Finally!

The picture says it all. Finally the team got it's first win of the year. And what a way to get it. Responding to an attack by Horner two kilometres from the top of the legendary Arrate climb, Samu attacked and gapped, not only Horner, but Valverde and Gesink as well. He then extended his gap on the short descent to the line in the trademark daredevil style of his. Is there a better descender out there than our very own Samu? I don't think so. Anyway, he successfully held off the chasing trio to grab his and his team's first win of the year. What a way to get it, and how sweet it must be for him given that all hope seemed lost when he suffered from allergies on the first stage and lost out on the chance to win overall. What a way to bounce back. Praise also goes out to the whole team: Egoi, Alan, Rubén, JJ and Egoi for working tirelessly for their leader throughout the day. Amets for being in the break of the day, accumulating more than enough points to don, and most likely win, the climber's jersey, and for being the last surviving member of the break, only being reeled in with three clicks to go to the top. Inspired and gutsy ride from Amets. Iván for once again displaying excellent climbing form and being there for his captain when he needed him the most on the last climb. And Beñat for his amazing ride to fifth on the stage and fifth overall. I told you the boy was special. He came in with Peraud just 33 seconds back and ahead of riders like Cunego, Joaquín Rodríguez, Andy Schleck, Casar, Klöden, Zubeldia and several other strong riders. Amets wasn't far behind either, coming home 15th just 1:11 down. That's an amazing ride from a rider who spent the whole day in the break. Iván came in 1:16 down, great ride by him, while JJ and Egoi came in 6:56 back. Rubén and Alan came in a full 17:42 down, but these numbers don't really matter. It's about the team, and man did they put on a sho today! The overall now looks like this:

• 5th, Beñat Intxausti, 0:32
• 18th, Samuel Sánchez, 1:36
• 25th, Iván Velasco, 2:54
• 46th, Egoi Martínez, 9:35
• 49th, Juan José Oroz, 10:47
• 81st, Amets Txurruka, 22:19
• 83rd, Rubén Pérez, 23:02
• 124th, Alan Pérez, 41:10

Iñaki aggressive in GP Pino Cerami

Iñaki was on the attack today in the Belgian one-day race GP Pino Cerami. The sprinter was away for large portions of the day, but naturally the break didn't lead to anything. It came down to the anticipated mass-sprint in which he placed 21st, with Javier close by in 23rd. The rest of te guys climbed off, saving themselves for Sunday probably.

Aitor OK, but may miss Cerami

Aitor Galdós yesterday returned from the hospital to Euskaltel's Belgian camp with pretty good news. Nothing in his knee is broken or anything, it's just really inflamed. Obviusly an inflamed knee is never a good thing, but it's a lot better than initially feared. Aitor will likely forego today's GP Pino Cerami, but should be ready for Sunday's big showdown in Roubaix.

VPV stage 3: Egoi & Alan on the attack

Even though the team have lost the chance of overall success, there's no way they're going to give up without a fight. After Amets tried his luck in the break yesterday, it was Egoi and Alan's turn today. Both made it into the group of six up front. Alan, realising the hilly terrain was more suited to a rider like Egoi than himself, put his own ambitions aside and worked for Egoi. Just like Iván on the first stage, Alan, to his eternal credit, sacrificed himself for another team-mate. Chapeau! Naturally Alan had to let go with something like 45 kilometres to go, and sadly his work eventually turned out to be a waste as Egoi and the rest of the group were reeled back in with 4 clicks to go. Tough luck again for the guys in orange. In the sprint for the stage-win Samu again grabbed 5th. Good ride no doubt, but that first win of the season still isn't coming. All the guys, except Alan of course, finished inside the peloton. Alan rolled in 12 minutes 10 seconds back, and spoke to the media afterwards. "I'm dead", he said bluntly. "We looked to get into the break from the go and eventually six of us succeeded. Straight away today I didn't feel good but, since Egoi did, I gave it my all to make the group stay clear and give Egoi a chance at the win. I did what I could."

Scheldeprijs misery

Euskaltel are really having a torrid time in Belgium. Today's Scheldeprijs was no exception. Aitor Galdós, one of the more on-song riders the last few weeks, crashed badly with 25 kilometres to go and was immediately taken to a nearby hospital. No word yet on how he's doing, but rest assured, I'll update you all as soon as I know. Iñaki also crashed, something which may make him miss tomorrow's Pino Cerami. Not good. On a brigther note, Javier grabbed a good 20th place today. The youngster, who has so far in his career failed spectacularly to live up to the hype surrounding him, is a known lover of the Belgian one-day races. And though he will probably never win one, he sure is making solid progression in these races. Aupa! Despite crashing, Iñaki made it in with a small group 14 seconds down, placing 66th. Romain was 89th, 25 seconds down, while Jonathan came in with the very last group in 160th place, 3:44 back. The rest of the guys failed to complete the race.

VPV stage 2: Samu 5th, Amets in the break

The second stage of the Basque Tour was an okay one for the team. Amets went on the attack early on with Rogers and Ramírez and clocked up enough points on the climbs so sit third with 17 points, 3 adrift of leader Rabuñal, in that particular competition. The break was naturally reeled back in, and not long after Beñat crashed and hit the deck. Luckily he got up quite quickly and managed to rejoin the fast-moving peloton just in time go maintain his high GC placing. Samu looked in descent shape on the gently rising climb to the line and grabbed a good 5th place. Beñat, Iván and Egoi all managed to come in with the first pack as well, while Alan and JJ ended up 2:14 back and Rubén 2:42. Amets, clearly hurting from his day-long escape, crossed the line 12:02 back.

After the stage Samu spoke to the media. "Today was different from yesterday and I felt better today", he said. "Given that there was a slightly uphill finish I entered the sprint for the win. Obviously our objectives have changed after what happened yesterday in Zierbena, but today it was clear that I've still got a lot to say in this race. This race has always been good to me, and I'm not going to throw in the towel just because I had one bad day. We'll fight for stage-wins. Our rivals are good, you could see that from the results today, but I'm sure more opportunities will come along and, when they do, I'll grab them with both hands."

Izagirre OK

Despite crashing out of the Tour of Flanders two days ago, Gorka is back on the bike and ready for Sunday's Paris-Roubaix. The youngster hurt his hands in the crash, but luckily it's not serious.

Samu fails in País Vasco opener

What a major disappointment. Samu is without a chance to win the overall after one stage. Major letdown. All looked well until the last cat. 2 climb some 25 kilometres out. The team had taken on the responsibility of reeling in the customary break and had it all under control. Once the climb started the team looked oh so strong, with Samu, Beñat, Iván and Egoi all up there with the best. But suddenly Samu disappears. Given it was the first stage and, let's admit it, not a very hard climb, it was a big surprise to not see him up there. A 9-man lead group formed over the top, and among those nine were the impressive Iván and Beñat. But no Samu. Iván and Beñat did their utmost to slow the group down so that Samu could rejoin the group, but it wasn't to be. Despite the heroic efforts of Egoi and JJ in Samu's group, they couldn't get back up. Iván, to his great credit, even dropped back from the lead group to aid Samu in his desperate attempt to close the gap but it still wasn't enough. Eventually the JJ and Iván-led group came in a massive 1:39 down. Game over no doubt. Beñat will now, after coming home a strong 9th and looking strong throughout, be the team's man for the GC. After his excellent showing today there's no doubt in my mind he can achieve a top 10 overall, but even his brilliant ride can't take away the pain of losing out on a chance to win the race for another year. Egoi and Rubén came in 2:40 down after working relentlessly for Samu all day, while Amets and Alan came in a big 9:08 back. Speaking after the stage, Samu was trying not to sound too disappointed: "My form was good coming into the race, and the idea was to fight for the overall win. Paris-Nice and Critérium International both went well for me; I was in the top 5 in both races. But I wasn't feeling good today and I wasn't able to stay with the best on the last part of the Putxeta. I zigzagged my way to the top and, once there, did my best to diminish my loss. That's cycling. It's not maths, and sometimes it doesn't go the way you want it to. But still, we've just started and there's still objectives to reach. To blame myself doesn't help".

Naturgas superb in Zornotza

Naturgas put in another sterling performance in the GP Primavera Zornotza on Sunday. The youngsters captured four of the first five places but unfortunately not the very first. But still a great performance by all means. Igor Merino was second, Jon Larriñaga third, Carlos Barbero fourth and Alberto Guinea fifth. In addition the team had Fernando Grijalba in a break early on. No wonder sports director Aritz Arberas was a happy man afterwards. "I'm very pleased with what we obtained", he said. "We were brave and reached our goal: being aggressive. It was a hard race and the riders delivered. Especially Merino and Larriñaga were outstanding."

"I really like it at Euskaltel"

Samu has once again reiterated his desire to stay with Euskaltel 'till he retires. The 32-year-old Asturian spoke highly of his team yesterday, saying: "This team made me great, and I've done my part to make them great. Just like Zubeldia, Mayo and Laiseka. I really like it here. I'd like do die in orange. Here". That's what I call dedication.

Samu still gunning for glory

Speaking on the eve of the Vuelta al País Vasco, where he'll be one of the main favourites, Samu said he's still got a lot of things to achieve in the sport. Now 32 and nearing the swansong years of his career, the affable Asturian told El Correo of his ambitions and hopes for the coming seasons. "My dream is to win the World Road Race Championship and to podium in the Tour", he said. "I know it's difficult, but it's not impossible. To win a stage in the Tour is also important. And I'd love to go back to the Giro, the tifosi really like me. And I still believe I've got a Lombardia win in my legs."

Aramendía sole finisher in Flanders

It was another bleak day for Euskaltel in Belgium yesterday. Gorka and Aitor Galdós both crashed heavily and had to abandon, with Aitor tought to be the one worst off. Pablo and Sergio both threw in the towel, while Romain, Iñaki and Jonathan came in after the time-limit. Javier, though, managed to get a result, placing 65th over 13 minutes down. Not the best of days.

Samu inspects País Vasco ITT

Samu spent yesterday reconning the Vuelta al País Vasco's last stage; an individual race against the clock in and around Orio. Samu has been on the podium three times in this race and will, with the absence of Contador, line up on Monday as perhaps the biggest favourite to finally land that GC crown. According to Samu himself he virtually knows every centimetre of each stage, and that compared to last year, when he finished third, he's not suffering from knee pains. Samu commented that the hilly ITT in Orio was, as always, very hard, and having ridden the exact same course just a few days ago myself, I find the word 'hard' a bit of an understatement. It's a beautiful course but that climb out from the start is painful to say the least.

Euskaltel strong in GP Indurain

Euskaltel put in a very strong team performance in today's Gran Premio Miguel Indurain - XLII Trofeo Comunidad Foral de Navarra, to say it by it's full name. As expected Joaquín Rodriguez won the race ahead of Valverde, but Euskaltel did their very best to stop him in his tracks. In the hilly one-day race both Jorge Azanza and Iván Velasco were on the attack early on before Igor made a strong, late dash for the win. Unfortunately he was reeled back in with only 1 click to go, but still the team managed to put three riders in the top 10 courtesy of Rubén's highly impressive 5th place, Beñat's 6th and JJ's 9th place. Iván, Amets and Egoi were also in there, grabbing 13th, 14th and 18th respectively. Igor came home in 40th place, while Alan was 43rd, Mikel 46th and Jorge 72nd. Awesome all-round performance by the guys! Naturally the team won the team classification.


Orbea were quite active through Mikel Ilundain and Adrián Sáez de Arregi early on, but the youngsters had nothing left for the finale. Mikel Landa was the best placed in 33rd place, whilst Jon Izagirre was 70th. Andoni Blázquez was 86th, while Adrián Sáez de Arregi and Ricardo Garcia were the last two to cross the line in 88th and 89th respectively.