Ronde de l'Isard & Estella round-up

Orbea took part in the three-day Ronde de l'Isard over the weekend with a team consisting of Aberasturi, Bagües, Bizkarra, Cabedo and Martín. Bizkarra managed to crack the top 10 on the last stage, taking a fine 9th place, but other than that it was tough going for the men in blue. Thanks to his 14th place on Saturday's queen-stage couple with his ninth yesterday, Bizkarra finished a creditable 10th overall. Martín ended up in 24th (having spent the last day in the main break), Bagües in 38th and Aberasturi in 53rd. Asturias stage-winner Cabedo abandoned during the second stage.

Naturgas didn't have the best of luck over the weekend either. The red brigade got two men - Alain González and Loic Chetôut - into an early move in yesterday's race in Estella, but they were reeled in rather quickly and a new big group formed at the front with no Naturgas riders in it. Naturgas were left with the responsibility in the pack but ended up doing a lot of work for nothing. On the up-side, though, González took out the intermediate sprints jersey. In other Naturgas-related news, the Euskadi ITT championships is coming up. To prepare for the rendezvous, Grijalba, Merino, Chetôut, Carazo, Baudron and González held a training session together around the Orduna climb yesterday. Merino, an expert against the clock, will be aiming to take the crown for sure.