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.

Mikel doped too

After a day that started so good with the win of Koldo Fernandez in the Circuito de Getxo, the news was released that Mikel Astarloza doped himself before the Tour de France. He was set on non-active by the team.

I'm deeply shocked and I'm going to take some time to think about what to do with this blog. I was kind of upset and discouraged after the news of Iñigo but I just can't describe what I'm feeling at the moment.

Mikel keeps on rising

This Tour de France has become a fairytale for Mikel Astarloza and it just keeps on going on. After the heavy queens stage yesterday, there was a tough time trial ahead. Mikel did a pretty good job finishing 20th, only 3 seconds behind Andy Schleck and leaving behind great riders like Sastre, Menchov and Kreuziger. Now all what's left for him is the stage with the Mont Ventoux and if he can cope that, he will be 9th in Paris! For the others tomorrow will be a day of attacks, I'll suspect one of them, Alan or Juanjo, will go in the attack and maybe even make it to the finish. Let's hope so!

Mikel 10th in GC

After his fabulous win in the 16th stage, Mikel was able to follow the second groupe with a lot of grinta in the queens stage of this years Tour de France. Carlos Sastre dropped out of the top 10 and was replaced by Mikel. Of course this is great but there are still two big hurdles to take, the time trial of today and the Mont Ventoux. Hopefully he will still have all his power in the time trial cause he got some strong competitors like Kreuziger, Nocentini and Sastre. Aupa!

Mikel con las manos al aire!

Unbelievable, fantastic, amazing, super. All the words I can't think of at this moment. Mikel did it, he finally won something, and not just anything, a stage in the biggest event of the year The Tour de France! Together with Anton and Verdugo he got once again in an early break. At the last climb of the day it didn't look to good when Van den Broucke and Pellizotti took off, but on his own strength he was able to join them. Just before the top also Moinard was able to come back and the four of them were off for a thrilling descent. Four of the guys that weren't able to follow the four leaders did their best to get back and at 3 kilometres before the finish it looked like they were able to come back. Moinard took off but he didn't get away. Then it was time for our Mikel to try his luck and the other guys all had to pass. He got away and rood like he never did before and won the stage. With a victory sign of relief and satisfaction he conquered the Tour and said to the world that he's not just a loser, but a great rider! What a great moment for himself, Euskaltel and of course all the fans!

Mikel drops in GC

Finally! That's the first word that comes to my mind after seeing yesterday's stage. All the bullshit can stop about Armstrong vs. Contador, now it's very clear that Contador is the strongest and no one will beat him, he's just the greatest stage rider at the moment. Just to get that out of my system, back to Euskaltel. For Euskaltel the day wasn't as good as we wished. Egoi and Mikel both went in the attack. Mikel of course did this to anticipate for the final climb or to get some time back in the hopes that the break would stay away. After some battles Egoi and Franco Pellizotti decided to drop out of the break because they probably were tired after the fierce fights that week. Unfortunatly the break didn't get a lead out and Mikel clearly gave it all, so he couldn't follow the best riders. He came in 21th and is now 19th in the GC. Also Igor Anton is coming through as he finished 16th and room for improving.

Stage Result
1. Alberto Contador ASTANA 5:03:58
2. Andy Schleck SAXO BANK +0:43
3. Vincenzo Nibali LIQUIGAS +1:03
...
16. Igor Anton +2:33
21. Mikel Astarloza +2:41
31. Amets Txurruka +3:43
59. Haimar Zubeldia +6:22
71. Gorka Verdugo +7:41
89. Alan Perez +12:11
90. Ruben Perez +12:11
93. Egoi Martinez +12:11
139. Juan José Oroz +18:12

General Classification
1. Alberto Contador ASTANA 63:17:56
2. Lance Armstrong ASTANA +1:37
3. Bradley Wiggins GARMIN +1:46
...
19. Mikel Astarloza +5:37
28. Haimar Zubeldia +10:30
43. Amets Txurruka +21:18
65. Igor Anton +41:49
66. Gorka Verdugo +42:57
93. Juan José Oroz +1:08:49
105. Ruben Perez +1:15:54
141. Alan Perez +1:49:35

Iñigo admits and quits cycling

Iñigo Landaluze has confessed that he doped himself. 'I'm the only person responsable for this and I want to make clear that Euskaltel has nothing to do with this' he responded to ABC.es. After the news was released by the UCI that he took CERA, the new generation of doping, he announced that he won't wait for the B-sample and quits cycling. As a reason for his mistake he said that he wanted to make the Tour, cause he was in the preselection. But there were found weird values of certain substances in his urine so the team took him out of the preselection and put him on non-active. Nothing to blame Euskaltel for because their method of control can't detect CERA apparently.