Factfiles added

The rider factfiles on the right-hand menu has now been updated. Egoi, Josu and Javier have all got their own now, while the departing riders' profiles have been removed. The new profiles, along with the old ones, will get new pics, the official 2008 pics, as soon as they are posted on Euskaltel's website.

Egoi Martínez

• Full name: Egoi Martínez de Esteban
• Date of birth: 15.05.1978
• Place of birth: Etxarri-Aranatz, Navarra
• Turned professional: 2002
• Joined Euskaltel: 2002 and 2008
• Previous teams: Discovery Channel (2006-2007)
• Palmarès: 1st place: Tour de l'Avenir overall 2003, stage 11 of the Vuelta a España 2006, the Mountains Competition of the Vuelta a España 2006. 2nd place: Stage 5 of the Tour de Languedoc-Roussillon 2004, stage 1 of the Vuelta a Castilla y León (ITT) 2007, Klasika Primavera 2009, stage 5 Dauphiné 2012, stage 15 Tour de France 2008. 3rd place: Stage 11 of the Tour de France 2004, stage 1 of the Dauphiné Libéré 2006, stage 1 of the Vuelta a Castilla y León 2006, stage 12 Tour de France 2012. 9th: Overall of the Vuelta a España 2008.

Josu Agirre

• Full name: Josu Agirre Aseginolaza
• Date of birth: 23.05.1981
• Place of birth: Tolosa, Gipuzkoa
• Turned professional: 2006
• Joined Euskaltel: 2008
• Previous teams: Orbea-Oreka SDA (2006-2007)
• Palmarès: 1st place: stage 1 of the Vuelta Ciclista a la Comunidad de Madrid (ITT) 2006

Javier Aramendía

• Full name: Francisco Javier Aramendía Llorente
  
• Date of birth: 05.12.1986
  
• Place of birth: Funes, Navarra
  
• Turned professional: 2007
  
• Joined Euskaltel: 2008
  
• Previous teams: Orbea-Oreka SDA
  
• Palmarès: none

See you on Sunday

So, I'm going away for a few days for some post-Christmas family-visits. I won't be back until Sunday, so now updates until then I'm afraid. Though, I don't think there would be much to write about anyway these days. But if you want to be sure that you don't miss any important news on Euskaltel at least, tune in to http://team-euskaltel.blogspot.com/. See you all on Sunday!

Euskaltel's calendar revised

Fundacion Euskadi head Miguel Madariaga today told Basque newspaper DEIA that Euskaltel will not take part in the Tour of California in February as they had planned. As a consequence, Samu and Egoi will not get the possibility of honing their time trialling skills in the San Diego wind-tunnel. Why they chose not to do California I don't know, but I guess it's got something to do with logistics. The team's participation in the Giro d'Italia, the first of the three Grand Tours, was also cast into doubt. The team will preferably not take to the start in Palermo, but in case they can't find a better alternative, they'll do it. The team, which would be led by, mainly, Iñigo, Dioni and Koldo, have not performed well in Italy the last few years, but I still hope they'll do it. And with riders like the three aforementioned, you've always got a chance of success.

Aramendia reveals 2008 plans

Euskaltel new-boy Javier Aramendia, who's making the jump to the Pro Tour from feeder-team Orbea, revealed his racing-schedule for the first part of 2008 to DEIA today. The "New Miguel Indurain", as he's called, will get a baptism of fire, starting in the first Pro Tour race of the year in January, the Tour Down Under. He will then take to the start in six Spanish races, namely the Challenge Mallorca, Vuelta a Andalucía, Clásica de Almería, Vuelta a Murcia, Vuelta a Castilla y León and the Gran Premio de Llodio. He will then face his biggest goal of the season; the three Northern Classics. Javier will line up in the Ronde van Vlaanderen, in Gent-Wevelgem and in the infamous Paris-Roubaix. Javier is relishing the possibility of doing the "Hell of the North", saying "I'm passionate about that race". Well I'm not, really, but I've always longed to see an Euskaltel rider capable of getting results in those races. Aupa Javier!

Iban's 2008 calendar; not a good one

No, of course I haven't found his schedule somewhere on the net. This is my theory. In an ideal world, he'd do the Vuelta al País Vasco, the Ardennes Classics and the Tour. Something like that I think. The Giro was a success big time this year, but I doubt he'd do it again. Though, we don't live in an ideal world I'm afraid. My realistic theory: He'll be cleared sometime in late February by CAS. He'll be able to race again, but not really. The Spanish races will allow him to start. They love him. France, Belgium, Holland, Italy and those central-European countries don't, as the UCI told them not to. They'll be afraid to allow him to race as the consequences can be huge. The UCI don't like people who don't agree with them. There'll be no Tour, no Giro, no Ardennes Classics. He'll do the País Vasco perhaps, and then all the national races, like Asturias, Rioja, Alcobendas. It'll be a total mess, as Saunier will do everything to get him into the Tour and other big races. But they won't succeed, I'm convinced of that. He'll do a very small program. He'll get some wins, if he manages to motivate himself for those small races. I'm afraid he won't be able to that though, as Iban's a man for the big-stage, a man for the big occasions. But what do I know? I might be mistaken. I probably am. But it doesn't look good, does it?

Merry Christmas

I remember writing this same post last year as well. Last year's post read: "It`s the 23rd of December, so Christmas is all over us again. I just want to take the opportunity to wish all of you a Merry Christmas, or Feliz Navidad as some of you may say. In Norwegian it`s God Jul. Anyway... Enjoy the festive period, and check into Iban Mayo Blog for updates throughout the holidays." Well, it's not the 23rd of December, but except for that my message is similar: enjoy the Holidays! I've been doing this blog for a while now, soon it'll be 15 months since the very first post, titled "Iban to Saunier Duval?", appeared on Iban Mayo Blog. I have no plans of stopping just yet, so, once again, stay tuned for everything Iban and Euskaltel. Merry Christmas!

"Matxin" hits out at McQuaid

Saunier Duval head Joxean "Matxin" Fernández finally showed his anger with the way the UCI is treating Iban. He was especially critical of UCI chief Pat McQuaid, just like me, calling him "the worst thing for cycling". Here's what he said in full: "Pat McQuaid is the worst thing for cycling at the moment. He is destroying cycling, and nobody knows why. I gave him my support many times before, but not now." "Matxin" was also furious with the way his team keep getting bad publicity due to the UCI. Iban and Piepoli both tested "non-negative" in the Giro but, as they both had medical exemptions, there was no need for the UCI to go public with it. Things like that are not supposed to be made official, they're supposed to stay within the organisations when the riders in question have shown their "innocence". All they do is to destroy the reputation of the team and the riders alike, so for me, go to h*** UCI. Destroying the reputation of cycling is not what you're payed to do.

CAS to rule on Iban's future

The "Caso Mayo" is now finally in CAS' hands. The UCI issued a statement on their website, titled "Analysis of Iban Mayo’s B sample: the UCI's position".

It reads:

"Iban Mayo tested positive for EPO on 24 July 2007 during the Tour de France after analysis of an A sample by the Châtenay-Malabry National Anti-Doping Laboratory in Paris.
Following the announcement of this result, the Spanish rider requested an analysis of the B sample. The result of this analysis, conducted by the laboratory in Ghent due to holidays at the Châtenay-Malabry laboratory, could not be qualified as positive or negative.
The Spanish Federation then decided to terminate its disciplinary proceedings against Iban Mayo.

Considering the lack of a conclusive result one way or the other, the UCI requested the Châtenay-Malabry Laboratory to conduct a further analysis of the B sample.
This further test confirms the result of the analysis of the A sample, namely the presence of EPO.

The UCI has thus requested the Spanish Federation to reopen disciplinary proceedings against Iban Mayo for this clear breach of the anti-doping regulations.

The UCI has set a deadline for the Spanish Federation to take a position on this subject. In the event of its refusal to do so, the UCI will refer the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS)."

Some days ago the Spanish Cycling Federation said "no can do", so the UCI has now officially gone to CAS to win this battle, reports Cyclingnews. They're doomed to lose it, but they've decided to give it a try anyway.

Where did you all go?

Iban has got all the support in the world from his fans it seems. His fanbase is huge, much bigger than he probably knows himself. Though, where did the support from his employer go? Wouldn't it be natural that his team, Saunier Duval-Scott, gave him their backing in his dispute with the UCI? I certainly think so, and "Matxin" and all those guys have really let me down on this one. Most teams, if not all, would help their rider if he's being subjected to unfair and disgraceful treatment from the governing body of cycling. I haven't heard a word from them. Well, that's not totally true, I have heard "Matxin" saying something about how he feels bad for Iban and all that, but come on, you guys can do better than that! I guess they're afraid of falling out with the UCI if they support him, and rightly so, but that's not a sufficient excuse. Gianetti, Iban's your employee, he's not being treated the way he should, he's got certain rights as a human being, so get the finger out and do something. An employer is responsible for his/hers employees. That's all that counts; take action.

Spain's got Iban's back

As expected, the Spanish Cycling Federation today confirmed they're on Iban's side in his fight with the UCI. A spokesman for the national federation said: "We're waiting for a war with the UCI. We don't want to go to CAS, but we are prepared to defend our rider". General secretary Eugenio Bermudez objected to the third test of the B-sample in Paris recently, saying "They wanted that second test because they are more interested in a result that works for them". Further, Bermudez defended the cyclists rights in cases like these: "What do we have to do to satisfy people? Change the laws? Destroy each cyclist's career? There are laws for everyone – cyclists, politicians, the UCI – and if Mayo had tested positive on that same day he would have been sanctioned. But the UCI are reading the rules in their own way, which just doesn't work for us." Enough said. Let the war begin.

Poll results: Test to come back positive?

The majority got it right this time; Iban's third B-sample did indeed come back positive. 62 % of the voters predicted this, something which doesn't come as a real surprise given it was tested in Paris.