Aramendía aggressive in Tirreno

Euskaltel, and Javier Aramendía in particular, put their mark on today's first stage proper of the Tirreno-Adriatico. Just three kilometres in, Aramendía slipped away along with Giordani and Kaisen to form the main break of the day. The Euskaltel youngster successfully bested the Italian at both KOMs, and thus got the honour of donning the climber's jersey at stage's end. Going into the third stage, he holds a four-point lead on the Farnese Vini rider. Thanks to his day-long exploits, he's also second only to eventual stage-winner Farrar in the points classification. The trio were never even close to holding off the pack, though, and were reeled in a full 40 kilometres from the line. As the break was caught so soon, several riders subsequently tried to break clear again. Lanky all-rounder JJ Oroz was one of those, but he never really got far. In the sprint for the win, none of the Euskaltel guys managed to mix it up. Only Castroviejo, Martínez and Jon Izagirre managed to stay with the peloton all the way to the line, while Velasco and Oroz conceded 12 seconds. The remaining three, Txurruka, Sesma and Aramendía, ended up 1:31 adrift. In the team rankings, Euskaltel are still dead last.