Euskaltel unlucky in Giro opener

Euskaltel`s next-to-last place on today`s opening TTT of the Giro d`Italia is flattering for the team. Euskaltel ended up a full 2:53 adrift of Liquigas, the winning team, but the performance wasn`t all bad. In fact, the stage started out quite well, with the riders jamming good together. The first time-check was as a result quite good, but on the first climb, it all turned black for Euskaltel. The team somehow split in two, with three riders suddenly off the pace. The team decided to wait for them, and all fluency was lost. Just to make matters worse, Antton Luengo, the all-important fifth man, fell heavily with less than a km to go, so the team had to wait for him as well. As a result of his crash, I would say Euskaltel lost close to a minute, so luck certainly wasn`t on their side today. The five riders who made the cut for Euskaltel were Aitor Hernández, Markel Irizar, Aketza Peña, Beñat Albizuri and Antton Luengo. Joseba Zubeldia came in 3:22 back, while Koldo Fernández, Iván Velasco and Dioni Galparsoro came in together at 4:38 from the winner. All we can do is to look forward to tomorrow`s stage, a stage suited to Euskaltel`s fast-man Koldo Fernández.