Briefs

• Euskaltel will send the following eight riders to the two Canadian one-day WorldTour-events coming up this weekend: Sánchez, Astarloza, A Pérez, J Izagirre, Sicard, Landa, Mínguez and Velasco. Source: www.cyclingstarlists.com
• Victor Cabedo finished 63rd at 10:24 on today's third stage of the Tour de l'Avenir. The Orbea rider occupies the same spot on GC. Fraile, who'll team up with Orbea next year, ended up next to last at a full 24:49.
• Arabic TV channel Al Jazeera visited Euskaltel's headquarters and interviewed president Miguel Madariaga here the other day to get the Fundación Euskadi supremo's view on the Vuelta's return to the Basque Country, writes www.fundacioneuskadi.com. Madariaga was naturally "very pleased" with the fact that, 33 years on, the Spanish Grand Tour is finally returning "home".
• Naturgas will send a seven-man team to tomorrow's Torneo Lehendakari-race in Urduliz. DS Urretxua will call on the services of Baudron, Ocampos, Merino, Carazo, Larrinaga, Barbero and García.
• Despite finishing a solid fifth in Vioño on Monday, Fernando Grijalba lost his overall lead in the Copa Ibérica. Grijalba formed part of the winning five-man move but uncharacteristically lost the sprint and the rankings lead with it. Though disappointed post-race, DS Arberas was still happy with the team's performance as a whole. "The team worked really well", he told Euskaltel's homepage. "We neutralized a break that formed towards the end, but Grijalba lost the sprint on the top of the climb and the Copa Ibérica-lead with it as he was surpassed on points. Nonetheless, I'm pleased as we worked well as a unit and took control of the race". A González finished 61st, A Guinea 66th and K Baudron 69th.
• Aitor Ocampos had a good ride to finish with the 35-man strong peloton on today's fourth and penultimate stage in Salamanca. Ocampos - who's in his last year with the team - finished the stage in 32nd place, while Larrinaga was 36th at eight seconds. Chetout and Merino came home 19:34 in arrears, while Carazo was 80th at 23:20. Damien García was forced to pull out.