Tirreno-Adriatico stage 6

Good overall performance from the team in today's sixth and penultimate stage of the Tirreno-Adriatico. The hilly 178km stage to Macerata saw Euskaltel place four (!) riders inside the top 30 on the stage. Castroviejo was once again brilliant and crossed the line alongside Kolobnev at just 26 seconds for 20th place. Velasco showed signs of form by taking the next spot at just 28 seconds, while the sensational Jon Izagirre claimed a stellar 26th place, just 36 seconds down on winner Evans, and JJ Oroz completed the good team performance by taking 27th at 29 seconds. Oroz even found time to attack the pack 11 kilometres out, and once again with just two clicks remaining, so he's definetely approaching top form. The superb performance of these riders made sure Euskaltel finished an impressive third in the team rankings today, and, with just one stage to go, they lay 4th overall. That's brilliant stuff after an all but brilliant start to the race. Amets Txurruka is quietly going about his business as he aims to peak in April, finishing 40th today, at 2:57. Egoi Martínez has his eyes fixed on País Vasco next month, but finishing nine minutes down means he's got a lot of hard work ahead of him if he wants to shine in the big rendez-vous. Sesma came home 105th at 13:52, while previous mountains jersey holder Aramendía ended up 21:31 in arrears.

Just one stage remain of this year's edition of the race; a 9,3km ITT in San Benedetto del Tronto tomorrow. I have high hopes for Castroviejo, who's already a proven performer in the discipline, and a good ride tomorrow might just propell him into the top 20 overall. Going into tomorrow's final day, the riders are placed the following on GC:

• 23rd, Jonathan Castroviejo, 2:16
• 24th, Jon Izagirre, 2:41
• 25th, Juan José Oroz, 3:55
• 40th, Egoi Martínez, 13:19
• 41st, Iván Velasco, 13:38
• 44th, Amets Txurruka, 14:51
• 114th, Javier Aramendía, 59:05
• 140th, Daniel Sesma, 1:17:21