Llodio : Aitor 3rd, Koldo 4th, Dioni 6th

It was a rainy day in the Grand Prix of Llodio, but despite the weather Euskaltel has shown a great performance. There was an early break with Zaballa and Tondo but the peloton managed to get back. It seemed like for the first time in years that there would be a sprint. This was not how Hector Guerra wanted it and he broke away from the peloton and won the race with one minute of advantage before a small groupe. This groupe sprinted for the second place and it was Rojas who took it, before Aitor Galdos and Koldo Fernandez. Dioni and Igor were in the same groupe, they finished 6th and 14th.

Results
1. Hector Guerra Liberty Seguros 4:11:57
2. Jose Joaquin Rojas Caisse d'Epargne +1:01
3. Aitor Galdos Euskaltel ST
...
4. Koldo Fernandez ST
6. Dioni Galparsoro ST
14. Igor Anton ST
48. Ruben Perez +6:06

Criterium International 3 : Mikel 11th in General

In the last challenge of the Criterium International, a time-trial, Mikel Astarloza managed to climb up in the general rank and became 11th. At the first check-point he was 11th, but then he fell a little back and crossed the line on an 21th place. The time-trial has been won by the strong and young guy from Norway Edvald Boassen Hagen. He won it 7 seconds before Tony Martin and 13 before Gustav Larsson. Egoi Martinez disappointed with a 68th place and dropped down to a 20th place in the general rank.

Results
1. Edvald Boassen Hagen High Road 10:16
2. Tony Martin High Road +0:07
3. Gustav Larsson Team CSC +0:13
...
21. Mikel Astarloza +0:32
41. Aitor Hernandez +0:51
68. Egoi Martinez +1:05
70. Jorge Azanza +1:07
76. Josu Agirre +1:13
93. Iñigo Landaluze +1:31
104. Ivan Velasco +1:43

End Ranking
1. Jens Voigt Team CSC 7:29:01
2. Gustav Larsson Team CSC +0:57
3. Luis Leon Sanchez Caisse d'Epargne +0:57
...
11. Mikel Astarloza +1:20
20. Egoi Martinez +1:53
42. Jorge Azanza +8:43
48. Iñigo Landaluze +9:22
53. Ivan Velasco +10:30
90. Aitor Hernandez +15:37
104. Josu Agirre +20:49

Criterium International 2 : Mikel 16th

In the second stage of the Criterium International Mikel Astarloza and Egoi Martinez managed to stay in front of the peloton. Egoi Martinez has been in an early breakaway but they didn't stay in front. Jens Voigt and Simon Gerrans made the race today and they sprinted for the victory. At 300 metres Gerrans sprinted away and took the victory. Mikel became 16th in the next groupe at 1:43 and is now 15th in the general rank. Egoi Martinez became 17th in the same time as Mikel and is now 12th in the general rank. Later today the time trial will be held and maybe Mikel and Egoi can raise some spots in the general rank.

Results
1. Simon Gerrans Credit Agricole 2:27:36
2. Jens Voigt Team CSC +0:04
3. Alejandro Valverde Caisse d'Epargne +1:39
...
16. Mikel Astarloza +1:43
17. Egoi Martinez +1:43
32. Jorge Azanza +1:50
37. Iñigo Landaluze +2:05
46. Ivan Velasco +3:01
93. Josu Agirre +8:01
118. Aitor Hernandez +9:00

General Rank
1. Jens Voigt Team CSC 7:17:53
2. Laurens Ten Dam Rabobank +1:14
3. Benoit Vaugrenard FDJ +1:30
...
12. Egoi Martinez +1:40
15. Mikel Astarloza +1:40
42. Jorge Azanza +8:28
45. Iñigo Landaluze +8:43
54. Ivan Velasco +9:39
98. Aitor Hernandez +15:38
109. Josu Agirre +20:28

Criterium International 1 : Egoi 8th

The first stage of the Criterium International 2008 went good for Euskaltel. During the race the peloton split in to groupes, but luckily Euskaltel's two favourites Egoi Martinez and Mikel Astarloza were part of it. Laurens Ten Dam has been in front of the race the whole day and managed to finish alone in front of the peloton 10 seconds before Benoit Vaugrenard. Egoi Martinez finished in the same time 8th, Mikel Astarloza 28th. Antton Luengo was the only Euskaltel rider who didn't make the finish, he abandoned but there was no reason given out. I hope it's not those personal questions again :(

Results
1. Laurens Ten Dam Rabobank 4:50:04
2. Benoit Vaugrenard FDJ +0:10
3. Mirco Lorenzetto Lampre +0:10
...
8. Egoi Martinez +0:10
28. Mikel Astarloza +0:10
41. Aitor Hernandez +6:51
52. Jorge Azanza +6:51
57. Iñigo Landaluze +6:51
60. Ivan Velasco +6:51
134. Josu Agirre +12:40

Line-up Vuelta al Pais Vasco

Next week one of the most important races for Euskaltel will be held in the Basque Country, the Vuelta al Pais Vasco. Euskaltel will send a very strong team, lead by Igor Anton and Mikel Astarloza. The others that will probably go for a stage win are Iñigo Landaluze, Egoi Martinez, Jorge Azanza, Ruben Perez, Iñaki Isasi and Amets Txurruka.

Castilla y Leon 5 : KOLDO WINS !!!!!

Koldo did it again !!! He won the last stage of the vuelta a Castilla y Leon and puts the counter on two for Euskaltel. He won in the sprint before Thomas Dekker and Francisco Ventoso. But he wasn't the only Euskaltel rider who was active today. First Iñaki Isasi tried to get in a break, but that didn't work out. On the third climb Samuel once again got in a break together with Salgueiro, Zandio, Gonzalez and Mccartney. In the ascent of that climb Samuel and Zandio took off. Samuel tried to get back into the general rank but the peloton was at a great pace so it didn't work out. Samu came in lat, 7 minutes down but he probably did everything he could in his attack.

Results
1 Koldo Fernandez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 3.58.28 (39.754 km/h)
2 Thomas Dekker (Ned) Rabobank
3 Francisco José Ventoso Alberdi (Spa) Andalucía - Cajasur
...
16. Iñaki Isasi ST
40. Amets Txurruka ST
70. Markel Irizar +2:55
85. Dioni Galparsoro +2:55
105. Jon Bru +6:55
112. Samuel Sanchez +7:06

General Rank
1 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana 15.57.37
2 Mauricio Soler (Col) Barloworld 0.39
3 Thomas Dekker (Ned) Rabobank 0.46
...
31. Iñaki Isasi +3:16
35. Amets Txurruka +3:37
61. Koldo Fernandez +8:27
66. Markel Irizar +9:02
73. Dioni Galparsoro +11:00
76. Samuel Sanchez +12:02
86. Jon Bru +12:51

Line-up Tour of Flandres

Last but not least I also have the line-up for the Tour of Flandres, and this is the most important one because I'm going, crutches or not ! And the great thing is that I haven't met any of the 8 riders yet. The team will consist of Josu Agirre, Lander Aperribay, Javier Aramendia, Koldo Fernandez, Markel Irizar, Andoni Lafuente, Juan Jose Oroz and Alan Perez. Hopefully one of them will be able to maintain a spot in the top 20, that would be a good result.

Line-up GP Miguel Indurain

It's line-up day today. We also got the line-up for the Grand Prix of Miguel Indurain in Navarra next week. The team will probably be lead by Igor Anton, Mikel Astarloza and Amets Txurruka. The others are Jorge Azanza, Jon Bru, Dioni Galparsoro, Iñaki Isasi, Anton Luengo, Egoi Martinez and Ivan Velasco.

Line-Up Llodio

This sunday the Grand Prix of Llodio will be held in the Basque Country and of course Euskaltel will send a strong team. It's a balanced team with some good sprinters like Koldo Fernandez, Iñaki Isasi and Beñat Albizuri and some climbers like Igor Anton and Amets Txurruka. The other places are for Javier Aramendia, Lander Aperribay, Jon Bru, Markel Irizar and Andoni Lafuente.

Line-up Criterium International

Euskaltel will be present at the Criterium International in France tomorrow. Mikel Astarloza will probably be the leader in this two day, but three stages race, seeing his time trial skills. Others to watch will be Egoi Martinez and Iñigo Landaluze who already did some great stuff in Italy last week. The rest of the team will be Ivan Velasco, Jorge Azanza, Anton Luengo, Aitor Hernandez and Josu Agirre.

Castilla y Leon : Dioni in break

Euskalteltel and especially Samuel Sanchez didn't live up to the expectations for the queens stage in the vuelta a Castilla y Leon. Amets Txurruka was the first Euskaltel rider to cross the finish on a 27th place, 1:56 down on Alberto Contador who's really showing that he deserves a spot in the Tour de France. One point of light was Dioni Galparsoro who got in the break of the day, but because he had a good general rank, he and his three other companions never got more than four minutes and got reeled back in before the last climb of the day. Samu came in on a 69th place, 4:37 down. Maybe we should be a bit happy with this, seeing that he shouldn't be on top level yet.

Results
1 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana 3.54.17 (41,181 km/h)
2 Mauricio Soler (Col) Barloworld 0.11
3 Thomas Dekker (Ned) Rabobank 0.33
...
27. Amets Txurruka +1:56
40. Iñaki Isasi +2:33
55. Jon Bru +4:01
68. Markel Irizar +4:37
69. Samuel Sanchez +4:37
85. Dioni Galparsoro +7:21
86. Koldo Fernandez +7:21

General rank
1 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana 11.59.09
2 Mauricio Soler (Col) Barloworld 0.39
3 Thomas Dekker (Ned) Rabobank 0.46
...
31. Iñaki Isasi +3:16
37. Amets Txurruka +3:37
50. Samuel Sanchez +4:56
63. Jon Bru +5:56
64. Markel Irizar +6:07
74. Dioni Galparsoro +8:05
78. Koldo Fernandez +8:27

Castilla y Leon 2 : Samu 2nd

Samuel Sanchez keeps on showing great form in the vuelta a Castilla y Leon. in an uphill sprint he managed to get a fantastic second spot after sprinter Ventoso. It seemed for a while that he would win but when Ventoso started his sprint, Samu didn't have an answer. It wasn't only Sanchez that did great for Euskaltel. Also Koldo placed himself great on a 6th place and Bru on an 8th place. With these three great results Euskaltel of course won the team classification. Samuel is now 4th in the general rank.

Results
1 Francisco José Ventoso Alberdi (Spa) Andalucía 4.22.54 (36.493 km/h)
2 Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi
3 Edgar Pinto (Por) Benfica
...
6. Koldo Fernandez ST
8. Jon Bru ST
29. Iñaki Isasi ST
59. Amets Txurruka ST
64. Markel Irizar ST
65. Dioni Galparsoro ST

Castilla y Leon : Samu almost wins

The second stage of the Vuelta a Castilla y Leon ended in the mythical place of Avila, finish of some great stages in the Vuelta. And of course we got to see a spectacle once again. Especially Samuel Sanchez was active and showed great form as he put in a promising attack in the streets of Avila, but with too many flat metres to go after the climb, he was reeled in by the peloton and overtaken in the last kilometre. It became a sprint with a small groupe and a remarkable result, three dutch guys on the podium. Karsten Kroon, Thomas Dekker and Bauke Mollema. Samuel became 18th in the main groupe together with Koldo on a 20th spot, Dioni on 27th and Iñaki on 39th.

Results
1 Karsten Kroon (Ned) Team CSC 3.30.19 (40.425 km/h)
2 Thomas Dekker (Ned) Rabobank
3 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank
...
18. Samuel Sanchez ST
20. Koldo Fernandez ST
27. Dioni Galparsoro ST
39. Iñaki Isasi ST
78. Markel Irizar +0:29
79. Amets Txurruka +0:29
83. Jon Bru +0:29

Castilla y Leon : Samuel 5th in prologue

Samuel Sanchez did a great job in the prologue of the Vuelta a Castilla y Leon. He became 5th with a time of 11.58 over a 9.7 km long time trial. With this time he was only 19 seconds slower than Alberto Contador, who won the prologue in a time of 11.39. Iñaki Isasi did a good job too, for Euskaltel-standards. He became 28th, 43 seconds behind Contador, just one second behind Dioni Galparsoro on the 30th place. Markel Irizar disappointed with a 60th place. Of course Samuel is now 5th in the general ranking and I hope he can compete for the victory in one of the next stages, but he's still training for the Tour de France, keep that in mind !

Results
1 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana 11.39 (49.957 km/h)
2 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Astana +0.04
3 Thomas Dekker (Ned) Rabobank +0.13
...
5. Samuel Sanchez +0:19
28. Iñaki Isasi +0:43
30. Dionisio Galparsoro +0:44
60. Markel Irizar +1:01
70. Koldo Fernandez +1:06
87. Amets Txurruka +1:12
99. Andoni Lafuente +1:22
106. Jon Bru +1:26

Castilly y Leon line-up with Amets

Today the spanish race in Castilla y Leon starts and Euskaltel will of course send a strong team. First of all we have Amets Txurruka back after he broke his collarbone in the Vuelta a Mallorca. Of course we can't expect much from him, but he may surprise us. For the sprints we get Koldo Fernandez and Iñaki Isasi, a good duo in my opinion because Isasi has a lot of experience he can give to Koldo in the sprints. We also have Samuel Sanchez, but he's still preparing for the Tour de France. The Vuelta Castilla y Leon starts with a 9km prologue so I'm definitely hoping for a new stunt from Markel Irizar. Last but not least, in the breaks we will hopefully get to see Dioni Galparsoro, Andoni Lafuente and Jon Bru.