Sammy loses time already

Since the Vuelta is starting in The Netherlands this year, the orange is representated by the Rabobank guys at the moment and not by Euskaltel. That became clear in today's first real stage because the Euskaltel guys kept theirselves low profile. Unfortunatly at the end everything came down to a sprint, won by Gerald Ciolek, but the peloton was ripped into pieces and Samuel lost 18 seconds to other favourites like Valverde and Mosquera.

Results
1. Gerald Ciolek MILRAM 4:43:12
2. Fabio Sabatini LIQUIGAS ST
3. Roger Hammond CERVELO ST
...
49. Iñaki Isasi ST
69. Ruben Perez ST
91. Samuel Sanchez +0:18
113. Aitor Hernandez +0:18
123. Alan Perez +0:29
130. Markel Irizar +0:30
135. Igor Anton +0:30
139. Amets Txurruka +0:30

Sammy ok in opening prologue

Our big favourite for the end victory in this year's Vuelta d'España, Sammy Sanchez got off to a good start in the opening prologue in Assen. On the TT circuit he finished 29th 24 seconds down on winner Cancellara, which is an ok start. He wasn't the best Euskaltel rider though! Markel Irizar finished on a good 23th spot 23 seconds down on the Suisse TT-specialist. After the race Samuel said that he was very happy with this race cause there was a lot of wind but he still got among the main favourites.

Results
1. Fabian Cancellara SAXO BANK 5:20
2. Tom Boonen QUICK STEP +0:09
3. Tyler Farrar GARMIN +0:12
...
23. Markel Irizar +0:23
29. Samuel Sanchez +0:24
79. Aitor Hernandez +0:32
113. Alan Perez +0:36
115. Rubén Pérez +0:36
120. Igor Anton +0:37
133. Egoi Martinez +0:40
149. Amets Txurruka +0:42
155. Iñaki Isasi +0:44

SamSan ready for the Vuelta!

It looks like everyone is ready for the upcoming Vuelta. Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano told that the team is strong and is ready to work their ass off for Samuel. Also Samuel Sanchez himself believes that he can win this Vuelta. He knows that he got more power and more experience thatn in 2007, when he became 3rd. Even dutch cycling magazines believe in him, they are calling him the top favourite together with Alejandro Valverde!

Eneco Tour off to a bad start

Yesterday the most interesting tours of all, the Eneco Tour, started with a team from Euskaltel. Big shot of the team is Koldo Fernandez who should be able to place himself good in all the upcoming stages, since they are all sprint stages. It started with a prologue, but nobody could really convince. Juanjo Oroz was the first to finish on a 45th place.

Results
1. Sylvain Chavanel QUICK STEP 4:55
2. Tyler Farrar GARMIN +0:01
3. Tom Boonen QUICK STEP +0:01
...
45. Juan José Oroz +0:14
91. Josu Agirre +0:20
97. Javier Aramendia +0:21
127. Pablo Urtasun +0:25
134. Koldo Fernandez +0:26
145. Sergio De Lis +0:28
157. Aitor Galdos +0:34

Euskaltel ready for the Vuelta

Euskaltel is (almost) ready for the upcoming Vuelta that begins at the end of August. Of course Samuel Sanchez will be the leader of the team, but with Igor Anton we have another general rank contender who could come pretty far in the mountains. Egoi Martinez, Ruben Perez, Alan Perez, Iñaki Isasi, Markel Irizar, Aitor Hernandez and Amets Txurruka will have to help the two leaders as much as possible, but also attack like we're used to from them. The name of Amets isn't yet 100 procent sure since he's still not in great shape after his fall in the Tour. He could be replaced by Jorge Azanza or Pablo Urtasun.

Azanza out in Burgos

The second stage in the Vuelta a Burgos wasn't as succesful as the first one. Jorge Azanza had to drop out because of problems with his digestion system and it became clear that Samuel Sanchez isn't ready yet for the Vuelta. He was the first to cross the finish line on a 18th spot, 17 seconds down on winner Rodriguez. The third stage will again be one for the sprinters! Aupa Koldo!

Results
1. Joaquim Rodriguez CAISSE 3:36:51
2. Ben Hermans TOPSPORT +0:01
3. Alejandro Valverde CAISSE +0:01
...
18. Samuel Sa,chez +0:17
21. Romain Sicard +0:18
22. Pablo Urtasun +0:18
23. Juan José Oroz +0:18
29. Iñaki Isasi +0:27
31. Mikel Nieve +0:28
73. Gorka Verdugo +1:36
93. Koldo Fernandez +2:31

Koldo takes the win in Burgos

Koldo Fernandez is in great shape! After his win in Getxo last week, he now won the first stage in the Vuelta a Burgos. Just like in Getxo the team did very good work keeping everything together and Koldo finished it with Pablo Urtasun finishing 4th! To be honest the sprint competition is not that strong, but still every win is a win!

Results
1. Koldo Fernandez EUSKALTEL 3:28:14
2. Enrique Mata BURGOS ST
3. Nicholas Maes TOPSPORT ST
...
4. Pablo Urtasun ST
44. Juan José Oroz ST
69. Samuel Sanchez ST
79. Mikel Nieve ST
81. Gorka Verdugo ST
97. Iñaki Isasi ST
108. Jorge Azanza +7:55

Romain Sicard joints Euskaltel

This might be old news for you, but I apparently missed this while I was on vacation. Romain Sicard will ride in the orange jersey for the next two jears. He's a talented young guy from the Orbea cycling team who already won two races this year, the Subida al Naranco and a stage in the Tour de l'Isard. Romain is from France so he will also bring a nice diversity to the team. I hope he will get selected for the Tour de l'avenir so we can see what he's really worth but I have confidence in him!

Great basque races but overshadowed

Euskaltel rode fantastically great in the four basque races this week: Ordizia, Getxo, San Sebastian and Urkiola. They managed to win two of them and that makes them of course the best team cause they rode together as one! In Ordizia Pablo Urtasun won the bunch sprint for the third place after great work from the team, in Getxo Koldo finished some very good team work off by wining his second victory in 2009. In the Clasica San Sebastian it was Rubén Pérez who impressed by finishing 9th and the week was closed by Igor Anton winning the Subida a Urkiola crossing the finish line solo. What a results! Unfortunately this news is completely overshadowed by the news about Mikel, but I would say enjoy these victories and let's wait in silence untill the results of Mikel's B-sample return.