Koldo oh so close

Koldo came close to his first win of the year in his first race, placing second to Robbie McEwen in the first stage of the Challenge de Baleares, more commonly referred to as the Trofeo Palma. Though second places isn't really worth anything in professional sport, it's still good to me, as it indicates he's been training well over the winter. There are more important races coming up later for Koldo. The whole team, consisting of JJ, Jorge, Mikel, Iván, Gorka, Iñaki, Sergio, Rubén and Alán, did well, driving the bunch towards the end to set up Koldo. As a result some of them didn't manage to keep up at the end, coming in a few seconds behind the peloton. Mikel came in 7 seconds back, Alán, Sergio and Gorka at 11, with JJ a further 8 seconds back.

Orbea had an impressive performance, placing Xabier Zabalo in the break of the day, while Jon Aberasturi did very well indeed to grab 12th in his first professional race. Jon Izagirre, Mikel Landa, Beñat Urain and Andoni Blazquez all came in with the main pack, while Aritz Etxebarria ended up 11 seconds back and Xabier Zabalo 19. The promising Noel Martín wasn't on his best day, ending up dead last, 4:27 back.