Samu discards winning Tour

With Contador and Menchov both more than likely not to take part in the Tour de France this year, fans and experts alike have been touting Samu Sánchez as a possible overall winner come July. But Samu is having none of it. And rightly so, I feel. "To win the Tour is too big an ask", he said honestly to el Diario Vasco yesterday. "I know that I can win a Classic, a six-stage race, that I'm quite a complete cyclist, but to win the Tour... Maybe I'm being too cautious, I don't know, but it seems out of reach for me. I don't really like to speak about the Tour. I've done four, and finished two of them. I can't be consider a Tour-rider like Armstrong, Indurain or Alberto. In the ones I've finished, I've been fourth and seventh. I'm turning 33 years old..." Although I'll never say never, I sadly have to agree with Samu on that one. I just can't see it happening. I think the podium is a viable goal, he proved as much last year. Any thoughts?

Euskaltel anonymous in Almería

Euskaltel went missing in today's Clásica de Almería. The orange-clad riders never really animated the race in any way, despite Mikel Nieve trying (and failing) to get into the break of the day early on, and Rubén Pérez could only muster 13th in the sprint to conclude a sub-par performance. Alan Pérez, Antón, Nieve and Jon Izagirre all finished inside the main bunch, while Castroviejo, Minguez and Landa all abandoned.

It was a better performance from Orbea, though. Victor Cabedo once again spent the day out front, this time with Ventoso and Hoogerland, and showed his pedigree for picking the right time to attack. He also tried to go it alone inside the last 10 clicks, so both thumbs up for him! Adrián Sáez sprinted to a good 15th, while team-mates Urain, Aberasturi, Bilbao, Garcia and Zabalo all rolled in with the peloton. Cabedo finished the day 54 seconds down, not that he would care given his day-long exploits, while Etxebarria ended up 1:18 back.

Naturgas 2nd and 3rd in Soraluze

Naturgas youngsters Igor Merino and Fernando Grijalba went oh so close to securing the team a first win of the season in today's Torneo sub-23 opener in Soraluze. The 118km race ended atop the San Andrés climb and, after attacking along with the Naturgas pair on the steep slopes, Omar Fraile of Seguros Bilbao claimed the win. Fraile distanced the two red-clad riders inside the last two kilometres, eventually finishing 10 seconds ahead of Merino and 21 ahead of Grijalba in third. Superb team performance, and I guess at this stage of their careers that's more important than the results.

Orbea ready for Almería

Orbea will send six riders to tomorrow's one-day Clásica de Almería. Fresh off their impressive outing in Andalucía, the blue team will field Peio Bilbao, Ricardo Garcia, Adrián Sáez, Jon Aberasturi, Aritz Etxebarria and Beñat Urain. According to DS Álex Díaz, who's spoken to the team's website, they'll aim for a secondary classification-jersey, and will generally just try to mix it up with the big guys. Watch out for on-fire Peio Bilbao and Jon Aberasturi to make an impression.

Naturgas open season

Naturgas Energía opened their season today with the Trofeo Euskaldun opener in Zumaia. The Sub-28 series of races saw Iban Leanizbarrutia of the Cespa-Euskadi team sprint to victory in the first race of the year. Carlos Barbero sprinted to a solid 10th place, while Rory Martínez, Efrén Carazo and new signings Karl Baudron and Eduardo Ardaiz all came in with that same group. Fellow new signing Alain González ended up 2:28 back in 108th place. Jon Larrinaga, Álex Bilbao and Aitor Ocampos all started but failed to finish.

The red brigade will race tomorrow as well. On the menu on Sunday is the Torneo Sub-23 opener in Soraluze. Representing the team will be: Damien Garcia, Eduardo Ardaiz, Efrén Carazo, Carlos Barbero, Urtzi Legarra, Aitor Ocampos, Álex Bilbao, Fernando Grijalba, Alberto Guinea, Jon Larrinaga, Igor Merino and Rory Martínez.

De Lis' new lease of life

When 24-year-old Sergio De Lis surprisingly decided to retire from the sport mid-season in 2010, in the midst of his second year with Euskaltel, a lot of us were left bemused. When quizzed on the subject, Igor González de Galdeano remained coy, merely saying it was for "personal reasons" and that he didn't really want to talk about it. Now, more than 8 months on, Sergio De Lis has found a new lease of life: the life as a rower. Speaking to Gaizka Lasa of Bilbao newspaper El Correo, the former Orbea and Euskaltel all-rounder talks about his life after the bike. Taking up the sport in December, he's now rowing for San Sebastián-team San Pedro's second boat (whatever 'second boat' means). "I had continued to train (after hanging up the bike), but I lacked motivation", he said. "I needed that incentive, I needed that life". That life turned out to be onboard a boat. Though he's not alone in swapping the bike for the oar, or the other way around, antipodeans Amber Halliday, Drew Ginn and the late Amy Gillett, to name but three, have done the same, it's hardly the norm for ex-cyclists. Though admitting he's still coming to terms with the technique of his new sport, he still harbours dreams of one day competing in the big one. "Obviously I'd love to one day compete on La Concha, but at the moment I'm not setting myself any goals", he said modestly.

Fernández update

Crash-victim Koldo Fernández will on Monday undergo a few tests to determine how to proceed in his recuperation, writes www.fundacioneuskadi.com. It's no secret he's broken his right collarbone, but it's still not been established is he's broken a bone in his wrist as well. Fernández had a checkup in a Bilbao medical centre yesterday, but there's still no official word on when he might return to competition.

Castroviejo in for Fernández

According to DEIA, Jonathan Castroviejo will take the injured Koldo Fernández's place in Sunday's Clásica de Almería line-up. The team released a seven-man team with no Castroviejo in it yesterday, but the trustworthy Basque daily today says that's not the case.

Samu happy for friend Irizar

Samu was delighted both with his own and his team's performance, as well as for former team-mate Markel Irizar, when speaking to the media after the conclusion of the Vuelta a Andalucía today. Samu himself finished ninth, and speaking to the team's website after the race, he declared: "Oscar Freire was the right winner today, just like Markel Irizar was the rightful winner of the overall. Congratulations to both of them. But it was annoying not to win today. It was so close, and I wanted to dedicate an eventual win to Koldo after his crash yesterday. But in general, I'm happy with my performance all through the race. In the decisive stages we've shown good form and we've been in the mix. This race has allowed me to retake racing again, step by step ,and get the racing-rhythm back in my legs. It's impossible to forget the loss of Koldo, who is an important rider for us, but the dynamics in the team were good. My team-mates have performed really well and protected me every kilometre of the race with a positive and good attitude."

Andalucía stage 5

Samuel Sánchez took second place on today's fifth and final stage of the Vuelta a Andalucía. The Olympic champ was beaten only by three-time World champ Freire in the sprint for stage-honours, and so Euskaltel is still on the hunt for their first 2011 win. A four-man break, including the impressive Zabalo of Orbea, spent the majority of the day out in front. They were never likely to succeed, though, and they were reeled in with something like three clicks remaining. Only 33 riders made it to the line on the same time as Freire as a lumpy stage took it's toll on the peloton. In that 33-man group was Landa, who's showing good form these days, and sprinter Aberasturi and García of Orbea. Peio Bilbao, of the same team, only ceded 10 seconds by stage's end, while Urain ended up losing 27. Verdugo and Sicard continued their low-key start to the season by finishing 33 seconds adrift, while R Pérez and Urtasun ended up 56 back. Orbea trio Etxebarria, Zabalo and Cabedo finished 1:23, 1:44 and 1:46 back respectively.

On GC, Samu's consistent riding meant he finished a solid ninth, a placing he'll no doubt be pleased with in his first race of the year. Landa was a respectable 25th, Urtasun 45th, Verdugo 53rd, Pérez 54th and Sicard 66th. Peio Bilbao was Orbea's best-placed rider overall, finishing a solid 23rd. Cabedo was 49th, García 68th, Etxebarria 71st, Aberasturi 79th, Urain 91st and Xavier Zabalo ended up 101st. In the team ranking, Euskaltel ended up 10th and Orbea 13th.

Almería team

Euskaltel will send a seven-man team to Sunday's sprinter-friendly Clásica de Almería bereft of their designated leader. Koldo Fernández was expected to lead the charge, but sadly won't be able to due to yesterday's bad tumble. In his place, it's hoped last year's number nine, Rubén Pérez, can secure a top finish for the team. Joining him will be Igor Antón, Miguel Minguez, Jon Izagirre, Mikel Nieve, Mikel Landa and Alan Pérez. Josu Larrazabal will be in the car calling the shots.

Orbea presentation

La Fundación Euskadi's Continental-level team Orbea, will stage it's official presentation on Tuesday, March 1. The presentation will be held in the Orbea factory in Mallabia, Bizkaya, and all 13 riders, along DS Álex Díaz, Galdeano, Madariaga and Orbea manager Miguel Ocaña, will be present. More on this event on Wednesday.

Sánchez honoured with statue

The Asturian town of Oviedo has paid homage to it's big son Samuel Sánchez by eracting a statue of the Olympic champ downtown, writes Velonation. As you can see from the pic above, which is also from Velonation, the statue shows Samu on the podium in Beijing with the gold medal in his hand. "I'm very happy with it", he told Sidi Sport. "Winning a medal at the olympics is in itself extraordinary, there's nothing more gratifying in sport. Every time I pass the statue while out training, I remember Beijing and that race. It still feels incredible."

Andalucía stage 4

It was a disastrous day for Euskaltel and Koldo Fernández in Andalucía today. The sprinter was, alongside a host of other riders, taken out by an advertising board inside the last 100 metres of the stage. Koldo seemed to be the one worst off, with a collarbone fracture confirmed by the team's website. According to the same website he'll spend the night with his companions at the hotel, before travelling back home in the morning for some check-ups at the local hospital. After a crash-marred 2010 season, it was the last thing the amicable fastman needed. But that's sprinting, I guess. More news on Koldo's condition to follow tomorrow.

The stage itself was one big yawn as far as Euskaltel and Orbea were concerned. The teams failed to animate the flat 174km ride from Jaén to Córdoba, and when the anticipated sprint was about to start, well, it all went awry. An Orbea rider was also involved in the crash, but I didn't manage to identify him in all the mess that ensued. Jon Aberasturi grabbed a moral-boosting eighth at the line, so at least it's not all bad. Romain Sicard stopped by Koldo to check up on his stricken team-mate before crossing the line, but was sensibly given the same finishing-time as the rest. Orbea trio Etxebarria, Zabalo and Cabedo conceded 1:17, 1:19 and 1:19 respectively by day's end.