4 guys for next year

4 guys have prolonged their contract with Euskaltel for one more year. Ivan Velasco (picture), Alan Pérez, Josu Agirre and Markel Irizar will defend the orange colours next year too. So that makes it more thrilling for the other guys that haven't got a contract for next year yet.

Eneco 1 : Dioni out

It keeps on going worse and worse in the Eneco Tour for Euskaltel. This time they not only did bad in the race with a first Euskaltel rider on the 58th place and invisible during the race, but Dioni Galparsoro had to give up after his bad performance yesterday in the opening prologue. Come on guys !!! This is the time to conquer the hearts of the belgian cyclingfreaks and a contract !

Results
1. Tom Boonen Quick Step 4:16:17
2. Daniele Bennati Liquigas ST
3. Fabio Sabatini Team Milram ST
...
58. Beñat Albizuri ST
96. Javier Aramendia ST
117. Josu Agirre ST
119. Gorka Verdugo ST
129. Aitor Hernandez ST
133. Andoni Lafuente ST

Eneco prologue : Nothing to mention

There isn't much to mention about the prologue in the Eneco Tour or Tour de Benelux. Like usual the orange squad showed that they aren't really interested in belgian races. Not really smart cause a lot of guys in the Eneco squad should step up their game or they wll kicked out of the team next year.

Results
1. Jose Ivan Gutierrez Caisse d'Epargne 5:31:90
2. Cyril Lemoine Crédit Agricole +0:08
3. Edvald Boasson Hagen Team Columbia +0:33
...
38. Gorka Verdugo +16:40
61. Javier Aramendia +19:98
71. Beñat Albizuri +22:85
87. Josu Agirre +24:787
97. Aitor Hernandez +28:49
128. Andoni Lafuente +38:27
151. Dionisio Galparsoro +54:69

Mikel Astarloz till 2010

After Haimar's news, we also got some good news. Mikel Astarloza has prolonged his contract with Euskaltel until 2010. He feels honoured and pleased to ride for the Basque team and will try everything to do something back for the orange squad.

Haimar leaves Euskaltel for Astana

I needed some time to let this news sink so that's why I post this so late. Haimar Zubeldia will leave Euskaltel for Astana, team of Contador, Leipheimer, Klöden and other great riders. He has a contract for two years. Apparently he needed something new in his carreer. I'm absolutely not happy with this news because I think Euskaltel isn't (yet) strong enough for one of the main riders to leave. Also I don't want to see Haimar fade away in the big Kazak team. I will keep on supporting him but I won't start posting news about Astana, altough Haimar was my favourite rider ever and through him I discovered Euskaltel.

The past days I've been thinking about reasons why Haimar left. Of course these are all suggestions and they are probably not right.

1. Haimar doesn't like it that Samuel is the new leader in the team and in the Tour de France
2. Haimar isn't happy with Euskalltel anymore since they fired his brother last year
3. Astana offers him a lot more money and with a young child and family to support, he can use the extra euros

If you have other suggestions or want to comment on mine, feel free. I hope he will come back to Euskaltel in 2011.

Samuel 6th in Olympic TT

Samuel Sanchez was one of the two representatives for Spain in the Olympic Time Trial. After his win in the Olympic Road Race, Samu looked recovered and set the first time on all the check points. Sadly these times were passed by five other riders Cancellara, Larsson, Leipheimer, Contador and Evans. This means Samuel became 6th and of course that's great !

Strong team for the Vuelta

Euskaltel will send a very strong team to the upcoming Vuelta d'España. The men for the general rank will be Igor Anton and Mikel Astarloza, while Koldo Fernandez will be the hope for a sprint victory. There will be others that have the possibility of winning a stage like Egoi Martinez, Amets Txurruka, and the two Perez boys Ruben and Alan. 7 spots filled, two to go and for those places Ivan Velasco, Iñigo Landaluze and Jorge Azanza are in competition.

I think probably Ivan and Iñigo will go because they are in good shape at the moment.

Landaluze finishes 2nd in Burgos

In the Vuelta a Burgos Iñigo Landaluze was able to raise some spots in the general rank, as I expected. Both Iñigo and Igor Anton were in the head group today but they both weren't strong enough to compete for the stage victory. At the end Iñigo tried to ride away from Xabier Zandio, the one in front of him in the general rank, but Zandio was to strong and kept on following Landaluze. Once again it showed that Anton isn't ready yet with his preparations for the Vuelta, because he finished 18th, 2'30" down on stage winner Cobo. Also Ivan Velasco was able to impress, finishing on a good 16th spot.

Results
1 Juan Jose Cobo Acebo (Spa) Scott-American Beef 3.53.10 (39.89 km/h)
2 Manuel Vazquez Hueso (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia 0.09
3 Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 0.18
...
10. Iñigo Landaluze +0:46
16. Ivan Velasco +2:22
18. Igor Anton +2:30
63. Alan Perez +14:51
81. Aitor Hernandez +14:51
88. Jorge Azanza +15:05
108. Koldo Fernandez +17:25

General Rank
1 Xabier Zandio Echaide (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 18.42.57
2 Iñigo Landaluze (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 0.12
3 Walter Fernando Pedraza Morales (Col) Tinkoff 0.29
...
22. Ivan Velasco +3:51
27. Igor Anton +4:38
71. Alan Perez +16:20
76. Aitor Hernandez +16:20
91. Jorge Azanza +17:49
102. Koldo Fernandez +19:33

Antton Luengo quits

After five years with Euskaltel, Antton Luengo has decided to quit cycling. Despite the fact that he came with Euskaltel as one of the biggest talents, he never could expose his potential. This year he had to quit almost all the stage races he started in because of 'personal problems'. Hopefully there's nothing too bad going on and I wish him all the luck in his after-cycling life !

Samuel wins Olympics on my birthday

Thanks to Mister Samuel Sanchez I had the best birthday of my life today ! On a incredibly fantastic way he became THE Olympic Champion and wins the gold medal for Euskaltel. This is probably the greatest moment for Euskaltel ever and I think all the fans can be really proud of our Samu/Samsam/...

For us Europeans the Olympic road race started at 5 am but the images of the great city of Beijing were definitely worth it. First a sightseeing tour through the city and then a magnificent tour close to the Great Wall. Spain tried to control the race with a strong Carlos Sastre but when the real guys started to attack it became clear that both Valverde and Contador weren't strong enough. Suddenly Andy Schleck attacked and only Rebellin and our Samu were able to follow him. The three of them raced to the finish but in the last kilometres Kolobnev, Rogers and Cancellara came back. It became the MOST thrilling sprint I've ever seen ! Kolobnev went on first, but way too early. Quickly Rebellin and Samu took him back and Samuel showed that he was the fittest by defeating Rebellin with a bike length.

After the finish you could see the sociable character of Samu, being congratulated by his teammates and other competitors. The podium ceremony became very emotional for him but the images will be forever in our minds. For myself it was like a shock and I was screaming and shivering like hell when Samu crossed the finish first ! Unbelievable that he gave me this birthday present, definitely the best birthday ever !

Burgos 4 : Iñigo still 4th

It goes up and down with Koldo's sprint in the Vuelta a Burgos. After a great victory in the third stage, he couldn't show his skills once again and became 22th, Yauheni Hutarovich once again won. Tomorrow will be the last chance for Iñigo to climb some spots in the general rank. He's now 4th but I'm sure he will try to do better.

Results
1 Yauheni Hutarovich (Blr) Française des Jeux 3.50.18 (42.21 km/h)
2 Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu) Astana
3 Elia Rigotto (Ita) Team Milram
...
22. Koldo Fernandez ST
48. Igor Anton ST
67. Ivan Velasco ST
73. Iñigo Landaluze ST
82. Jorge Azanza ST
109. Alan Perez ST
117. Aitor Hernandez ST

Koldo wins 3rd stage in Burgos

Yes ! Koldo Fernandez did it and won the third stage of the Vuelta a Burgos in a sprint. In the sprint he beat Stefan Van Dijk and the 2nd stage winner Yauheni Hutarovich. It's his 4th win this season. The others all helped to get Koldo's stage victory and Iñigo Landaluze progressed to a 4th stage in the overall rank.


Results
1 Koldo Fernandez De Larrea (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 3.19.43 (44.76 km/h)
2 Stefan Van Dijk (Ned) Mitsubishi-Jartazi
3 Yauheni Hutarovich (Blr) Française des Jeux
...
24. Iñigo Landaluze ST
92. Ivan Velasco ST
114. Igor Anton ST
119. Alan Perez ST
126. Aitor Hernandez ST
134. Jorge Azanza +0:36

Burgos 2 : Koldo bad in sprint

The second stage of the Vuelta a Burgos ended in a sprint but Koldo didn't seem to be in great shape. He ended ninth in a non-sprint field. The stage was one by Yauheni Hutarovich. The other Euskaltel guys had to make pace in the peloton because noone was in the break of the day. Once again Antton Luengo quit the race. I really don't know what's happening with him but it's really sad to see. Hopefully he will get back soon ! Iñigo is still 5th overall so that's promissing.

Results
1 Yauheni Hutarovich (Blr) Française des Jeux 4.13.54 (43.95 km/h)
2 Stéphane Poulhies (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
3 Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu) Astana
...
9. Koldo Fernandez ST
39. Alan Perez ST
64. Iñigo Landaluze ST
80. Igor Anton ST
85. Aitor Hernandez ST
106. Jorge Azanza ST
107. Ivan Velasco ST

Burgos 1 : Iñigo 5th, Anton loses time

Iñigo Landaluze was the best Euskaltel rider in the first stage of the Vuelta a Burgos. He was in the head group of 31 riders and at the end he became 5th, 33 seconds down on winner Andrei Kunitski. In the peloton it was Euskaltel that made the pace for Koldo Fernandez but they weren't able to chase the break of the day down. Anton started as one of the favourites but he already lost more than 3 minutes. Antton Luengo became last :(

Results
1 Andrei Kunitski (Blr) Acqua & Sapone 3.24.45 (43.96 km/h)
2 Julien Loubet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0.18
3 Xabier Zandio Echaide (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 0.21
...
5. Iñigo Landaluze +0:33
40. Alan Perez +2:36
43. Ivan Velasco +2:36
64. Aitor Hernandez +2:36
111. Igor Anton +3:15
114. Jorge Azanza +3:15
120.Koldo Fernandez +3:15
143. Antton Luengo +9:37

Burgos line-up

Koldo Fernandez and Igor Anton will be the biggest hopes for a victory in the upcoming Vuelta a Burgos. Although the parcours might not be hard enough for Igor. The others that have to surprise us and the team are Aitor Galdos, Jorge Azanza, Aitor Hernandez, Iñigo Landaluze, Alan Perez and Ivan Velasco.