Orbea getting ready for new season

Euskaltel's feeder team Orbea will again line up for the 2010 season as a Continental team. The roster this year counts 12 riders, with 7 of these coming in from other teams. Last year Jonathan Castroviejo, Romain Sicard, Minguel Mínguez and Daniel Sesma made the leap to Euskaltel, and, judging by the quality at new sports director Alex Diaz's hands, they'll look to get another rider or two into the Pro Tour by season's end. Andoni Blázquez, Ricardo García, Mikel Ilundain, Joseba Larralde and Beñat Urain will stay on for another year with the team, while Mikel Landa, Jon Aberasturi, Noel Martín and Xabier Zabalo will join from la Fundacion Euskadi's under-23 team Naturgas Energía. Adrián Sáez de Arregi will join from the highly productive Caja Rural, while Aritz Etxeberria will join from fellow Basque amateur team Bidelan-Kirolgi. An interesting addition to the team this year is the talented Jon Izagirre, who comes over from Seguros Bilbao. Jon's older brother, Gorka, joined Euskaltel this year and has already made quite an impression for his new team in Australia. Jon will no doubt look to join Gorka at the Pro Tour level in a few years. Aitor Olano, who I expected great things from a couple of years ago, had to leave Orbea at the end of the 2009 season, along with Ibon Lavín, Eriz Ruiz de Erentxun and Eneko Echeverz. While the class of 2010 might not contain potential world-beaters like Sicard and Castroviejo, the line-up still looks pretty good. Keep an eye on the aforementioned Izagirre Jr, as well as Sáez de Arregi and Urain and Ilundain. Given that Alvaro González de Galdeano joined hermano Igor at Euskaltel this year, Alex Díaz will be the head of Orbea this year. "We have a very young team, but all the riders are intent on showing they deserve to turn pro. That's our motivation this season", the new man at the helm said recently. Their motivation will mostly be channeled towards the usual races, namely the GP Miguel Indurain, Subida a Urkiola, Circuito de Getxo, Klasika de Amorebieta, GP Llodio and the Klasika de Ordizia. Watch this space.