Naturgas update

Its been a hectic few days for la Fundación Euskadi's under-23 team. The youngsters in red took part in the 12th edition of the Memorial Jesús Loroño in Larrabetzu on Saturday (a Torneo Lehendakari-race), while another batch of riders took part in French four-stage race Tour du Piémont Pyrénéen, which came to a close yesterday.

• Larrabetzu: Naturgas did not managed to emulate their win of 2009 (through Peio Bilbao) on Saturday. Grijalba was the team's top finisher in 13th, while Merino was a distant 23rd in a rather discreet performance overall for the team. No-one else completed the race. Orbea rider (and reportedly Euskaltel-bound) Mikel Bizkarra grabbed a nice fifth in last year's edition.
• Piémont Pyrénéen: The team struggled to impose themselves on the Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle-designed course throughout. García, Ocampos, Larriñaga, Legarra, González and Chetout were picked to ride by DS Arberas, but García's 16th on stage one and Chetout's 16th on stage four were all they had to show for their efforts. On GC they finished: 18 - García, 34 - Larriñaga, 36 - Ocampos, 52 - González, 54 - Chetout. The latter finished fifth in the sprint competition, while the team placed sixth in the team rankings.