Samu show in Burgos

Samu reigned supreme in the Vuelta a Burgos today, taking out both the stage and the general classification with a blistering ride to the top of the famed Lagunas de Neila. The scene of Ibán's win in the same race back in 2007, the Lagunas de Neila climb is always the race-decider and today proved no exception. After the excellent trio of Mikel Nieve, Romain Sicard and Igor Antón had shredded the peloton to pieces on the early ramps of the climb, Samu broke away with the classy Ezequiel Mosquera and out-sprinted him to take the stage and with it the overall. What a ride! Not only from Samu, but from the whole team. Today's double whammy took Euskaltel's season-tally to 13. This is quickly turning in to one of the team's better season's number wise. And we're still just over halfway through. Igor is no doubt looking good for the Vuelta. Today he sat an infernal pace for Samu before going on to place fourth himself on the stage and as a result ninth overall. That's impressive. Mikel Nieve hung on to finish 14th, Romain 26th, JJ 50th, Aitor H 72nd and Pablo 92nd. Koldo dropped out after doing his part of the job early on. On GC Samu took first (obviously), Igor 9th, Romain 20th, Mikel 36th, JJ 80th, Pablo 96th and Aitor H 97th. Samu won the points classification, Romain the under-23 and the team finished second to Liquigas in the team rankings. Pretty awesome. Post-stage declarations from Samu: "We're very pleased; we've done an exceptional Vuelta a Burgos. Three stage-wins and three days in the leader's jersey, the last of those the decisive one, makes this a very successful race for us. It's my first stage-race victory (incredibly), and that makes it even better. The team was spectacular throughout the race. We'll go back home very satisfied indeed."

Orbea achieved what they set out to do today, namely keeping hold of Mikel Ilundain's sprint jersey. As for the stage itself, Mikel Landa was best of the youngsters in 25th place 2:58 back and just ahead of Romain. Jon Izagirre was 35th at 5:28, Joseba Larralde 52nd at 11:38, while Beñat Urain, Mikel Ilundain and Aritz Etxebarria all ended up 18:25 in arrears. Xabier Zabalo finished dead last at 23:02. Ricardo Garcia did not complete the race. Landa and Izagirre occupied the same placings on GC as they did on the stage, while Larralde was 65th, Etxebarria 95th, Ilundain 99th, Urain 100th and Zabalo 101st. In the team rankings they finished up 12th.

Euskaltel hoping for Zandio and Erviti

Basque Caisse d'Epargne riders Xabier Zandio and Imanol Erviti might just finally join Euskaltel at the end of the season. The Navarran duo's team are still on the lookout for a sponsor for next year, meaning the two allrounders might become available on the market. If they do, expect Galdeano to jump at the chance. "We're monitoring Xabier Zandio's and Imanol Erviti's situation", he said. "The future of their team is still up in the air so we've not come up with any concrete offers to them. When we know what will happen with the team we'll decide". If they do become available, there's no reason not to sign them. They're both quality riders and they've both been around for quite a few years so they'd be solid additions to an already-looking strong team.

Landa and Izagirre to join Euskaltel

Surprise, surprise, Mikel Landa and Jon Izagirre will definetely join Euskaltel for the 2011 season. The two Orbea riders have shown throughout the year that they're ready to take another step on the proverbial ladder. "Jon signed for Orbea a year ago on that condition (that he'd join up with Euskaltel a year later)", said team chief Galdeano. "We're very pleased with him. Mikel Landa will also join the team".

Aitor Hernández to leave Euskaltel

Aitor Hernández will leave Euskaltel at the end of the current season. The versatile 28-year-old has been told by team management that his contract will not be renewed and that his future lies elsewhere. Aitor joined Euskaltel in 2005, signing from the Italian LPR team, but has failed to notch a single win in his six years with the team. He's come close on several occasions though, and he's displayed some good climbing and time trialling skills at times, so I'm a tad surprised he's leaving to be fair. He's 28, he's always active and is quite the decent rider. At this moment in time there's no news on where Aitor will continue his career.

Samu pens new deal

Samuel Sánchez has put pen to paper on a deal that will keep him at Euskaltel until 2012. Obviously great news for fans, directors, teammates and Samu alike. With Samu, Igor and Romain now tied do the team for at least another couple of years, Euskaltel can rest assured they'll be invited to the biggest races and that the team will be attractive for sponsors. Speaking after signing the deal, the Olympic champ said: "Euskaltel Euskadi has been my team for all my life and, to be honest, I can't picture myself wearing another jersey eventhough I had some very good offers (from other teams). I want to say thanks publically to the teams that wanted my services. I never discarded any proposals, but I've opted for the one that I think will be best for me. It's a great joy to be able to continue in the same team that gave me the chance to go pro. I'm very emotionally attached to this project. I've been here for 14 years if you count in the three years I rode as an amateur. I'd like to give a special mention to Miguel Madariaga, the head of this project, who have given so much of his life for this team to be at the top. The reason this is still a team is much down to Miguel. I'd also like to thank Igor González de Galdeano for the confidence he's shown in me as a leader of the team. It's a pride for me to wear this jersey. We're hoping for two very intense years competing at the highest level in this sport." Galdeano was equally delighted, saying: "It's very important that Samu's staying 'til 2012; we're at the highest level in this sport and he's one of the more recognizable riders internationally. We couldn't have hoped for better news."

Duo lapped as Poland ends

Beñat Intxausti and Gorka Izagirre both got to experience being lapped yesterday and as a consequence being taken out of the Tour of Poland on the concluding stage. Exactly how the two of them managed to get into a group that got lapped on the final circuits I don't know, but it sure isn't impressive. Aitor Galdós was more impressive though, grabbing an okay 11th place in the bunch gallopp. Amazingly he was the only one on the team who succeeded in finishing with the peloton, as all the other guys ended up in a group 3:42 down. Final GC:

• 63rd, Jonathan Castroviejo
• 74th, Javier Aramendía
• 81st, Aitor Galdós
• 88th, Jorge Azanza
• 95th, Miguel Mínguez
• 131st, Daniel Sesma

Koldo 5th in Burgos stage 4

Koldo didn't quite have the legs to sprint to a second win in Burgos today. The in-form speedster fancied his chances on the rather flat trek from Vivar del Cid to Sales de los Infantes, and so did his team who put riders on the front early on. Sadly he couldn't pull it off and had to settle for a fifth place. The rest of the team, besides Aitor H and Pablo who did more than could have been expected of them, came in with the pack. The pace-setting duo rolled in 4:06 back. Tomorrow's the concluding and race-deciding stage. Watch out for ace triumvirat Samu, Igor and Romain on the hors category climb to Lagunas de Neila.

Aramendía and Izagirre go for broke in Poland

Euskaltel had an active, if eventually unsuccessful, day out in the Tour of Poland's sixth stage today. Javier Aramendía and Gorka Izagirre both showed they're taking steps in the right direction by wisely getting into an eight-man break on the hilly ride to Terma Bukowina. The break got quite the decent gap for a while there, but naturally it didn't manage to stay away. The duo were reeled back in by a hard-chasing peloton with some 20 clicks to go. Javier hung on impressively to finish best of the Euskaltel riders in 37th at 2:41, while Beñat was 50th at 5:48, Jonathan 74th at 9:12, Gorka 83rd at 12:49, Jorge Azanza 84th at the same time, Aitor G 85th at 13:20, while Miguel Mínguez, who by the way suffered the misfortune of hitting the deck early on, and Daniel Sesma came in with the gruppetto a full 36:39 adrift. Naturally Euskaltel have no role to play as far as the overall goes with only one stage to go, but look for them to make their mark on the concluding run to Krakow tomorrow.

Team time trial agony

A team time trial once again proved to be Euskaltel's nemesis. The team was hopeful of defending Samu's overall lead in today's 21,2km team test, but they failed spectacularly to do so. The team finished seventh out of seventeen teams, 28 seconds adrift, meaning Samu is now 8th overall at 22 seconds. The overall is by no means lost, but it looks a tall order given the quality of riders he has in front of him now. Romain and Igor are 27th and 28th respectively, both at 55 seconds, so I wouldn't count them out of the running for stage glory on Sunday either.

Poland stage 5

Euskaltel didn't set stage five of the Tour of Poland alight yesterday. Larrazabal's men were anonymous throughout but still managed to place to of their youngest riders inside the top 32. Jonathan Castroviejo rode to a good 25th place at just 1:21 down, while Miguel Mínguez continued to show encouraging signs of form by taking 32nd, 1:27 back in a group containing the likes of Velits and Amador. That's not bad. Beñat Intxausti didn't deliver yesterday, coming in a full 3:59 down in 59th place. Not a good omen for the fast-approaching Vuelta, but he's probably got in under control. Javier, Jorge, Gorka Izagirre and Aitor Galdós all ended up more than 14 minutes adrift.

Samu takes stage and lead in Burgos

Samuel today made it two in a row for Euskaltel as he took out the lumpy second stage in the Vuelta a Burgos. In the process he also took the leader's jersey and will now aim to keep it 'til the end. Due to the profile of the stage, with the goal-line at the top of the third category Alto de San Juan del Monte, Euskaltel, and Samu in particular, fancied their chances. As a result Euskaltel took on the responsability of keeping the day's two-man break, in which Orbea's Beñat Urain figured, within touching distance all day. The whole team did an amazing job and got Samu into the perfect position. Spain champ José Iván Gutierrez darted away with Samu inside the last kilometre and the two quickly built up an unassailable lead. As expected Samu came around Gutierrez to easily claim Euskaltel's tenth win of the year. Afterwards, Samu stated the following: "We're going to enjoy these triumphs. It's rare to get back-to-back wins, so we'll enjoy it the best we can. Coming out of the Tour you often have good form, but you're also quite tired. Two key days remain, the team time trial tomorrow and the stage to the Lagunas de Neila, but that's for later". The other guys in orange were naturally left exhausted after doing all the work on the front. Mikel Nieve was best of the rest in 28th place at 26 seconds, while Igor Antón and Romain Sicard came in at 33. JJ was 111th at 3:07, while the remaining trio, that being Pablo, Koldo and Aitor H, ended up at 6:55.


As mentioned above, Beñat Urain made the day a success for Orbea by infiltrating in the main break. Even more importantly for the team though was the fact that Mikel Ilundain clung on to his Metas Volantes jersey. Jon Izagirre performed well to come in alongside Mikel Nieve, while Mikel Landa crossed the line together with (future team-mates?) Igor and Romain. Joseba Laralde was 1:03 adrift, while Ricardo García ended up in 67th place at 1:27, Aritz Etxebarria was 88th at 2:04, Mikel Ilundain was 113th at 3:07, Xabier Zabalo was 127th at 6:55 and Beñat Urain concluded an adventorous day out dead last at 6:57.

Gerrikagoitia to stay put

Experienced sports director Gorka Gerrikagoitia has decided to prolong his stay with the team. The DS, who spent seven years as a rider with the team, is in his sixth season behind the wheels and is widely recognised as a clever and shrewd tactician. Gorka is one of a few to have gotten his UCI Pro Tour licence for directors.

Euskaltel off the pace in Poland

Euskaltel did not enjoy the best of days in today's fourth stage of the Tour of Poland. After the first three category one climbs on the route and ahead of the finishing circuits, Euskaltel, to their credit, set the pace at the head of the pack for Aitor Galdós who was fifth on GC going into the stage. The team upped the pace and succeeded in dislodging many of the overall candidates, but towards the end it got too tough for Aitor and he had to let go of the peloton. A 55-man peloton was left to fight it out for the win, a group in which the only orange representative was Beñat Intxausti. Aitor led the next pack home 31 seconds later along with Miguel Minguez, while Javier, Jonathan, Gorka and Jorge ended up a full 6:50 down and Daniel Sesma 9:39 down.

Koldo sprints to maiden 2010 win

After months of near-misses and second places, Koldo finally opened his winning account by taking out the first stage of the Vuelta a Burgos. The team lined it up perfectly for him and Koldo held off nearest challenger Maes to take his tenth win as a pro. It's Euskaltel's ninth of the season and, judging by recent form, quite a few more can be expected before season's end. Speaking after getting off the podium, the Álava native said: "Finally we got the win. It's been a hard season for me. I've been feeling good, but I haven't been able to finish it off and take the wins. The team worked phenomenally today. To have an Olympic champion at your service driving the peloton up the climbs to reel in breaks is a luxury. I suffered up the climb, but getting over it was worth the pain. Sicard, Nieve and Antón in the final part, and Pablo, Aitor and Juanjo earlier... They all did really well and I want to say thanks." Due to their work early on in the stage, Pablo, Aitor H and JJ suffered towards the end. Pablo ended up 4:07 down, while the latter two crossed the line 7:52 adrift. Except for that trio, everyone else finished the stage inside the peloton.

As for Orbea, Jon Izagirre and Mikel Landa managed to stay with the pack. The rest of the youngsters all ended up at 4:07 except for Mikel Ilundain who came in with that last group at 7:52. Ilundain made it into the break of the day though, and will no doubt be happy about having secured the lead in the Metas Volantes competition.