Bilbao 6th in Gernika; still leads rankings

Stand-out Naturgas youngster Pello Bilbao grabbed yet another top 10 placing yesterday to hold on to his overall Torneo Euskaldun lead. Yesterday's LX GP San Bartolomé, in and around the historical city of Gernika, saw the ever-impressive Yelco Gomez of the powerful under-23 Caja Rural team take a solo win, coming in eight seconds ahead of the main group of favourites. In this group was Pello Bilbao who took sixth, Igor Merino who grabbed seventh, and Mikel Bizkarra who grabbed 13th. Aitor Ocampos came in at 1:23 in 22nd place. Due to another strong showing, Bilbao is still leading the prestigious Torneo Euskaldun, the Basque Federation's sub-23 rankings, overall. The climber, who's expected to join Orbea next year, is looking a very good bet for that overall win.