Antón defeated by Movistar in Amorebieta

Suspiciously absent in the Vuelta al País Vasco, Igor Antón proved there's nothing wrong with his form by taking third place in yesterday's Klasika Primavera de Amorebieta. The Euskaltel climber was just pipped to the line by Movistar duo Giovanni Visconti and Alejandro Valverde.

The 29-year-old jumped clear with the two Movistar riders as well as with their team-mate and Antón's erstwhile companion David López García on the Autzagane climb some five kilometres from the line. With the ever-impressive but hardly elegant Ángel Madrazo of Movistar also in close attendance, it was always going to be a hard proposition for Antón to better the Movistar quartet to the line. In a tight sprint finish at the end of the 171,6 kilometres, Italian Visconti emerged victorious ahead of Valverde and Antón, the latter thus securing his best result of the season.

Upon crossing the line, Antón told El Correo that he was relieved to grab such a result after a Vuelta al País Vasco that left him low on morale.

"Yes, this result does make me feel better", he said. "I prepared really well for the Vuelta, but for some reason it just didn't happen for me. I was tired. The first stage to Güeñes went well, but the next stage to Vitoria wasn't as good. Why? I don't know, perhaps it was the cold, the rain... On stage three to Arrate I wasn't that bad, but still I wasn't up there. The last two days I suffered badly though - not once during the race did I feel good. I was low on morale, but this result helps".

Looking towards the upcoming hilly classics, Antón was cautiously optimistic.

"We'll see how it goes. I hope to regain the form I had this time last year. And I don't think I'm that far off".

For extensive photo gallery, check this out.

Antón wasn't the only one in orange who got to stand on the podium though. Amets Txurruka won the climber's jersey after animating the race in the break of the day alongside young team-mate Peio Bilbao, Orbea's talented Aritz Bagües, the still-promising Garikoitz Bravo of Caja Rural, and Bessy of Saur-Sojasun, Veloso of Andalucía and Pacheco of Gios. This strong-looking breakaway never got much more than three minutes, and were reeled in with some 15 clicks to go.

Mikel Landa, Iván Velasco, Miguel Minguez and Romain Sicard all came up with decent performances, finishing in the main chase group at 39 seconds.

Results (Orbea riders in cursive):

• (1, Giovanni Visconti, Movistar)
• 3, Igor Antón, s.t.
• 17, Mikel Landa, 0:39
• 18, Iván Velasco, s.t.
• 20, Miguel Minguez, s.t.
• 23, Romain Sicard, s.t.
• 28, Gorka Izagirre, 2:05
• 30, Igor Merino, 2:14
• 33, Amets Txurruka, s.t.
• 39, Xabier Zabalo, s.t.
• 41, Peio Bilbao, s.t.
• 42, Mikel Nieve, s.t.
• 51, Haritz Orbe, 3:21
• 52, Mikel Bizkarra, 4:14
• 57, Illart Zuazubiskar, 4:44
• 61, Jon Aberasturi, s.t.
• 63, Aritz Etxebarria, s.t.
• 70, Victor Cabedo, 5:49
• 71, Aritz Bagües, s.t.
• 74, Carlos Barbero, 6:47