La Fundación Euskadi's annual 'Fiesta de la Bici' was held today in Derio. The 'Fiesta' is an event that aims to promote the use of bikes as a means of transportation and as a spare-time activity among youngsters. A fun ride, in which all Euskaltel, Orbea and Naturgas riders were taking part, was organized, and an impressive number of 1700 came out to ride with their heroes.
Euskaltel have initiated a co-operation with a local consultancy firm called Itzarri to make the team gel more as a unit. The program, denominated 'Besteam', will primarily focus on optimizing the riders' leadership qualities. Igor Antón is the first to try out this novel program, and hopefully it will pay dividens as leadership have never really been Euskaltel riders' forte.
Erstwhile Euskaltel rider and directeur sportif Rubén Gorospe, brother of the great Julián Gorospe, has been elected as the new national coach of the Spanish cyclo-cross team. Rubén, who competed for Euskaltel, or Euskadi as it was called back then, in it's inaugural season in 1994, spent a few years as a DS with the team when Julián was the main man in charge of the team, and has since gone on to direct the highly-successful Cafés Baqué under-23 outfit. Traditionally Spain has struggled to leave their mark on the international cyclo-cross scene, but the sport is on the rise in Spain and the national federation hope the appointment of a canny DS like Gorospe might propel them to future success.
Speedster Koldo Fernández is hoping he's soon able to return to training after his horrid crash in his last race of the season, the Paris-Bourges. Speaking to DEIA, Koldo described the fall that smashed his left collarbone, right cheekbone and several teeth, as "one of my worst ever crashes", but also admitted the timing of it could hardly have been better. "The crash causes less damage when the winter's around the corner and the season's over", he stated. According to the rider, the operation went "perfectly", and he hopes to recover "completely" and to "reach top form" for the start of the 2011 season. He also went on to praise the doctors' work with fixing his collarbone, but still proclaims he has no recollection whatsoever of the crash itself.
New signing Pierre Cazaux spoke briefly to Bilbao daily El Correo yesterday at the unveiling of the Fundación Euskadi's co-operation with Iparralde, the French, or Northern if you'd like, part of the Basque Country. The 26-year-old described himself as an "all-rounder, a combative cyclist. I'm a rider working for my leaders. This year I've done a calendar including the Grand Tours, and in them I've been at the service of Sandy Casar and Le Mevel." The Francaise des Jeux rider proclaimed he wasn't surprised by Euskaltel's interest, saying "this year I finished my contract with FDJ and, being a French-Basque rider, I knew there was a possibility to join Euskaltel." Cazaux allegedly goes out training with Romain Sicard quite often, and the duo will look to set a precedent for more French riders to join the team in the coming years.
Euskaltel duo Samu Sánchez and Beñat Intxausti will both participate in another criterium in Mexico, this time the Cancún Cycling Challenge the coming Saturday. Like in Chihuahua last weekened, a host of the present stars of the peloton will line up. The riders face 11 laps on a 10km circuit for a total of 110 clicks, and as was the case last weekend, the fans will get to ride alongside the pros for the entire event.
Miguel Madariaga has revealed that la Fundación Euskadi have reached a partnership agreement with two cycling clubs in the French part of the Basque Country that will see successful youngsters from the regions given a chance to prosper at either Naturgas or Orbea with a view to turning pro with Euskaltel, writes Bici Ciclismo. The two clubs in question is Aviron Bayonnais, first-ever Frenchman at Euskaltel Thierry Elissalde's old club, and Maule. This co-operation has already seen Loic Chetout, Damien Garcia and Karl Baudron secure a ride with Naturgas as of next year. Naturgas Energía's full roster is due to be announced in the near future, so stay tuned.
Euskaltel are not likely to take part in next year's edition of the Giro d'Italia, writes Tutto Bici web. This contradicts what has been reported in other sections of the media lately, but when their source is a certain González de Galdeano, they've probably got it right. According to the reliable cycling website, Galdeano has said that "the Giro is not about to re-enter our plans. And if they force us to do it we will have a problem. Three Grand Tours would see us reverting to our old calendar. We don't want that as the last two season have been very pleasing for us. Right now we're waiting for the governing bodies to decide our destiny".
To the amazement of some supporters, Igor González de Galdeano opted not to offer team stalwarts Aitor Galdós and Aitor Hernández new contracts for next year. Speaking to Gara, the latter wasn't overly pleased. "I'm not very happy with the way it happened", he said. "I got off to a good start this year. I was eighth overall in Haut Var, but I injured my knee when I put in a big effort. But I continued to train without curing it, so it got worse. The team doctors didn't know what to do to help me. (...) They said I haven't progressed, but I haven't been able to due to this problem." Like Galdós, he'll compete in local cyclo-cross races over the winter in the hope of attracting a team, and is also in touch with his former directors at LPR in the hope of securing a ride in the country he started out as a pro. Galdós wasn't entirely happy with not being retained either, saying the reason he was released was that himself and Galdeano "don't see cycling the same way", whatever that means. He added, quite rightfully I feel, that "he merited a new contract with the team", but was still diplomatic by saying "I hope these four years in the team have been good for all parties." Like Hernández, Aitor is exploring the possibility of going to Italy, but says he ideally wants to remain in Spain. The 30-year-old is picky though, and isn't going to ride for just any team. If he doesn't succeed in obtaining a contract with a decent outfit, he'd like to stay in the sport as a sports director.
Okay, so not really an Euskaltel or Ibán related post, but there's been quite a few people and websites who've wondered exactly who that "French youngster", as Amets Txurruka described him, who took third in the Taiwan Cup behind Amets and Valjavec was. That youngster is George Bennett from CR4C Roanne who'll compete for famed talent-factory VC La Pomme Marseille next year. At least according to his own blog. So there you go.
