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Sorry for the lack of updates lately, but I've been suffering, along with a lot of Norwegians, from a bad internet connection the last few days. But finally it seems to be up and running again so here we go...

Dunkerque concluded on Sunday without any results of notice for the team. Disappointing race overall, but it's their first time in the race, so the most important thing is, I guess, to get accustumed to the style of racing in on the cobbles in the north of France. It'll be good for the team's future in those type of races. On GC, Rubén finished a respectable 27th overall, while Javier was equal on time in 30th place. Good ride by the pair. Mikel Nieve was 83rd, Koldo 94th and Daniel Sesma 103rd. 'Not good, but not horribly bad either' must be the conclusion.

Euskaltel are, as you'll have noticed, not racing in Italy these days, but they will be racing in France from Friday until Sunday in the Tour de Picardie. The hilly three-stage race will see Koldo, Jonathan, Aitor H, Sergio, Miguel, Pablo, Jorge and Gorka Verdugo line up. Alvaro will guide the team, and outlined the team's goals for the race: "Our objective in Picardie is to win a stage. We're bringing a team capable of achieving this goal. To win is always difficult, (...) but we'll go there really geared up and hope to come back having done a good race."

Naturgas enjoyed a solid, if unspectacular, Vuelta a Bidasoa last week. The prestigious four-day race saw Pello Bilbao placing a good seventh overall while the team placed third in the team rankins. On top of that Pello was best Basque, so a good race by him no doubt. Aritz Arberas, head of the under-23 team, was over the moon, saying: "We're very pleased with out participation. We've worked really hard, but it was worth it. We've been present in almost all the breaks, been very aggressive and Mikel Bizkarra, Igor Merino and Pello Bilbao finished high up on GC. The level has been very high in this race, with strong international teams, so we're very pleased".