Romain 9th in Rioja

Euskaltel put on a decent show in today's Vuelta a la Rioja. The one-time stage-race was, just like yesterday's GP Llodio, won by Angel Vicioso. Euskaltel put four men, Jorge, Miguel, Jonathan and Beñat, in the day's break. Getting four riders in a break is no mean feat, but unfortunately Xacobeo-Galicia reeled them all back in. As mentioned in the headline, Romain went on to claim a good 9th place, leading home a 8-man strong group 1:36 down. Good showing from him, who also went on to win the under-23 category in the race. Javier placed 39th and Gorka Izagirre 58th, while the rest of the riders abandoned. After the race, Igor González de Galdeano expressed his contentment. "The evaluation of this race is positive. We worked well during the race. We were active from the start and put four men in the break of the day, being the best-represented team up front. Minguez, Castroviejo, Azanza and Intxausti gave us presence in the break. Xacobeo-Galicia did very well to neutralize the group. Sicard was very good in the final part of the race. We're talking about very young riders here and they're all showing quality. It's good to see and it gives us satisfaction that young riders like Minguez, Izagirre, Castroviejo, Sicard and Intxausti are all performing at a high level. For that reason out participation has been a success."

Orbea didn't really step up today, Beñat Urain being their best rider in 41st place more than 8 minutes back. Mikel Ilundain was 67th, Jon Aberasturi 68th, Andoni Blázquez 78th and Noel Martín 80th. Not the best of days, but for a young team like Orbea it's not always the results that matter.