Euskaltel brilliant today

Euskaltel enjoyed a brilliant day today in the Vuelta al Pais Vasco. Samu placed second on the stage, meaning he lies 3rd overall going into the last stage, a 14 km ITT.

Not just Samu did a great job today. The whole team did a magnificent ride. Aitor grabbed more points and secured the mountains jersey, while, quite literally, the rest of the team went in break after break. At one point, Euskaltel had no less than three riders in a break. That break looked good, but it split up underways. In the end it was only Mikel Astarloza and Juanjo Cobo left. Then Samu decided to have a go. He managed to get across to the two leaders right before the start of the gruelling Alto de Jaizkibel. Here, Mikel totally sacrificed himself for the team leader. He dropped backwards after a little while, but all credit to Mikel, he really was extraordinary today. On the last climb though, Samu got trouble, and when Cobo attacked, he couldn`t respond. But, Samu dug dip and managed to get second on the day and, with the rest of the favourites coming in further back, Samu jumped from 7th to 3rd overall. Samu now looks to be a good bet for a podium place overall for sure. Here`s how the Euskaltel riders placed today:

• 2nd, Samu Sánchez, 1:03
• 27th, Mikel Astarloza, 6:26
• 29th, Jorge Azanza, 8:58
• 35th, Rubén Pérez, 9:01
• 49th, Aitor Hernández, 15:06
• 65th, Gorka Verdugo, 20:00
• 67th, Unai Etxebarria, 20:02
• 94th, Iñigo Landaluze 26:22

Overall:

• 3rd, Samu Sánchez, 1:20
• 18th, Mikel Astarloza, 7:52
• 34th, Jorge Azanza, 23:40
• 50th, Rubén Pérez, 36:59
• 57th, Gorka Verdugo, 45:29
• 77th, Aitor Hernández, 58:46
• 85th, Unai Etxebarria, 1:07:59
• 90th, Iñigo Landaluze, 1:17:26

In the team rankings Euskaltel advanced to 5th overall, while Aitor has officially, if he finishes tomorrow, won the mountains jersey. Well done Aitor!