February calendar

Euskaltel will line up in three races in February. That's not really much, but then Euskaltel have always been "soft" starters. First up is the Challenge Mallorca, which runs from the 10th to the 14, and which includes five one-day races. There are some climbs on this year's route, so hopefully Haimar, Mikel and Amets, who're all looking for strong early-season performances, can pull off some good results. Then comes the five-stage Vuelta a Andalucía - Ruta Ciclista del Sol, which starts on the 17th. The Ruta del Sol is known as a sprinter's paradise, so Euskaltel should field either Aitor Galdos or Koldo, or perhaps both. The last race Euskaltel have planned for February is the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana, running from the 26th to the 1st of March.

Line-ups news

Euskaltel have, according to http://www.cyclingstartlists.com/, nominated 14 riders for the annual Spanish season-opener Challenge Illes Balears-Volta a Mallorca. The race, consisting of 5 independent one-day races, starts at the 10th of Ferbruary, and the teams can field different riders for each race. Josu Agirre, Beñat, Javier, Haimar, the two Aitors, Amets, Rubén, Jon, Markel, Iñigo, Andoni, Iván and Gorka will all probably start at least one of the races. Unai Etxebarria won the last of the five races last year, the Trofeo Calvia, so the team will be eager to emulate that success this time round. Concerning another race, namely the Vuelta a Andalucía, or the Ruta del Sol as it's better known, Igor has got that race on his calendar. That race commences at February 17., but more on that race later.

Herrero: "I may return"

Ex-Euskaltel rider David Herrero Llorente has stated that he might return to the team in the future. David, who's now riding with Pro Conti team Karpin-Galicia, talked fondly about his former team with Basque daily DEIA yesterday. Here's what he had to say: "I've often thought about returning, but it doesn't depend solely on me. It's a possibility, but I would have to win races and make them interested for that to happen. I would gladly go back, but I know it's complicated." David left his home-team in the summer of 2006, at the tender age of 25 and with an impressive nine wins to his name. It came as a bit of a shock to most Euskaltel fans, me included, as he was one of the team's better riders. David has won races in sprints, in TTs, in breaks and on mountain-top finishes, so it was a huge loss for the team. Allegedly David and Euskaltel couldn't come to an agreement over financial issues. Anyway I'd love to see him back at Euskaltel. I always liked him, and he's such a quality rider.

Aketza suspended

Contrary to what Madariaga stated some time ago, Aketza Peña did return a positive B-sample. The B-sample came back in August in fact, but the result wasn't made known to the Spanish Federation until now. He got the usual two-year ban, meaning he could return to ride in August 2009. He tested positive in May.

Poll results: Should Euskaltel do the Giro?

Yes please! 71 % of my readers think Euskaltel should take to the start in May's Grand Tour, while the remaining 29 % of course voted "no". I voted "yes" myself, as I think it would be a good experience for the younger lads in the team. And of course, it's a big race, so I'm going to watch it, and it's always much more exciting when you've got someone to cheer for.

Aitor OK after crash

It had not been a lucky Down Under for Aitor Galdos, and it didn't get any better on the last stage. With the last two 5-kilometre circuits left to go, Aitor punctured. It was the worst time to puncture for sure, but somehow he managed to get back to the group. Only for a guy to crash right before him and take Aitor with him in the fall. Then it was of course game over for Aitor, but luckily he's OK, no problem. He's been quite unlucky in his time with Euskaltel, but it can't last for ever...

Velasco 19th overall as Down Under ends

Euskaltel were not in the thick of the action as they were yesterday in today's last Tour Down Under stage. None of the riders attacked the group, and none of the riders managed to fight for the win. All of them, except for Aitor who came in four minutes down, came in with the pack though, so Euskaltel ended up with a really good 5th place in the teams classification. Iván ended up a good 19th overall, while Mikel and Jon were not far behind in 26th and 27th place. Amets ended up 44th overall, 1:39 in arrears. His attacks on the climb yesterday were great to watch, but made him lose a bit of time at the end of that stage, and thus not resulting in a higher overall placing. Further down we have Andoni in 85th place, 7:14 back, Javier in 114th, 16:35 down and Aitor finished third-to-last, placing 120th more than 20 minutes down on eventual winner Greipel. Overall I must say, even though the team never got close to a win except for Mikel's last-ditch attack yesterday, that I'm pleasantly surprised with the team's performance. A 5th place is, though not important, a good start for the team, and all 7 of them were on the attack once in a while, lighting up the race. Some of the riders still have some way to go before reaching top form, but I guess that's not really unusual considering we're still in January. Bravo!

Iñaki's 2008 calendar

Iñaki revealed his racing appointments for the first half of the year in today's DEIA. Iñaki, who'll be looking for his first ever pro win, will start out in the Vuelta a Murcia, and then later on line up in the Vuelta al País Vasco, the Tour de Romandie, the Dauphiné Libéré and then, perhaps, in the Tour. Speaking of the Tour, he was in no way sure that he would get a spot on the team: "I know it's going to be difficult, because the guys who did it last year performed really well, and in addition we've now got Samu and Egoi..."

Euskaltel in the action, as Mikel almost wins it

It was an all-action day right from the start for Euskaltel today in the penultimate stage of the Tour Down Under. Early on, Andoni was, yet again, on the attack several times. He got into a couple of breaks, but none of them managed to open up a big enough gap. Though, anyway, I must say I'm impressed with Andoni's performances in Australia, he looks like a good rider this year. Finally a break got some leeway, and in it was Aitor Galdos. Aitor looked strong all day, and took 4 intermediate points before being reeled back in by the chasing peloton some 35 kilometres out. The big climb started, but couldn't really shatter the pack, and it all came down to another mass-sprint between 41 riders. Though, Mikel didn't want it that way and escaped inside the last kilometre. Mikel proved his form is awesome by staying away with only a 100 meters left to go. A great try by Mikel, but it just wasn't to be. Iván, who's clearly on form got a good 15th, while Jon and Mikel were also in that group, getting 19th and 23rd respectively. That good team performance lead to the team now lying 4th in the team classification. There's one stage left to go in this race, so I'm pinning all my hopes on Aitor for tomorrow. Full results:

• 15th, Iván Velasco, 0:00
• 19th, Jon Bru, s.t.
• 23rd, Mikel Astarloza, s.t.
• 53rd, Amets Txurruka, 0:56
• 82nd, Andoni Lafuente, 2:27
• 97th, Javier Aramendia, 11:48
• 122nd, Aitor Galdos, s.t.

General classification:

• 19th, Iván Velasco, 0:30
• 29th, Mikel Astarloza, s.t.
• 30th, Jon Bru, s.t.
• 46th, Amets Txurruka, 1:26
• 87th, Andoni Lafuente, 7:01
• 116th, Aitor Galdos, 16:20
• 118th, Javier Aramendia, 16:22
  

Fantastic Aramendia close to victory

What an impression new-boy Javier Aramendia is making at the Tour Down Under. Today he went on an amazing solo-break 80 kilometres out, and the peloton didn't reel him in until only six kilometres were left to ride. That's nothing less than very impressive from a 21-year-old in his first ever Pro Tour race. Mikel was also active today, taking two points in the first intermediate sprint, thus propelling him up to 16th overall. A sprint was on the cards all day, and Greipel stormed to his second win in Strathalbyn. Aitor was not in the mix today, coming home a distant 24th. "I'm not feeling especially good", he's been quoted as saying. As for the rest of the team, they all came in with the pack.

Uneventful day in Australia

Not much to say about the Tour Down Under's third stage to be honest. Euskaltel had no one in the breaks, though Andoni was the first to attack today, or close to winning, as the peloton split in two towards the finish line in Victor Harbor. 94 riders made up the first group, among them four Euskaltel rider. Iván, 41st, Jon, 71st, Amets, 73rd and Mikel, who came in 81st, all came in on the same time as the winner, and are naturally within touching distance of overall leader Mark Renshaw. Javier, Aitor and Andoni (103rd, 107th and 110th) all came in with the second group, 4 minutes 4 seconds down. Tomorrow's 4th stage is a hint tougher than today's, so hopefully the guys will be more in the thick of it then.

Amets and Javier on the attack Down Under

Amets and Javier were both lively on today's 2nd stage of the Tour Down Under. They both attacked in the closing kilometres, trying to avoid a mass-sprint finish, but they both failed. We've become used to Amets' attacking exploits, but to see a young guy like Javier, in only his second day of racing in the Pro Tour, attacking such a strong field at the end of the stage is really something. I have the feeling we'll see more and more from him as the season evolves. In the sprint Aitor once again couldn't really pull it off, coming home 21st. The rest of the lads all came in with the pack, so they're all still within touching distance on GC. Especially so Aitor, who's 15th.

CAS to rule on March 1

The Court of Arbitration for Sport has announced that a ruling on Iban's case will probably be issued on the 1st of March. The Spanish Cycling Federation has 'till the 28th of January to come up with their defence. The RFEC will turn to Iban's lawyers, who'll decide the way to go in the trial. The CAS' decision is definite, and both parties will have to accept the ruling.

Aitor again 16th

Aitor Galdos claimed 16th in the Tour Down Under opener today, the exact same placing he got in the pre-race criterium on Sunday. Today's 129 km long stage was mainly flat, but had one climb included on the way to Angaston. Jon got second place on the climb, right behind Gilbert, and got himself 12 valuable points in that competition. That's a good sign from Jon, who'll perhaps be targeting the climbers' jersey in this race. Amets was also active today, but the break he joined never got more than half a minute and was reeled back in. As said, Aitor sprinted to 16th place, and the rest of the guys all came in with the main pack.