"On a scale from one to ten, we earned a ten"

Orbea DS Aritz Arberas lauded the team's performance in the recently concluded Vuelta a Castilla y León. On the team's website, the former Naturgas prodigy (as pictured above) expressed his delight with his young charges.

"I'm very pleased - we were at our game. We did a good Vuelta. We fought and succeeded in being present in all the breaks. It was very positive", he enthused.

The blue team failed to make an impression results-wise, but for Arberas that's not the most important thing at this stage of the riders' careers.

"Don't forget that one of our goals at this team is to learn. Our team is filled with young riders eager to do just that and eventually turn pro. Our chance is to animate the racing. We addressed the mistakes we made and learned from them. In that sense, it was a very enriching experience".

Next up for the Continental-ranked team in Sunday's Vuelta a la Rioja, now a single-day race.

Photo: www.fundacioneuskadi.com