Antón best Euskaltel rider in ITT

The opening stage of the 2007 edition of the five-day Vuelta a Castilla y León got under way today. On the menu was a 10 km long ITT in and around Zamora. Igor Antón showed his TT-skills are improving race by race, and was the best placed Euskaltel rider today. He came in 21st, only 26 seconds adrift of winner Vladimir Karpets. Iñigo Landaluze was 28th, 33 seconds adrift, Andoni Aranaga 32nd, 34 seconds behind, Haimar Zubeldia 56th, 50 seconds adrift, Andoni Lafuente 66th, 56 seconds back. Aitor Galdos was 1:13 behind, while Amets Txurruka and Alan Pérez were 1:14 and 1:15 behind respectively. Afterwards, Igor spoke to Euskaltel`s homepage, and had this to say: " The result was better than I hoped. Though my finish wasn`t very good, I`ve done a good TT, and that gives me confidence for the following days. The fourth stage, which ends on the Alto de Nevacerrada, will be a desicive stage. There are plenty of good riders here, like Sastre and Basso, in addition to Karpets, who`s already shown what state of form he`s in. To see how that stage goes will be interesting, as that will show how my form is coming along."

Looking ahead to tomorrow, a sprint will likely be the result as the day is mainly flat. Aitor Galdos will be Euskaltel`s man if a sprint is set-up, and he`s one of the favourites for sure. Aitor spoke to www.fundacioneuskadi.com today about tomorrow`s stage: "In Santarém I was in the front, though the truth is that I`m way off my best form. The fall (he fell heavily in the recent Vuelta a Murcia) still causes pain to my back, something that`s prevented me from training well these last weeks. Anyway, I`m feeling better, and tomorrow can be a good day to measure my form and to see what I`m capable of in this race".