Paris-Tours: No big surprise

Euskaltel hasn't been able to add a race to their victory count of 2008 in Paris-Tours. Despite the good work everyone did to stay around Samuel Sanchez, the parcours wasn't tough enough for him. Of course the lack of Koldo Fernandez played a big role in this, cause with his form of the Tour de Vendée he could have been able to compete for a good spot. At the end Samuel Sanchez was the best Euskaltel rider on a 28th place, finishing with the first big group. Ivan Velasco stayed a very long time with Samuel and finished in the second group.

Results
1. Philippe Gilbert FDJ
2. Jan Kuyckx Landbouwkrediet ST
3. Sébastien Turgot Bouygues Telecom ST
...
28. Samuel Sanchez +0:04
52. Ivan Velasco +1:13
66. Alan Perez +1:43
85. Aitor Hernandez +1:43
96. Markel Irizar +1:43
116. Javier Aramendia +1:43
117. Iñigo Landaluze 1:43
149. Josu Agirre +2:58

Pablo Urtasun is the new man

As De Galdeano announced before, there would be another man for next year and now we have a name ... Pablo Urtasun ! The 28 year old Basque rider comes over from Liberty Seguros. Good news is that he can win a race cause for three years now, he has been able to get a victory every year. This year he won the 6th stage in the Vuelta a Asturias. He's known as a fast man and that will be necessary since he has been transfered to the team to help Koldo in the sprints. This will probably the last transfer for Euskaltel this year.

Samu wins Criterium de Valencia

Samuel Sanchez has won the Criterium de Valencia last sunday. The race consisted of 4 types of races, Samu won the points race and also the overall ranks. This means Samie is still in good form and hopefully will be able to see this in Lombardia. The criterium was also a goodbye for Juan Llaners, a rider I will always admire because of his strength to continue after what happened with Isaac Galvez.

Koldo wins Tour de Vendee !!!

Today Koldo Fernandez took home his 5th victory of the season. After a normal race, it came down to a sprint and just like the two last years a Basque won. Although this time it wasn't Mikel Gaztañaga, but our Koldo Fernandez. With 8 victories, Euskaltel has now the same amount of victories as last year. Now that Koldo is in form, he can maybe try something in Paris-Tours.


Results
1 Koldo Fernandez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 5.09.50 (39.892 km/h)
2 Kristof Goddaert (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen
3 Anthony Geslin (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
...
48. Iñigo Landaluze ST
49. Ivan Velasco ST

Euskaltel present at Circuito de Pamplona

A few Euskaltel riders will compete in the upcoming Circuito de Pamplona on 12 october. Haimar Zubeldia, Amets Txurruka and the riders from Navarro will be present. As far as I know Jon Bru, Jorge Azanza, Alan Perez, Gorka Verdugo, Egoi Martinez and Javier Aramendia are all from Navarro, but the the last three will definitely not be competing.

Tour de Vendee Line-up

Euskaltel will be present at the Tour de Vendee in France next sunday. With a strong team, they will try to get another victory for the team. Koldo Fernandez will be the main goal, if there's a sprint. Otherwise Iñigo Landaluze, Beñat Albizuri, Alan Perez, Ivan Velasco, Aitor Galdos, Javier Aramendia or Dioni Galparsoro can give it a shot.

World Championships : Samu 22th

Samuel Sanchez, the lonely representative of Euskaltel at the WCs, wasn't able to repeat his succes story of the Olympic Games. In an exciting race, he didn't get in the right break and couldn't really do anything else cause Joaquim Rodriguez, his team mate, did get into the right break. At the end he became 22th, finishing before the peloton with big favourites as Bettini, Boonen, Freire and Valverde. Of course you all know that Ballan became the new World Champion because of a great attack.

Txurruka wins Criterium Jokin Ormaetxea

Once again the best Basque riders came together for the Memorial Jokin Ormaetxea. Just like with Haimar last year, an Euskaltel rider was able to win the race that is held in three parts. Koldo Fernandez won the points race, Igor Romero the elimination race but it was Amets Txurruka that took the overall victory. Second became the promissing youngster Beñat Intxausti, third Mikel Astarloza.

What's still to come in 2008?

With the end of the Vuelta, the last goal of the season for Euskaltel is over, but of course the finish ain't over yet. First of all we will get the World Championships with our Samuel Sanchez. What will the spanish tactics be? Will the race be a tough one? and of course : will Samu be able to win this medal too. All the answers on sunday so stay tuned! For Euskaltel three races are still to go, two of them in France with the Tour de Vendée and Paris-Tour. We should probably don't get our hopes to high up for these but for the third race, the Tour de Lombardia we can expect something. Last year Euskaltel did a very good job there so I'm hoping that Euskaltel will do well on Italian ground for once.

Next to the races, we also hope for some new transfers. The first that come to my mind are Castroviejo, Herrero, Intxausti and Gaztañaga, but of course there are other great riders from the Basque Country so you never know.

Vuelta end rankings

With an 9th place in the general rank for Egoi Martinez we can be very happy. But we all now that it could, should and would be much more without that ******* fall of Igor Anton. I'm pretty sure he would be able to get a spot in the top 5 and seeing the others riding the last days, I think he would be able to get on the podium. Leaving this Vuelta without a stage victory is very disappointing, especially when we look at the last years in Spain. All Euskaltel riders ended in the top 100 so that's a good fact of course :) Next time better ...

1 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana 80.40.08
2 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Astana 0.46
3 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC - Saxo Bank 4.12
...
9. Egoi Martinez +10:57
28. Mikel Astarloza +45:14
41. Ruben Perez +58:40
45. Amets Txurruka +1:05:52
51. Ivan Velasco +1:12:10
63. Iñigo Landaluze +1:30:15
69. Alan Perez +1:35:03
94. Koldo Fernandez +2:09:33

Vuelta Round up

Although I haven't been able to update my blog, I have been able to follow the Vuelta and notice the ups and downs of the team. After the one 'black' day in the Vuelta where Egoi obviously lost his jersey, and the super strong Igor Anton had to give up, everything seemed over. Despite this, the remaining boys did gave everything in their bodies to gain a stage, but unfortunately they didn't succeed. I saw a very strong Alan Perez, whose ready to win a big race in the upcoming year and should have won the stage that Erviti won. Koldo once again wasn't able to win but did a good job in placing himself among the best, now he has to take the next level next year. Amets Txurruka also deserves a special mention just because of all the work he did for the team !!!

I'm Back

Due to some connection problems with my laptop and a stupid illness, I haven't been able to update my blog. But... I'm back now and of course I will inform you again with everything Euskaltel.

Tour of Poland Line-up

The olympic champion Samuel Sanchez will be the leader of the orange squad in the Tour of Poland. He will be supported by Josu Agirre, Jorge Azanza, Javier Aramendia, Aitor Hernandez, Andoni Lafuente, Markel Irizar and Iñaki Isasi. Hopefully the race will be tough enough for Samuel to maybe win a stage or even the whole thing.

Samu leaving Euskaltel ?

After the heartbreaking news about Haimar Zubeldia, we, Euskaltelfans, are in for another 'treat'. Yesterday the news came out that there's a possibility that Samuel Sanchez will leave the team too. First there was the news that he will get a 1.2 million contract from Cervelo, but now there's also interest from the new Russian team Katyusha. Madariage said that they won't going to just 'give' him away and they will be offering him 900.000, but I think more will be impossible. I really really really hope Samuel will make the right decision and stay with the team that made him the rider he is now!

Vuelta Rest Day Standings

General Rank
What can I say ? Whit Egoi in the Gold Jersey it's of course going great with Euskaltel! He's wearing the maillot for 5 days now and it has been unforgetable days for Euskaltel. Igor Anton is still placed good for an overall performance and seeing his great form, he might be able to win a stage in the upcoming days or place himself on the podium.

1 Egoi Martinez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 45.48.33
2 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Astana 0.11
3 Alberto Contador (Spa) Astana 0.29
...
6. Igor Anton +2:23
47. Mikel Astarloza +29:28
61. Ruben Perez +37:42
62. Amets Txurruka +38:39
74. Iñigo Landaluze +43:16
81. Ivan Velasco +48:39
83. Alan Perez +49:36
97. Koldo Fernandez +57:38

Points Classification
In the team classification Euskaltel isn't doing as good as I hoped to. Koldo Fernandez has been able to place himself good a few times but the real victory or podium spots weren't left for him yet. Hopefully this will change but I don't think Euskaltel will play a big role here.

1 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) Silence - Lotto 99 pts
2 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Gerolsteiner 76
3Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick Step 75
...
11. Koldo Fernandez 50
18. Igor Anton 30
22. Egoi Martinez 26
61. Alan Perez 5

Mountain Classification
In the mountain classification it's the same as in the point classification. There's no one in the highest regions, though Landaluze is placed ok on a 10th spot. Maybe a small remark, the biggest mountains are still to come so a lot will change here in the coming days.

1 David Moncoutié (Fra) Cofidis 87 pts
2 Alessandro Ballan (Ita) Lampre 51
3 Juan Manuel Garate (Spa) Quick Step 42
...
10. Iñigo Landaluze 22
12. Igor Anton 18
18. Egoi Martinez 14
26. Alan Perez 9
38. Amets Txurruka 5

Combination Classification
Actually this is a crappy and worthless combination, I much more prefer the young riders classification like in the Tour and Giro cause it says much more than this one. Egoi Martinez has been leading this classification for a few days but is now 10th. If Igor is going strong like he's doing at the moment, I can see him winning this one, but it will be difficult (and unimportant.

1 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana 14 pts
2 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Astana 27
3 David Moncoutié (Fra) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 28
...
7. Igor Anton 36
10. Egoi Martinez 41
37. Alan Perez 170

Team Classification
With Egoi leading and Igor 6th, Euskaltel is of course doing a great job now. Sadly there isn't really a strong third man at the moment, although I can see Astarloza, Landaluze, Perez or Txurruka gaining some time so that they might become second. Astana will probably be unbeatable, but Caisse should be possible.

1 Astana 137.14.39
2 Caisse D'Epargne 0.10
3 Euskaltel - Euskadi 1.43