Igor Merino 3rd in Elgoibar

Naturgas rouleur Igor Merino, current Basque sub-23 time trial champ, took an excellent third in Sunday's Memorial Etxaniz in Elgoibar. The hilly one-day race saw Jesús Herrada add another win to his rapidly-expanding palmares, the Caja Rural climber breaking away from Adrián López of Seguros Bilbao and Merino on the ascent to Azkarate. López edged out Merino for second, both coming in at 39 seconds, while Pello Bilbao claimed ninth and Jon Larrinaga 10th. These results mean Merino is still placed third overall in the Torneo Lehendakari rankings. After the race, DS Arberas was quick to praise Carlos Barbero, who spent the day in the main break but later suffered a crash. "I want to emphasize the work done by Carlos Barbero, who initiated a day-long breakaway", he said post-race. "He crashed towards the end, but his work was impeccable. Bad luck".