Jon Izagirre 5th in Montañés prologue

Jon Izagirre got his Circuito Montañés challenge off to an excellent start in the prologue today. The 5,8 ITT in Santander saw Martijn Keizer of the fabulous Rabobank Conti team take the win, but Jon was only 15 seconds down in 5th place ahead of such illustrious names as Niels Albert, Philipp Walsleben, Victor de la Parte and Boy van Poppel to name but a few. Adrián Sáez de Arregi and Ricardo García also did well to claim 22nd and 23rd respectively, while Andoni Blázquez was 36th, Xabier Zabalo 41st, Beñat Urain 77th and Mikel Landa 78th.

Bira a no-go

La Bira, one of the most important and prestigious amateur races in the whole of Spain, will not be held this year due to a lack of funding. The Bira would surely have been one of Naturgas' biggest objectives this year if the funding was in place, but now they'll have to do without the long-running stage-race for at least a year. The race was first staged in 1981 and has a proud history. But, like a lot of races in Spain the last few years, they've struggled to keep it going due to the dwindling interest from sponsors. Former Euskaltel quartet Mikel Zarrabeitia, Mikel Artetxe, Roberto Laiseka and David Etxeberria stepped in last year and assumed control of the race to try to keep it alive. They succeeded last year, but this year they were forced to admit defeat in the search for funding. The race has been the breeding ground for many of Spain's best cyclists, and was won last year by talented Uruguayan Fabricio Ferrari.

Iñaki goes close

Iñaki went close to taking both the stage-win and the leader's jersey in today's second stage of the Dauphiné. Having gotten into the break of the day along with four others, Iñaki was virtual leader out there all day as he started the stage only 34 seconds back on Contador. The quintet looked to stand a chance as they carved out an eight-minute gap and still had in excess of three left going under the 2o-kilometres-to-go banner. But it wasn't to be though as the sprinter teams got together and reeled them in right beneath the flamme rouge. Tough luck for Iñaki and his mates, but still a very good effort. Eventually he rolled in alongside all of his team mates on the same time as winner Haedo, meaning Gorka V is still ninth overall with the hills and the mountains on the horizon.

Gorka looking good in Dauphiné

Gorka Verdugo ascended to ninth place overall in the Dauphiné today after a chaotic stage. The 191-kilometre trek from Evian-les-Bains to Saint-Laurent-du-Pont was marred by a bad crash wiping out a number of riders going into the Miribel climb, the summit of which was situated only six kilometres from the line. Menchov got caught up in that crash and had lost a minute and eleven seconds by stage's end. Gorka, who was very active on that particular climb, along with Egoi, Iñaki and Samu all came in with the first group and thus kept Samu's hopes of a high overall placing alive. Jorge and Romain came in with the Menchov group, while Alan and Iván both came in 4:22 down.

Circuito Montañés looming for Orbea

Orbea will tomorrow embark on one of the toughest stage-races on the amateur calendar; the Circuito Montañés. The eight-stage race is normally held in the Pyrenees and as a result it's quite an important race for the blue squad. Orbea will be fielding their A-team, namely Mikel Landa, Jon Izagirre, Andoni Blázquez, Xabier Zabalo, Noel Martín, Adrián Sáez de Arregi, Beñat Urain and Ricardo García.

Bilbao and Merino take out Euskadi Championships

It was a successful Euskadi Championship for Naturgas this week-end. Not surprisingly Igor Merino powered to the time trial title by beating Eneko García and Asier Penabad. Pello Bilbao repeated the trick a day later by taking second to former Orbea rider Igor Romero in the road race and thus, since Romero is now an Elite Category rider, becoming Under-23 champ on the road. Romero was really in a league of his own yesterday and won solo on a small group by a big 1:39, the group being led home by Pello.

Gorka reflects on big win

After taking out the final stage in Luxembourg yesterday, Gorka Izagirre spoke to the team's official website. Here's that the 22-year-old had to say: "The truth is I'm very satisfied, very pleased. The final part of the stage consisted of a few laps of a circuit. I tried to memorize the route to find the right place to attack. There was a quite demanding little hill on the circuit and I tried my luck. It was really pouring down and that made it even more difficult to control the race. I went on the attack a couple of times but no one came with me, but towards the end Carrara, Ivanov and a Skil rider (Houanard) came along. I stuck to his wheel and in the last metres I was the quickest. It was very emotional. I haven't really been feeling good these days though. I haven't performed as I'd like. Not even today I felt good. As the kilometres rolled by though I felt better, and on the last lap I felt fresh. Maybe it was because of the rain, I don't know. In the end our group succeeded, and I played my cards well."

It's Gorka!

I told you the kid was good! Gorka Izagirre yesterday took his very first win as a pro by outsprinting big-name riders Sergei Ivanov and Matteo Carrara to take the fourth and final stage of the Tour de Luxembourg. And what a ride by the 22-year-old! The last stage was shortened and nullified for the GC due to severe storm and rain, but the racing for the last stage-win was still very much on. On the last circuit of three in down town Luxembourg, the capital that is, Gorka got away with overall leader Matteo Carrara, Ivanov and the impressive Steve Houanard of Skil-Shimano. The quartet just managed to hold off a furiously-chasing peloton to fight it out for stage glory, and Gorka, not surprisingly, proved to be the quickest as pictured above. That leaves the team with seven wins alreasy this season! And even better, by six different riders! An honourable mention also goes out to the precocious Jonathan, who yesterday finished the race a solid 20th overall as well as spending the last stage out in front in the main break. Good riding by him; he's due for a win soon as well. Final GC:

• 20, Jonathan Castroviejo
• 24, Mikel Nieve
• 35, Rubén Pérez
• 46, Aitor Galdós
• 55, Gorka Izagirre
• 78, Aitor Hernández
• 82, Miguel Mínguez
  

Dauphiné prologue: Gorka impressive

Gorka Verdugo once again showed his time trialling capabilities have taken on another dimension recently by taking an excellent 12th in the Dauphiné prologue yesterday. Contador, who else, naturally won, but Gorka was no more than 15 seconds slower and thus faster than guys like Millar, Plaza, Peraud, Horner and Menchov. Impressive! As for designated overall candidate Samu it was not so much of a good day. Samu, so often strong in ITTs, completely missed out and finished an inexplicable 80th., a full 35 seconds back. Strange, let's hope he just took it easy. Or something... The other guys finished way back as well: Egoi, Jorge and Iñaki all recorded identical times to finish 74th, 76th and 78th respectively, one second ahead of Samu, while Romain ended up one second adrift of him. Alan was 103rd at 39 and Iván 142nd at 48.

Luxembourg stage 2&3

Due to work commitments I wasn't able to report on stage 2 yesterday, so here comes a short recap of yesterday's stage 2, as well as today's stage 3:

Stage 2 was a quite hilly stage, and sadly none of the guys managed to factor in the results. Mikel did reasonably well to come home with a group only 58 seconds down on popular victor Schleck, while Aitor G and Jonathan came in 30 seconds further back. Rubén and Aitor H came in three minutes adrift, with the latter still on the search for top form. Mikel and Gorka Izagirre both weren't up to speed as they rolled in a massive 9:43 down. Ouch. Sergio struggled even more, being classified as HD and as a result out of the race. Not good.

Today's stage went better for the team, with Aitor Hernández getting into the break of the day. Good on him. Naturally it didn't last, but still a good effort. As a testament to the tough parcours on the menu today, only 27 riders made it in with the main pack, among them Mikel in 13th place and Jonathan in 17th. Good stuff from them. Rubén, finding the profile a bit too tough for his liking, came in 2:08 back, while Gorka ended up at 4:34. Aitor H eventually came in 5:35 back after being reeled in towards the end of the stage, while Miguel and Aitor G both came in with the last group 7.22 adrift.

With one stage left to go the Euskaltel riders are well out of the running as far as overall honours are concerned, with Jonathan being off in 24th place.

Naturgas' busy week-end

Naturgas' already-successful season might just get even more successful this week-end with the team taking part in three different races over three days. The 'Campeonatos de Euskadi', which doesn't need translating, is being held this Saturday and Sunday, and the team should be a shoo-in for a good result, if not for a win. An individual race against the clock will be held today, and will feature last year's third-place getter Igor Merino, David Hidalgo, Pello Bilbao, Jon Larrinaga and Rory Martínez. The road race will see almost the entire squad lining up, with Álex and Pello Bilbao, David Hidalgo, Rory and Unai Martínez, Jon Larrinaga, Mikel Martioda, Aitor Ocampos, Mikel Bizkarra, Andoni Sánchez, Urtzi Legarra and Alfonso Saiz all taking part. If they race united, nothing should stand in their way.

The first race of the Copa Ibérica, which doesn't need translating either, will be held in Renedo de Piélagos, wherever that is, on Monday. A 10-man team comprising of Fernando Grijalba, Álex Bilbao, Efrén Carazo, Rory and Unai Martínez, Alfonso Saiz, Carlos Barbero, Alberto Guinea, Andoni Sanchez and Mikel Martioda will line up.

Later in the month, three Naturgas youngsters and one former Orbea rider will line up to represent Euskadi in the amateur version of the Giro, namely the GiroBio. Not surprisingly, Aitor Ocampos, Pello Bilbao and Mikel Bizkarra are the chosen ones by team chief Ángel Balzola. The race is a prestigious one as you'll know, and will be held over ten days, from the 11th of June to the 20th. Igor Romero (remember him, anyone?), was a surprise inclusion in the squad, and will do his utmost to show Euskaltel did wrong by not giving him a chance a few years back. The highlight of the race will no doubt be the stage finishing atop the mighty Monte Grappa.

Amets back for Suisse test

Amets will make his return from injury at the upcoming Tour de Suisse. The diminutive livewire broke his collarbone on País Vasco's penultimate stage while in the climbers jersey, but has now finally recovered and will be eager to show he's worthy of a place on the Tour team. This last week he's been in the Pyrenees reconning the Tour mountain stages with Igor González de Galdeano, Samu, Iván and JJ, so hopefully he'll be in decent shape. Accompanying him in Switzerland will be Aitor Galdós, Pablo, JJ, Daniel, Sergio, Aitor H and either Miguel or Javier.

Galdós shines in Luxembourg

Aitor Galdós sprinted to fifth place on the stage and overall in the Tour de Luxembourg's first stage proper. A hilly course was on the menu for the riders today, meaning only sixty riders made up the main pack at stage's end. Among those were Aitor, obviously, and Rubén and Jonathan. Mikel doesn't seem to be firing on all cylinders these days and came in 31 seconds back, while Gorka was eight seconds further adrift. Aitor H, Sergio and Miguel all ended up at 9:40. As a consequence of today's strong riding, Aitor is fifth overall, just two seconds behind Lemoine, and Jonathan is 11th four more seconds back. As an added bonus, Jonathan also leads the young riders competition.

Orbea celebrate five-year anniversary

Continental team Orbea today celebrated their fifth-year anniversary in Derio. Euskaltel's feeder-team was founded five years ago to, well, do just that, feed Euskaltel with young, talented riders. So far it's been an unqualified success, with eleven riders on the current roster having plied their trade with the blue continental team. Last year Jonathan, Romain, Miguel and Daniel took that step. Expect Mikel Landa and Ion Izagirre, at least, to do the same this year.