Future watch: stage 3

Mikel Landa showed climbing is his forte by clinching sixth on today's third stage of the Tour de l'Avenir to the top of the cat. 1 Col de Beal. The 20-year-old finished up 1:06 down on solo winner Yannick Eijssen on today's hilly ride, Eijssen who'll cut his teeth on the pro circuit next year with the BMC outfit of John Lelangue. Landa also climbed his way into the top 10 overall due to his strong showing today, settling in at seventh place 1:19 adrift of the same man. All-rounder Jon Izagirre wasn't quite up to it today, crossing the line 17:14 back in 65th place. The parcours was too mountainous for Izagirre's taste, and he's now 55th on GC, well and truly out of contention.

At Pello Bilbao's service

Naturgas will pull out all the stops in today's race in Urduliz so as to defend Pello Bilbao's Torneo Sub23 lead. The Andra Mari Sari Nagusia, as is it's full name, is the penultimate race in that particular competition, and Bilbao is virtually, but not mathematically, assured of taking the win. Lining up to help him will be Efrén Carazo, Rory Martínez, Fernando Grijalba, Igor Merino, Aitor Ocampos, Jon Larrinaga, Álex Bilbao, Carlos Barbero, Alfonso Saiz, Mikel Martioda and Mikel Bizkarra.

Antón's double-whammy

Igor Antón blasted his way to a superb solo win in today's 11th and first stage in the high mountains, in the process catapulting himself back into the red jersey of overall leader at the expense of Purito Rodríguez. The stage ended atop the 10km Pal climb into Andorra, and Igor eventually distanced all his GC rivals to take his second win of the race. After a peculiar and worrying start to the climb, when Igor could be seen dangling at the very back of the rapidly-diminishing front group, he worked his way past Schleck, then sprinted past jersey holder Rodríguez, who blew up spectacularly, before catching and distancing Nibali and then Mosquera to claim the team's 15th win of the season. He's now back in the lead, 45 seconds or thereabouts ahead of Nibali, who showed that, despite coming of age in GTs this year, his abilities in the high mountains are still limited. Tune in later this evening for full results and reactions.

Antón cedes leader's jersey

Igor Antón lost his red leader's jersey to Joaquin Rodríguez on today's tenth stage of the Vuelta between Tarragona and Vilanova i la Geltrú. Purito snatched third on the first intermediate sprint, meaning a two-second deduction to his overall time. No big deal I reckon. Okay, losing a leader's jersey in a GT is always a shame, if more for the prestige than anything else. But it might be a blessing in disguise, as now Euskaltel won't have to assume responsibility of the peloton anymore and focus their energy on helping Igor when it really matters. Riding on the front all day really saps the strength out of you. And with key lieutenant Gorka Verdugo hampered by injuries sustained in a crash, right-hand man and road captain Egoi Martínez being out of form, and enigmatic climbing ace Beñat Intxausti depleted and suffering from the Ibán Mayo-syndrome (read: inexplicable dip in form and confidence), I think the team will do just fine without the added stress of a leader's jersey in the team. It will do them the world of good. The man himself was not too down-beat about relinquishing the maillot rojo, saying: "We've had the jersey for three days and it means nothing to lose it, it's not traumatic. We lost it to a time-bonus, the difference is minimal (2 seconds), and I'm in the best possible position." As for tomorrow's stage to the top of the hors category Pal in Andorra, Igor didn't sound too enthusiastic, saying: "I know the Pal ascent. It's a very long climb, but I don't think the differences will be big. If I have a chance of attacking I won't let it pass me by, but it's not a climb ideally suited to me." There's that "it's not a climb suited to me" thing again, his favourite quote for sure. He keeps on saying that, time after time, race after race. Exactly what climb is suited to him? He's just playing mind games, hoping to lower expectations. Trust me, with the form he's in at the moment, most climbs suit him. He'll dance, Ibán-style, all the way to the top tomorrow. I'm not saying he'll win, but he'll be there or thereabouts. But, anyway, back to today's stage and the results. JJ Oroz, ever-improving Txurruka, Nieve and Martínez all stayed close to Igor and finished in the main group. The rest of the guys, namely Urtasun, Koldo, Verdugo and Intxausti, all finished in a big group 16:38 down.

Future watch: stage 2

Landa (pictured above) and Izagirre stayed with the favourites on today's slightly lumpy second stage from Saint-Amand-Montrond to Cusset to stay in contention for high overall placings. The stage saw the top two places go to the day's breakaway artists, Delaplace and Lindemann, while a peloton numbering 43 riders finished right behind the duo at eight seconds. Among those 43 were Landa and Izagirre, meaning they both advanced on GC. It's still early doors, but the outlook's unquestionably good for the remainder of the race.

Mayo turn up for Txema goodbye

Ibán Mayo was present at the funeral of Txema González over the weekend. Like a host of former riders, directors, mechanics, masseurs and soigneurs, Ibán showed up to pay his respects. Naturally the entire Sky team was there, along with representatives from a host of other outfits, including Miguel Madariaga and Igor González de Galdeano from Euskaltel. Joseba Beloki and his brother Gorka were there, and so too was Pedro Horillo, former star Alfonso Gutiérrez, ONCE rider Javier Mauleón, Koldo Gil, Euskaltel legend Roberto Laiseka, former road racer and now cyclo-cross star Unai Yus, and erstwhile Euskadi/Euskaltel riders like Alberto López de Muñain, Joseba Zubeldia, Alberto Martínez, Iker Camaño, Iker Flores, Txema del Olmo, Aitor Kintana, Juan Carlos González Salvador, César Solaun and Iñigo Gonzalez de Heredia to name but a few.

Future watch: stage 1

Mikel Landa and Jon Izagirre both placed inside the top 21 on today's first stage proper of the Tour de l'Avenir. The rather flat 144km stage ended in the aniticapted bunch sprint, a sprint in which speedy German John Degenkolb expectedly proved to be the fastest. Landa was a good 12th, while Izagirre wasn't far back in 21st, both on the same time as the future HTC-Columbia rider. There were no major alterations to the GC.

Antón hangs tough in red

Igor Antón successfully defended his red leader's jersey in today's ninth stage of the Vuelta. The team put up a valient defence of the jersey, meaning Igor will don it once again when the race recommences on Tuesday after tomorrow's rest-day. A big 15-man group, including Euskaltel's perennial attacker Egoi Martínez, got away early on in the stage. The gap grew big, but due to the team's hard work and clever riding it never got out of control, meaning the guys up the road were left to fight it out for the win. A quintet consisting of Martínez, Kreuziger, López Garcia, Caruso and Moncoutié quickly got a gap over the others on the last cat.2 climb, and former Euskaltel stalwart López shot out of the group on the descent to build an unassailable lead and take stage honours. A popular and richly deserved win. Egoi, easily the weakest of the five on the day, lost contact straight away on the drag up to the line and finished sixth at 30 seconds. Mikel Nieve set a blistering pace at the head of the pack going into that last incline, and Purito Rodríguez attacked Igor in search of the jersey, just as anticipated. But Igor wasn't about to let it go just like that, though, and glued himself to Rodríguez's wheel all the way to the line to preserve his overall lead. Mikel Nieve crested the line a minute back, totally exhausted after riding shotgun all day. Amets Txurruka, who's getting back into form it seems just at the right time, finished another minute back, while Oroz was 80th at 12:48, Intxausti 120th at 19:32, and Koldo, Urtasun and Verdugo (suffering badly with his banged-up knee) at 26:08. More importantly though, they showed they're capable of defending a leader's jersey on a testing stage, sentiments echoed by Igor himself after the stage. In scorching temperatures and with a dangerous-looking 15-man group up the road, the team kept their cool and never panicked. If this is a sign of what's to come from the team, we surenly needn't worry.

Future watch: prologue

Orbea duo Mikel Landa and Jon Izagirre are both representing Spain at the Tour de l'Avenir this year. The stage-race kicked off with a 7km ITT in Vierzon earlier today, and the soon-to-be-Euskaltel-riders got off to an okay start. Jon Izagirre, younger brother of Euskaltel hotshot Gorka Izagirre, took 37th place at 45 seconds, while wiry climber Landa didn't find the course to his taste, placing 85th, 1:05 back on expected winner Taylor Phinney. Tomorrow will see the talent-stacked peloton take on the 144km between Vierzon and Saint-Amand-Montrond. Check back then to see how Álex Díaz's protégés are acquitting themselves.

Tenerife concludes

The five-day Vuelta a Tenerife came to a close today with two short efforts: first a 12,6km individual time trial, then a 45km road stage. The race against the clock didn't go too well for the team in red, Merino placing highest with a 20th at 1:53. Ocampos was right on his heels in 24th at 2:06, while Larrinaga was 36th, Bizkarra 43rd, Legarra 56th, Saiz 58th and R Martínez took 65th.

Rory Martínez was at the sharp end of the peloton on the very last stage, taking a nice 10th as part of a small group 7 seconds back on solo winner Zhupa from Albania. Bizkarra finished at 20 seconds and Saiz at 26. Due to an untimely mechanical, Merino ended up 33 seconds back, in the process relinquishing his sixth place overall going into the stage. He finished seventh though, so he'll live to see another day. Larrinaga came in alongside Merino, while Ocampos came in a further three seconds back and Legarra ended up 4:20 in arrears. Here's the final GC:

• 7, Igor Merino
• 11, Mikel Bizkarra
• 25, Aitor Ocampos
• 28, Jon Larrinaga
• 52, Urtzi Legarra
• 61, Alfonso Saiz
• 65, Rory Martínez

Merino took an honourable second in the sub23 competition, while the team took third in the team rankings. Not bad!

Tenerife stage 4

The Vuelta a Tenerife peloton was faced with the unenviable task of going up the Teide volcano on yesterday's fourth stage. The infamous climb tops out at a massive 3717 meters above sea level, and the effect it had on the riders was clear for all to see as it caused havoc in the pack. The untouchable José Belda took the spoils by going solo, finishing 13 seconds ahead of another Plaza, this time Esteban of the Proyecto Sidi outfit. Those two were in a class of their own though, as number three ended up 4:18 down and number five was almost ten minutes adrift. Igor Merino had a memorable day, crossing the line in eighth place, 9:44 back. Mikel Bizkarra was right behind him place-wise, finishing 12th, but was almost two minutes further back. Ocampos and Larrinaga came in with a group 19:23 down, Legarra ended up 26:19 adrift, Saiz 40:02 and Rory Martínez 40:43. Going in to today's two-legged final stage, consisting of an early time trial and an afternoon road race, Merino was lying in seventh and Bizkarra in 11th.

Antón dedicates jersey to Txema

Igor Antón dedicated his red leader's jersey yesterday to the late Txema Gonzalez. The Sky masseur was once at Euskaltel, and the 27-year-old climber paid tribute to the affable Spaniard on the podium, pointing to the sky and shedding a few tears in symbol of respect and heart-felt sadness. After the podium celebrations, Igor spoke to Bilbao newspaper El Correo. "He worked for Euskaltel for several years. I tried to win the stage for him, but I didn't manage that. But this jersey is for him." On donning the coveted red jersey, Igor said: "I don't want to think about the future or the podium. I live in the present, and I want to enjoy what I do and what I've done. I've won a stage and is first overall. I know that it'll be difficult to hang on to this jersey though. There will be much tension. But I know that I can fight for the GC, I won't deny that." Speaking on his rivals, Igor refused to discard any of them despite the fact that some heavy-hitters lost a considerable amount of time yesterday. "We have to watch out for Mosquera, he's dangerous", he said. "Schleck came to the Vuelta fresh and rested, but obviously he'll be better in the third week. As for Menchov, he lost time. But I'm not discarding him. He's won to Vueltas and a Giro."

Antón in red

For only the second time in the team's history, an Euskaltel rider has pulled on the leader's jersey in a Grand Tour. Egoi Martínez was the first to do so two years back in the same race, and this time it's Igor Antón's turn to swap the orange of Euskaltel for the red of the leader. Igor acquired it by finishing alongside fellow GC rivals Nibali and Rodríguez on the hilly stage to Xorret del Catí which included the ascent of the same name. Moncoutié, predictably, slipped away for his compulsory solo stage-win, while some of the remnants of the break took second through fourth at 54 seconds. Igor's group, the first of the contenders', finished at 1:29, meaning he now heads the overall classification tied on time with Purito. The trio of Nibali, Antón and Purito, which at some points, depending on the pace, was a quintet including Cervélo mates Sastre and Tondo, seemed equally matched on the gruelling, unrelentingly steep Xatí ascent, the trio taking turns at attacking each other. The pace was ferocious at times, resulting in a number of GC aspirants ceding valuable seconds and, in some cases, minutes. Urán and Bruseghin lost 20 seconds, Danielson, Plaza, Roche and the still strong Mikel Nieve lost 31, while more importantly Mosquera ended up 33 adrift, F Schleck a big 1:37 and Menchov, thought to be suffering from an early crash, a potentially decisive 2:16. Superb day in other words, and Igor, Nibali and Purito no doubt seem to be the strongest. As for the other Euskaltel guys, Nieve was as mentioned close to his best once again, finishing 16th at two minutes, while Amets Txurruka had an encouraging ride to 30th place, 3:09 down, crossing the line with a bunch of good climbers. Oroz and Martínez both lost 7:05 by stage's end, Verdugo, who suffered the misfortune of crashing quite hard with less than 15km to go, lost 13:29, while Beñat Intxausti failed to get out of his misery by coming in with the autobus, including Koldo and Urtasun, at 20:51. Overall, Igor heads up the rankings time on time with Purito, while Nibali is just two seconds back. Nieve is a strong 19th. While it's obviously great to take the jersey, I must say I'm a little concerned at what it might do to the team. Getting it will result in having to take control over the pack tomorrow, and, let's face it, Euskaltel don't really have the strength in depth in this race to do that for a very long time. Losing it would be a shame, but it migth be a blessing in disguise if that was to happen.

Naturgas off the pace in Pielagos

Naturgas failed to shine in Friday's Trofeo Virgen de Valencia. The Copa Ibérica one-day event in and around Vioño de Pielagos in Cantabria, saw the following riders line up: Unai Martínez, Álex Bibao, Mikel Martioda, Alberto Guinea, Fernando Grijalba, Efrén Carazo and Carlos Barbero. Of the seven, only the latter three actually managed to finish the race. Grijalba finished a distant 39th, two and a half minutes down on winner Jesus Ezquerra, while Barbero was 57th and Carazo 78th. Martioda was quite aggressive early on in the race, though, and got into a few ultimately unsuccessful moves.