro Euskaltel :D

Javier Aramendia's plans for 2008

Young and promissing new rider Javier Aramendia has revealed a part of his plans for 2008. He will ride his first race for Euskaltel in Australia, the Tour Down Under. Then he will ride six smaller spanish races : Mallorca, Andalucia, Allmeria, Murcia, Castilly y Leon and Llodio. But the most important thing is that he will ride three northern races. Gent-Wevelgem, Paris-Roubaix and the Tour of Flandres are on his schedule. This means I probably will meet him in Bruges (start of Tour of Flandres) and I'm already looking forward to it !

Iban Velasco in 2007

Iban Velasco's first year with Euskaltel has been a calm year, but he has shown what he is capable of. He came a bit slowly at pace. He definitely peaked for the Giro, his first big tour and you could see this in Trentino. There he achieved a 12th and 11th place in the first and third stage and a 21th place in the overall rank. In the Giro he got a 22th place in the third stage and a 23th place in the 19th stage. He finished his year in the Vuelta a Burgos where he fell in the second stage and had to give up. First they said there was nothing bad, but he didn't ride anymore that year, so probably there was something wrong.

Valenciana : 29-45-65-52-35 => 47
Paris-Nice : 158-156-139-78-118-147-X
Primavera : 68
Giro d'Oro : 44
Trentino : 12-24-11-22 => 21
Giro : 21-108-22-54-64-99-161-98-67-92-81-103-106-112-98-118-77-57-23-124-94 => 76
Suisse : 148-74-72-69-29-44-103-92-116 => 84
Burgos : 57-X

Iñaki Isasi in 2007

It was a short but powerful year for Iñaki Isasi. Everything was set on the Tour so he didn't compete in a lot of races. In Almeria he became 21th but in the Tour de France he disappointed a little bit. He was never able to ride a sprint as he did a couple of years ago but still he reached a 20th, 17th and two 14th places. After that he had to ride Burgos where he got a good 13th spot in the first stage. Euskaltel also select him for the Vuelta, where he worked hard for Koldo Fernandez in the sprints, resulting in only one top 20 spot (19th place in first stage). He ended his season in Lombardia with a 96th place.

Almeria : 21
Rioja : 38-40-67 => 54
Asturias : 42-34-65-78-X
Tour de France : 165-45-67-35-20-99-17-98-143-73-91-14-75-85-89-69-51-82-92-14 => 90
Burgos : 13-67-21-45-27 => 58
Vuelta : 19-107-65-137-17-48-148-49-88-74-25-22-61-95-136-69-30-93-40-66-117 => 74
Paris-Tours : 29
Lombardia : 96

Goodbye Flores and Artetxe

Iker Flores and Mikel Artetxe, two ex-Euskaltel riders, will not ride in 2008. They both decided to quit after their team Fuerteventura-cantarias stopped. Iker Flores rode for Euskaltel between 1999 & 2006 and won the Tour de l'Avenir, a very important race for younger riders. Mikel Artexte was with Euskaltel from 1995 till 2005 and won 5 races. Of course we will miss them but I wish them all the best with their next life.

Iban Mayoz in 2007

Iban Mayoz probably didn't live up to the standards of the team, but I don't think you can call his season bad. His first good result of the year was in the Criterium International where he got the 11th spot in the first stage. Then he rode a 23th spot in the third stage of the Euskal Bizikleta and two 20th spots in the Tour of Suisse. He also rode a good after-season. He became 17th in Ordizia, 26th in Getxo and finished his season with a 32th place in Plouay. But these results weren't enough for Euskaltel so Iban got fired. Luckily he found a new team, Karpin-Galica, where he can proove himself once again.

Trofeo Millor : 181
Trofeo Soller : 83
Tirreno-adriatico : 157-157-121-78-106-63-89 => 104
Milan-Sanremo : 116
Criterium International : 11-86-48 => 72
Asturias : 121-82-118-83-X
Paredes : 44-31-109-92 => 97
Llodio : 60
Euskal Bizikleta : 70-57-23-27 => 37
Suisse : 116-20-104-83-65-113-50-20-48=> 59
Ordizia : 17
Getxo : 26
Eneco : 55-69-54-132-96-111-56-73 => 59
Plouay : 32

Ruben Perez in 2007

Ruben Perez had probably his best year so far, and it was a great one. He immediately started good with a 14th and 8th spot in the Vuelta a Valenciana and a 9th place in the second stage in Alcobendas. He got the opportunity to ride the Tour so he prepared himself in the Dauphiné, where he got a 17th (2nd stage), 12th (3rd stage) and an 11th place (6th stage). Then he rode his first Tour de France where he did an extremely good shop in the attacks and a 12th place in the 5th stage and a 16th in the last one. He also finished every stage within the top 100, resulting in a very good 50th place in the general rank. His last good result was in the 7th stage of the eneco tour where he finished 21th. I met him three times this year, one time in the Tour and two times in the Eneco Tour, and he came across as a nice and modest man.

Valenciana : 14-35-8-54-26 => 48
Paris-Nice : 59-22-31-29-62-135-117-71 => 73
Indurain : 41
Basque Country : 132-67-122-67-34-53 => 45
Alcobendas : 20-9-26 => 19
Dauphine Libere : 110-17-12-71-96-11-59-112 => 74
Tour de France : 55-23-68-69-12-34-21-86-80-55-90-36-50-53-40-44-43-23-83-16 => 50
Sebastian : 107
Vatenfall Cyclassics : 29
Eneco Tour : 79-25-109-47-68-26-21-40 => 31

Alan Perez in 2007

Alan's first full year with Euskaltel started a bit slow. His only good results came from Paris-Nice where he finished 19th in the second and 12th in the fourth stage. Then he showed himself once again in the Deutschland Tour, not only with his 19th place in the second stage, but also with his great grinta and attacking work. Euskaltel gave him the chance to ride the vuelta and he took this great opportunity with both hands. He got an 18th, 14th, 22th, 24th, 25th and 15th place in the big round. He finished his good season in Lombardia where he got a 38th place.

Trofeo Mallorca : 37
Trofeo Millor : 114
Trofeo Pollenca : 129
Trofeo Soller : 124
Trofeo Calvia : 152
Paris-Nice : 72-19-124-12-130-62-123-81 => 71
Castilla y Leon : 104-37-119-108 X
Flandres : 102
Ghant-Wevelgem : 62
Team Time Trial : 21
Getxo : 53
Deutschland : 39-19-83-119-146-53-22-66-25 => 106
Vatenfall Cyclassics : 76
Vuelta : 18-14-67-105-177-22-174-67-151-44-95-25-46-52-139-32-15-105-41-29-24 => 94
Paris-Tours : 39
Lombardia : 38

Line-up Tour Down Under

The new season is getting closer and closer, but it's still 31 days. Despite this we already got the line-up for the Tour Down-Under, the first (protour) race of the season. Mikel Astarloza, former winner in 2003, will lead the team and Javier Aramendia will make his first performance for Euskaltel. The other riders are Jon Bru, Aitor Galdos, Andoni Lafuente, Amets Txurruka and Ivan Velasco. A good and strong team that can get results in different kind of stages.

Back with news

I finished my exams today so from now on I will be able to post the daily news about our favourite team again. Three important messages have reached me in the past days.

The most important one was about Samuel and it was even in the Belgian newspapers. If he didn't get the money he would get with other teams; Sanchez would leave Euskaltel. He set an ultimatum for the team, the 10th of January. I think that Euskaltel is going to give him the money because they still need him, as there are still not enough guys who win races.

The seconds news item was that Iban Mayoz got a contract with Karpin Galicia, the team that showed itself in the Vuelta. This will be a good oportunity for Iban to prove himself once again.

The last message and maybe a bit funny one is that Igor Astarloa asked Madariaga if he could get a spot in the team. Madariaga told him that he was too old and didn't fit in the team. In my opinion this is a good decision because he didn't show anything last year.

Examination Period

It's that time of the year again, the first examination period. This means that I won't be able to post news on here for two weeks, but I will try to post if something important has happened. You will see me back wednesday the 19th.

Aitor Galdos in 2007

His opinion : He said he had a bad year. He didn't reach the goals he was aiming for and he didn't respond to the teams faith in him. But next year will be much better, I know I can win races because I solved some problems I've struggles with last year.

Review : Aitor has been consistent throughout the whole year, with a bunch of top 10 and top 20 spots. He started the year good with a 10th and 5th spot in Santarem, a 5th place in the second stage in Castilla Y Leon and then he became 15th in the Klasika Primavera. He got the opportunity to ride the Tour of Romandia, resulting in an 8th place in the third stage, and the Tour de Suisse, but he had to give up after the first stage. He didn't ride a big tour so he rode the smaller races in the summer. He rode the Tour of Germany with an 8th place in the first stage and a 10th place in the sixth stage. He rode a good Vatenfall Cyclassics (17), and went on to the eneco tour where he became 12th in the fifth stage. He finished his season in Poland with a ninth place in the fourth stage.

My opinion : I think Aitor can be very happy with his season. He had some great results and I know for sure if he will be able to improve his placing skills a bit, that his capable of some great wins.

Almeria : 58
Santarem : 87-10-119-5 => 69
Castilla Y Leon : 99-5-92-118-95 => 97
GP Indurain : 52
Primavera : 15
Amstel Gold Race : 62
Romandia : 163-161-8-148-X
Catalunya : 22-34-14-173-178-123-167 => 164
Suisse : 151 -X
Circuito Getxo : 92
Germany : 8-19-165-120-168-10-21-159-20 => 144
Vatenfall Cyclassics : 17
Eneco Tour : 113-92-33-150-12-24-123-126 => 101
Poland : 9-29-75-9-109-138-X

Unai Etxebarria in 2007 : Farewell

It was Unai's 12th year with Euskaltel and this would become his last one. But he definitely wanted to show what he was still capable of. In his third race of the season, the Trofeo Calvia, he showed this by winning the race. He went on to the Tirreno Adriatico with a 19th place in stage 2 and the Vuelta a Andalucia where he got a 11th place in the first stage and a 28th spot in the general rank. In the Klasika Primavera he finished 25th, but in Benelux classics he couldn't get a good spot. He finished 22th in the first stage of the Vuelta a Catalunya and his last good result of the season was in the prologue of the Eneco Tour, with a 35th place. He ended his season in Plouay with a 121th place and this was also his last official race. FAREWELL UNAI, WE WILL MISS YOU. I met him twice this year in the Eneco Tour and he was a really friendly man, always ready to sign or smile for a picture.

Trofeo Mallorca : 60
Trofeo Pollenca : 67
Trofeo Calvia : 1
Andalucia : 11-28-42-31-36 => 28
Tirreno-Adriatico : 28-19-61-79-85-112-44 => 80
Basque Country : 135-157-128-113-63-91 => 79
Klasika Primavera : 25
Amstel Gold Race : 82
Liege-Bastogne-Liege : 89
Catalunya : 22-80-127-155-104-161-68 => 139
GP Llodio : 45
Euskal Bizikleta : 83-75-55-42 => 46
Circuito de Getxo : 95
Eneco Tour : 35-108-147-146-71-61-61-49 => 80
GP Plouay : 121

Amets Txurruka in 2007

For Amets Txurruka it has been one fantastic year. It was the first year with Euskaltel for him and although he didn't ride that much, he showed himself as a really talented and promising rider. His first great results were in the Vuelta a Rioja where he became sixth in the general rank and 8th in the second stage. I discovered him for the first time in his next race, the Tour of Romandia. There he showed his fighting skills to the world and even the belgian commentators were impressed. He finished 29th in the general rank there. He continued his good results in Catalunya (22th in first stage) and Llodio (17th) until he had some problems in the Euskal Bizikleta. But he managed to get ready in time for his first big performance, the Tour de France. And it became a great succes for him. In the 12th stage, he escaped and only one km before the finish he got caught again. This lead to the red back number the next day and after some other attacks the overall most combative price in the Tour de France. He also wore the White Jersey for the best youngster, because Contador and Soler already wore another jersey. He ended the Tour on a great 23th place and showed himself to the world as a great rider. He ended his season in Burgos where he ended 20th in the general rank. WHAT A SEASON !!!

Santarem : 90-113-93-87 => 82

Castilla y Leon : 103-49-107-58-34 => 56

Rioja : 28-8-11 => 6

Romandia : 140-32-49-30-23-69 => 29

Catalunya : 22-109-58-51-37-128-58 => 42

Llodio : 17

Euskal Bizikleta : 56 - X

Tour de France : 147-144-105-99-87-128-58-30-85-125-129-83-19-42-35-41-71-46-112

Burgos : 46-19-38-53-38 => 20

Euskaltel in 2008 : Part 2

Thanx to Magnus, we have some more news about the plans of Euskaltel in 2008, here they are :
+The team will ride the Giro (wooooohooooo !!!!!!)
+Mikel Astarloza and Haimar Zubeldia will be the leaders in the Tour de France
+Mikel Astarloza and Igor Anton will be the leaders in the Vuelta al Pais Vasco
+Igor will ride the Vuelta, so probably no Tour for him
+Haimar will aim for the Tour but also for some early-season stage races (Romandia, Dauphine, ... ???)
+Haimar, Amets, Iban, Ruben and Aitor and 5 others will try to start the season strong (maybe in Australia already ??)
+Samuels plans will be made when he (won't) get(s) his selection for Beijing

Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano about 2008

Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano gave us some clues about Euskaltel in 2008, here's in short the most important things
Samu : Olympics & Tour, no Vuelta
Tour : Mikel/Haimar/Ruben/Amets/Iñigo/Igor/Gorka/Jorge/Aitor H. and maybe someone else
Giro : Yes !! Dionisio Galparsoro and Markel Irizar
Calender : 25 days less than in 2007
No : Rioja, Trentino, Portugal and not-protour races in France
Yes : Giro del Piemonte
Goals : Tour Basque Country, Vuelta and Tour
New : Tour Down Under (obligated) and maybe Tour of California

Me & my blog in the newspaper

Today there was an article about me and my blog in a flemish newspaper, called de Gazet van Antwerpen. It's about my obsession with Euskaltel and how I make thos blog. There's also a part about Isaac Galvez, but sadly enough there is a small mistake in the article. Isaac Galvez was never a member of Euskaltel, he rode for Caisse d'Epargne.

Despite this mistake I'm very happy with the interview, although I might have smiled a bit more on the picture :P I also think it feels better to write articles for the newspaper than to feature in the newspaper, but that's for later.

Josu Agirre about Euskaltel

On the second day of the Euskatel training camp Josu Agirre spoke to the press. He rode in the colours of Euskaltel for the very first time and he seemed to like it. "During my team with Orbea I learned alot and I'm very thankful to that team. I had some great moments, but I also got to know the hard part, like in Portugal where I suffered alot. I'm very happy with the new oportunities Euskaltel gave me and I hope I will be able to respond to the confidence that Miguel Madariaga and Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano have in me. In 2008 I hope I will be a good help for my team mates, that seems my biggest job for next year. Of course I would love to win something but I don't have to.

Interview with Egoi Martinez

Today we finally got a new interview on the Euskaltel site, this time with the ex-Discovery Channel rider Egoi Martinez who's now coming back to Euskaltel !!

-How is the return to Euskaltel going ?
To tell the truth, I'm not assimilated yet. The moment when I signed the contract was really special but since then it was a rollercoaster of things and I'm married now. But I know most of the guys already because some years ago I had a great time with them. There is a great atmosphere and the facilities are good too.

-Two years with Discovery Channel, have you learned much there ?
It were to fantastic years, on sports level and on personal level. Different goals, different routines, different languages... it has been a great experience.

-Now you will be able to share those things with Euskaltel-Euskadi
Yeah for sure, Many things happened since 2005 and everything I learned from Discovery Channel will be a benefit for Euskaltel, that's most important.

-You've only been back for a short time but it seems that Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano already showed you the new mentality of the team.
Yes, before signing the contract, both Miguel Madariaga and Igor explained the new philosophy : The team first and then the individual. I like that very much.

-Have you noticed the new mentality when you were still with Discovery Channel ?
Yeah, I noticed a new air around the team. The tactics during the race were different. Each person has his own style and you can see this during the race. I noticed a very positive change and the image they have shown was very positive too.

-Facing 2008, where can you help Euskaltel?
Considering my characteristics, my strong point is the rounds of three weeks and I will try to do my best in them. This is my seventh season and of course I will try to use my experience to help the younger ones.

Txurruka & Cheese

Ok I just couldn't resist posting this pic, it's so funny. On the pic there's Amets Txurruka on a scale so he knows how much kilo's of cheese he will get.

Amets Txurruka gets prize

Amets Txurruka, the most combative rider in the last Tour de France, still hasn't got his prize, but this will change next saturday. Then Amets will get his weight (61kg) in cheese.

I hope for Amets that he likes to eat cheese because I think he will be able to feed everyone from Euskaltel with this. Of course he has already got the money part of his prize :P

Fired Uribarri with Orbea in 2008 !!!

Finally we get some good news from Euskaltels fired riders. Unai Uribarri has found a new team for 2008, Orbea. Normally Orbea is for the riders who have potential to ride for Euskaltel later. But because Unai is only 23, he got a new chance with Orbeo, probably to help the less experienced guys in the big races.

I hope he will able to show his talent there and that the other guys will get a job too !

Euskaltel on camp

Euskaltel will have his yearly trainings camp next week from 26 November until 30 November. There Miguel Madariaga will make up the schedules for 2008 together with the team. There will also be some trainings, a medical examination and a meeting with the media. They are staying in Hotel Laia de Derio in Bizkaia, so if you have nothing to do, go there :p
I also hope that the new team pictures will be taken there.

Mikel in 6 hours of Euskadi

On 23 February, the six hours of Euskadi on the track will be held again. Already three couples are announced. Risi and Marvulli, probably the best couple in the six-days circuit, the argentinians Curuchet & Perez and Juan Llaneras with Mikel Astarloza. Juan Llaneras became World Champion in the points track race in Mallorca this year, after he lost his cycling mate Isaac Galvez in the six days of Ghent on saturday 25/11/06 (I was there at that moment and it was really shocking :x )

Extreme Giro d'Italia = Nothing for Euskaltel

Although it would be a great lesson for the younger riders, I don't think Euskaltel will send a team to the Giro d'Italia 2008. This will probably because of the extreme hard parcours. On the first day we get a team time trial in Sicilia and after that three other individial time trials are scheduled and as you might know, this is not Euskaltels favourite event :P Not only the time trials are extreme but the climbs aren't easy either. We will get to see heroic duels on the Mortirolo and the Passo Fedaia and after that we will visit the next two WC-tracks in Varese and Mendrisio.

I really hope Euskaltel will see this as a challenge and sends a young team that can improve their skills here and maybe Aitor Galdos for the sprints.

2007 Iban Iriondo : Fired :(

Today I'm going to write the first review about a fired rider, Iban Iriondo. It was Ibans second year with Euskaltel and probably he couldn't convince the staff of Euskaltel of his talent. Although he rode some good results. His first good result was an 28th place in the Volta a Santarem and he went on in The Criterium International with a 22th place. He finished Paris-Roubaix as the best Euskaltel rider on a 63th place and in the Vuelta a Asturias he got the 32th place in the last stage. He had to give up twice, in the GP Internacional Paredes and the Euskal Bizikleta, after he got a 22th place in the third stage. His last good result was a 9th place in the team time trial in the Tour of Poland. As I said before, these results couldn't make the Euskaltel bosses happy so they fired him :( I hope he will find a smaller spanish team where he can prove himself and maybe one day come back to Euskaltel.

Trofeo Millor : 176
Trofeo Calvia : 90
Volta a Santarem : 110-85-89-28 => 55
Criterium International : 22-68-72 => 56
Gent-Wevelgem : 73
Paris-Roubaix : 63
Vuelta Asturias : 106-94-117-96-32 => 80
GP Internacional Paredes : 57-70-129 X
GP Llodio : 49
Euskal Bizikleta : 53-44-22 X
Circuito Getxo : 93
Tour of Poland : 9-104-126-81-133-105-56 => 51

Aketza Pena is 2007 : Doping ?

Aketza Peña was a very promissing rider and he would be the leader of Euskaltel in the Giro. But 2007 became a black year for him and he became the black sheep for Euskaltel. His first good result was in the Tirreno-Adriatico where he got a 46th place in the second stage. Then he went one to ride the Italian pre-Giro rides and became very succesful in them. He finished 17th in the Giro d'Oro and 25th in the third stage of the Tour of Trentino. Next up was the Giro d'Italia, probably his big goal for 2007. The Giro started good for Aketza with some good placings in stages but then after the 15th stage he got the message that probably ended/changed his carreer. In the Giro of Trentino he tested positive on Nandrolon and was taken immediately out of the Giro. But then it stopped, we didn't get any news about the B-sample or what his punishment will be. PLEASE EUSKALTEL, GIVE US SOME NEWS !
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Trofeo Millor : 183

Trofeo Soller : 98

Trofeo Calvi : 117

Tirreno Adriatico : 82-46-70-103-118-121-114 => 90

San Remo : 150

Klasika Primavera : 67

Giro d'Oro : 17

Giro of Trentino : 73-37-25-57 => 34

Giro d'Italia : 21-59-85-64-108-95-101-88-123-47-68-98-37-121-31-92 X

Haimar best Basque in the Tour

For the fourth time in his carreer, Haimar Zubeldia has been crowned as best Basque rider in the Tour de France. The price was awarded by the Urka-Mendi de Zizurkil cycling society. With hsi great fifth spot he probably won the price easily and with this 4 victories he passes Olano and Beloki, which have both three victories. Only Indurain and Lejarreta have more victories, but that will change next year :P

New poll / Samuel most popular

I was sick of the old poll so I added a new one : How do you think about Euskaltel performance in 2007 ? The results of the old poll were as expected. Samuel Sanchez was voted as the favourite Euskaltel rider with 32 %. My favourite rider Haimar Zubeldia became second with 30%. I was also very happy with the many votes for others, it's nice to see that there are also people who don't only like the big guns.

Jorge Azanza in 2007

It was Jorge Azanzas first year with Euskaltel and he immediately showed himself as a promising stage rider. He started his year with some smaller spanish races. There he got some very good results like a 27th place in the Trofeo Soller, a 27th place in the general rank in the Tour of Andalucia, and a 21th place in the second stage of the french race Criterium International. Euskaltel saw he was able to perform good in stage races so they put him up for the Tour of the Basque Country, the Dauphiné Liberé and the Tour de France. He started these great races good with a 26th place in the third stage in the Basque Country but then he had to give up there. In the Dauphiné it didn't go well and he finished 109th, but ofcourse he had to work for his teammates Zubeldia and Astarloza. In the Tour he had to do the same thing so he didn't really have the chance to go for his own classification and he ended 82th. Almost as a punishment he had to ride the Eneco Tour but he wasn't really inspired and got a 82th place.

Next year I would love to see him getting a little bit closer to the victory, starting with some top ten spots in smaller spanish races, and then maybe a good attack in the Tour or Vuelta.

Trofeo Mallorca : 130
Trofeo Pollenca : 31
Trofeo Soller : 27
Andalucia : 31/35/21/36/22 => 27
Clasica Almeria : 59
Marcia : 94/31/35/45 => 88
Criterium International : 55/21/62 => 29
Basque Country : 51/86/26/46/29 X
Dauphiné Liberé : 141/105/139/130/112/98/84/114
Tour : 167/156/74/95/128/91/84/100/98/115/84/126/108/84/85/70/99/104/111/97 => 82
Eneco Tour : 142/71/62/105/105/113/103/95 => 82

Pics Mikel Astarloza

Since there isn't much news about Euskaltel this year of the month, you probably already saw that I started with the reviews. I did this because the new season starts at the end of January already, woohoo :D Because I don't have much time today I will post some pictures from Mikel Astarloza from the Eneco Tour, the pics I promised you some months ago :p

Gorka Verdugo in 2007

2007 has been a quiet season for Gorka Verdugo. Everything was set on the Tour de France for him, so he would be able to be a good help for Haimar Zubeldia. He rode Paris-Nice resulting in an ok 41th place, the GP Miguel Indurain with a 37th place and then he rode the Belgian-Dutch classics with changing success. Next he rode the Tour of Romandie and the Dauphiné Liberé without a really special result, but he managed to get a good shape for the Tour. In the Tour de France we could see Gorka working really hard for Haimar Zubeldia and Mikel Astarloza on the mountains. He didn't manage to place himself good in a stage classification but at the end he was ok 48th. He ended his season with a great 18th place in his home-country-ride the Clasica San Sebastian.

Next year I hope Gorka will be able to do the same in the Tour and maybe Vuelta for Haimar and Samuel and of course I would like him to win a stage or race somewhere, or atleast come close.

Valenciana : 89-69-96-129-99 => 102
Paris-Nice : 66-54-47-102-40-39-37-64 => 41
Indurain : 37
Basque Country : 45-58-127-72-61-76 => 54
Amstel Gold Race : 44
Flecha Wallone : 118
Liege-Bastogne-Liege : 39
Romandie : 61-63-130-108-123-102 => 106
Dauphiné Liberé : 75-78-79-46-61-63-66-81 => 55
Tour de France : 80-97-109-128-183-107-122-99-65-84-123-130-58-44-83-34-100-57-55-100 => 48
Clasica San Sebastian : 18

2007 with Egoi Martinez, 2008 : Back to Euskaltel

After his first great year for Discovery Channel, we all expected great things from Egoi in 2007, but he disappointed a little bit. During the year he rode some good time trials like a second place in the time trial of Castilla y Leon, a ninth place in the prologue of the Dauphine Liberé, an eight place in the Tour of the Basque Country and a fourth place with the team in the Eindhove Team Time Trial. In the other stages his only good results were in the Dauphine Libere with an 8th and 5th spot in the fifth and sixth stage. He rode a very anonymous Tour de France, without a top 30 spot but of course he had to work for Contador and Leipheimer. He ended his season in the Vuelta but he left the race after eleven stages, ending his season in black.

Next year he will be back with Euskaltel and of course we're very happy with that because he might be able to learn the others something more about time trialling :p

Trofeo Cala Millor : 61
Algarve : 36-62-54105- x
Valenciana : 34-111-88-104-61 => 93
Castilla y Leon : 2-19-13-86-38 =>44
Basque Country : 94-70-90-32-?-8 => 31
Amstel Gold Race : 26
Fleche Wallone : 66
Liege-Bastogne-Liege : 40
Dauphiné Liberé : 9-20-43-17-58-8-5-76 => 28
Eindhoven Team Time Trial : 4
Tour : 48-38-143-81-102-68-59-75-95-122-128-98-31-57-72-66-78-112-84-120 => 61
Vuelta : 55-50-37-60-77-77-139-30-113-60-144-x

Markel Irizar 23th in Cyclocross race

Not only Isasi, but also Markel Irizar is trying to keep up his condition in a cyclocross race today. He didn't get the same good result as Isasi, he finished 23th with one lap behind, but it's great that Euskaltel is getting more involved in Cyclocross and there might be some other riders who will try it :D

Samuel third in Criterium

Just like Isasi, Samuel isn't ready with his season yet. Samuel became third in a criterium in Madrid from the ACP (association of profesional cyclists). It was a race where they had to sprint for points, but Contador was the fastest at the end. Sastre and Samuel battled it out for the second place, but the winner of last year couldn't get before Sastre.

Isasi 7th in cyclocross race

Last sunday Iñaki Isasi rode the cyclocross race in Pobes. He rode a good race and became seventh, Unai Yus won the race. I didn't know that Iñaki would ride cyclocross races but it's great because it's a good way to keep up your condition. I also hope that he will get selected or invited for a race in Belgium because that would give me a good reason to go and see a cyclocross once here :P

Haimar Zubeldia in 2007

I'm gonna start my review on 2007 with my favourite rider of all, Haimar Zubeldia. In my opinion he had a very good year, of course with the highlight in the Tour de France. He didn't ride that much races but he was consistent the whole year. He started a bit slow in the smaller spanish races like Almeria (56) , Castilla y Leon (57) and a 16th place in Marcia. Then he started his training for the Tour with good results in Llodio (8), Paredes (8) and a good Dauphine with a sixth place on the Mont Ventoux. Next up was the Tour de France, where Haimar showed himself once again one of the best stage riders in the world. He was able to follow in the mountains and made time good in an attack with Vinokourov. He ended fifth. Then he rode the Clasica san Sebastian (23) and finished his year in the Vuelta where he worked his ass off for Samuel Sanchez but sadly his own classement was ruined due to a fall.

Results 2007

Almeria : 56

Marcia : 15/17/32/79 => 16

Castilla y Leon : 56/48/30/93/59 => 57

Indurain : 50

Romandia : 52/48/52/31/24/59 => 24

Paredes : 33/18/8/6 => 8

Llodio : 8

Dauphiné Liberé : 40/54/28/33/6/38/27/23 => 19

Tour de France : 96/75/73/68/106/31/81/26/11/54/34/60/32/15/3/6/32/22/20/40 => 5

Clasica San Sebastian : 23

Vuelta : 67/56/187/130/61/102/172/53/70/54/85/98/50/9/26/62/48/36/60/31/59 => 44

For next year I want him to win an official race again and maybe a spot higher in the Tour, but I would be very happy with another fifth one :D

Back from Paris

I'm back from the trip to Paris and it was great ! My goal was to find a shop where they sell Euskaltel shirts but I didn't find one, so I bought the official Tour 2007 book, with lots of pictures from Euskaltel. I bought L'équipe every day but I didn't know that there would be the presentation of the Tour 2008 in Paris that moment, otherwise I would go to there ! But i'm ready again to let you know everything from Euskaltel :D

I'm going to Paris

I'm going to Paris with school for four days so I won't be able to update my blog untill sunday. I'm really excited because I finally will get to see the Champs-Elysées, the mythical place where the riders who finish the tour, use their final forces. If you want to keep up to date about Euskaltel, go to http://ibanmayoblog.blogspot.com

Escalada a Montjuïc : Moreno wins, Samu 2nd

Euskaltel hasn't been able to continue its winning streak in the Escalada a Montjuïc. In the first part, a 24km road race, Daniel Moreno crossed the finish together with Carlos Sastre and Samuel Sanchez. Igor Anton came in 5 seconds after those three. In the crono Moreno was able to keep the lead and won two seconds before Samuel Sanchez.

Final General Classification
1 Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Relax - Gam 1.01.22
2 Samuel Sanchez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 0.02
3 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC 0.12
4 Igor Anton Hernandez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 0.35

Montjuic road race - 24.4 km
1 Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Relax - Gam 45.30 (32.18 km/h)
2 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC
3 Samuel Sanchez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi
4 Igor Anton Hernandez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi +0.05

Montjuic hill climb - 10 km
1 Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Relax - Gam 15.52.72 (37.82 km/h)
2 Samuel Sánchez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0.01.51
3 Oscar Sevilla Ribera (Spa) Relax - Gam 0.10.65
4 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC 0.12.07
5 Igor Anton Hernandez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 0.30.11

ProTour Ranks : Euskaltel 11th

Euskaltel became 11th in the protour rankings this year and with the 17th place of 2006, this is a really good result. You can really see that Euskaltel works as a team now and for the futur this will only continue, I think. Euskaltel also leaves some strong teams behind like T-mobile, Gerolsteiner and Milram.

1. CSC 392

2. Liquigas 354

3.Caisse d'Epargne 337

11. Euskaltel 227

In the individual ranks Samuel Sanchez became ninth. Not the same result as last years second place but without the Zurich race, it's still a good performance.

1. Cadel Evans 247

2. Davide Rebellin 197

3. Alberto Contador 191

...

9. Samuel Sanchez 159

40. Mikel Astarloza 56

44. Haimar Zubeldia 53

48. Igor Anton 45

113. Iñigo Landaluze 10

147. Koldo Fernandez 7

We will see what the ProTour will bring next year.