Vuelta stage 11

Euskaltel went all out to secure a stage-win in today's 11th stage between Verín and the mighty Manzaneda but ended up empty-handed. On the long road to the Manzaneda's steep and unforgiving ramps, Euskaltel placed both JJ Oroz and Ametz Txurruka in the break of the day. It turned out to be a good move as Sky weren't overly interested in chasing down the break, and it soon became apparent that the 19 riders in the break would duke it out between them for the win. Oroz couldn't withstand the pace though and went out the back pretty early on. Txurruka stayed in there a little longer but couldn't find a response to Moncoutié, Intxausti and co. when they attacked. Txurruka had to settle for seventh in the end, 2:29 down on the Frenchman. Nieve tried his hand several times inside the last 10k but never really got a gap and eventually crossed the line with the main group of favourites. Impressive ride no doubt by the GT specialist, but he's still ranked 24th overall. Antón had another day to forget and came home 70th. Stage results:

• 7, Txuruka, 2:29
• 21, Nieve, 3:08
• 50, Oroz, 5:14
• 60, Martínez, 8:36
• 61, Verdugo, s.t.
• 70, Antón, 11:41
• 105, Azanza, 17:14
• 108, Isasi, s.t.
• 169, Cazaux, 26:04

Report: García and Cabedo sign on

According to Euskaltel's Twitter-feed, Orbea duo Ricardo García and Víctor Cabedo have singed deals with Euskaltel for the coming season. BiciCiclismo confirms this. No mention of Mikel Bizkarra's purported switch was mentioned though. Stay tuned.

Duo remain optimistic

Despite admitting they've both performed below expectations so far in the Vuelta, Igor Antón and Mikel Nieve were both optimistic when facing the press at today's rest-day in Verín. The former, billed as the number one favourite for the crown pre-race, will be looking for a stage-win to salvage some pride. "The mountainous stages will be hard, the Manzaneda, Farrapona, Angliru... There are many stages left and we'll try to get into the mix. I'm motivated and hope to grab a stage. We're having a fantastic season with wins in the Giro and the Tour. Let's hope we can take a win here as well!"

Mikel Nieve had this to say: "The last few days haven't gone as well as we had hoped. That's a fact. But we still have numerous stages in front of us where we can do great things. We've reached the mountains: the terrain most favourable to us. We'll give it our all. We're animated and we aim to win a stage. A win would close out a great season for us. I'm confident we'll get out of this situation on top."

Trio pre-selected for Worlds

Egoi Martínez and Koldo Fernández were both named on national coach José Luis de Santos' 12-man shortlist for the Worlds road race in Copenhagen, while Jonathan Castroviejo was selected for the ITT along with Movistar youngster Jesús Herrada. Martínez and Fernández will hope to be included in the final nine-man team, a team in which Oscar Freire will be the undisputed leader. Also named are Maté of Cofidis, Movistar trio Lastras, Erviti and Rojas, Rabobank riders Barredo, LL Sánchez and Garate, along with Flecha and Reynés of Omega Pharma-Lotto.

Source: BiciCiclismo

Naturgas update

Its been a hectic few days for la Fundación Euskadi's under-23 team. The youngsters in red took part in the 12th edition of the Memorial Jesús Loroño in Larrabetzu on Saturday (a Torneo Lehendakari-race), while another batch of riders took part in French four-stage race Tour du Piémont Pyrénéen, which came to a close yesterday.

• Larrabetzu: Naturgas did not managed to emulate their win of 2009 (through Peio Bilbao) on Saturday. Grijalba was the team's top finisher in 13th, while Merino was a distant 23rd in a rather discreet performance overall for the team. No-one else completed the race. Orbea rider (and reportedly Euskaltel-bound) Mikel Bizkarra grabbed a nice fifth in last year's edition.
• Piémont Pyrénéen: The team struggled to impose themselves on the Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle-designed course throughout. García, Ocampos, Larriñaga, Legarra, González and Chetout were picked to ride by DS Arberas, but García's 16th on stage one and Chetout's 16th on stage four were all they had to show for their efforts. On GC they finished: 18 - García, 34 - Larriñaga, 36 - Ocampos, 52 - González, 54 - Chetout. The latter finished fifth in the sprint competition, while the team placed sixth in the team rankings.

Stage 10 results & GC

Stage results:

• 63, Gorka Verdugo, 5:01
• 94, Mikel Nieve, 6:00
• 99, Jorge Azanza, 6:05
• 104, Igor Antón, 6:18
• 120, Juan José Oroz, 6:49
• 135, Iñaki Isasi, 7:21
• 141, Amets Txurruka, 7:39
• 148, Egoi Martínez, 7:55
• 182, Pierre Cazaux, 10:13

General classification:

• 25, Mikel Nieve, 5:06
• 32, Igor Antón, 8:47
• 49, Juan José Oroz, 26:46
• 56, Gorka Verdugo, 29:29
• 59, Amets Txurruka, 32:12
• 68, Egoi Martínez, 45:24
• 91, Iñaki Isasi, 1:06:39
• 97, Jorge Azanza, 1:08:53
• 167, Pierre Cazaux, 2:05:11

Just in: TT travesty in Salamanca

Euskaltel's two leaders, Antón and Nieve, both had a day to forget in the Vuelta's tenth stage 47km ITT in Salamanca today. The former ceded 6:18, while the latter was equally out of sorts in losing 6:00. They didn't look exhausted at crossing the line, so hopefully they didn't go all out but instead saved something for the days ahead. It's just speculation though. The peloton will take a day off tomorrow before the racing resumes on Wednesday. Stay tuned for full results later tonight.

"Our objectives have changed"

After Antón's dismal run of results continued yesterday - coupled with Nieve's slightly below-par performance - Euskaltel DS Gorka Gerrikagoitia admits it's time for a rethink. Talking to DEIA, the veteran DS explained that the team will no go all out for stage-wins and not put too much focus on the GC. "It's obvious that we need to change our plans", he said. "We have to start looking for stage-wins. Yesterday was an important test for us, and the results show that Antón is not quite there. He ceded close to two minutes again, so for him it'll be important to recover well. Maybe it's time we start aiming for certain stages. We need to change our approach as we've performed below what we thought we would. We're not too pessimistic, but we have to face the facts and admit that we're not where we expected to be. Our objectives have changed".

Despite Mikel Nieve occupying a healthy 15th overall, Gerrikagoitia revealed his performances haven't been as good as they had hoped for. "We also thought Mikel would be a bit stronger. 15 riders crossed the line before him and he's capable of much more than that. He's 15th on GC now, but normally he'll lose quite a chunk of time in today's ITT. He'll cede several minutes, but this will be a hard Vuelta. I expect many breaks will go up the road and I imagine the pack will struggle to contain them. In that scenario, Mikel will have to be at his best".

Orbea trio set to join Euskaltel

According to trustworthy French website www.velo-club.net, Orbea riders Ricardo García, Víctor Cabedo and Mikel Bizkarra will join Euskaltel in time for the 2012 season. La Fundación Euskadi have not confirmed the news at present, but stay tuned for official confirmation in the close future. All three have performed well over the course of the season, though, so it's by no means a surprise.

Vuelta stage 9 & Plouay

The expected Euskaltel onslaught on the ramps of the Covatilla failed to materialize in today's ninth stage. The expected rebirth of Antón came to naught, while Mikel Nieve performed solidly, if unspectacularly, to finish the day 15th overall. It was less than what many had anticipated though as Euskaltel, with Pierre Cazaux at the head, helped Katusha, Liquigas et al. with the pace-setting leading into the climb, triggering hopes of strong performances from Antón and Nieve. The former visibly struggled quite early on and went on to finish 33rd, 1:50 down, alongside Scarponi. Nieve seemed strong though - attacking halfway up the climb - but eventually had to settle for 16th place at 41 seconds. Though he dropped a few places on GC as a result, the damage done was not particularly significant and a top 10 place in Madrid is still well within his reach I reckon. Txurruka continued to show flickers of form with a 42nd-place finish at 2:32. Stage results:

• 16, Nieve, 0:41
• 33, Antón, 1:50
• 42, Txurruka, 2:32
• 52, Oroz, 4:02
• 75, Martínez, 9:22
• 81, Verdugo, s.t.
• 90, Azanza, 12:38
• 93, Isasi, s.t.
• 156, Cazaux, 18:46

Heading into tomorrow's decisive ITT in Salamanca, Nieve is 15th and Antón 30th.

True to form, the GP Plouay did not serve Euskaltel well. Izagirre and Fernández tried to get in on the act in the sprint but eventually had to settle for 24th and 30th respectively, while Astarloza had a decent ride and finished mid-pack. On a parcours not exactly suited to them, climber trio Landa, Velasco and Minguez ceded 7:43, while Sicard posted another DNF as the going got a bit too tough towards the end. Peio Bilbao was down to start but does not figure on the list of results. Landa and Minguez are reported to have taken a tumble, but are, according to the team's website, OK.

Results & reactions

Igor Antón was naturally pleased with his performance in today's eighth stage of the Vuelta a España. Speaking to reporters post-stage, the diminutive climber was sounding optimistic. "I'm happy. A performance like this was as necessary for me as water is for the month of May", he stated philosophically (and rather strangely). "The stages prior have been tough for me. I've gone from suffering to being close to the best, which is important for my morale. I'm slowly getting better and better, and hopefully I'll rediscover my best form. Tomorrow's stage features a climb (the Covatilla) which is hard, but which I nonetheless have fond memories of. We did the climb back in the 2006 edition and I liked the ascent. Rodríguez is looking really strong and is the favourite as he's won two stages and is in red."

Stage results:

• 6th, Antón, 0:15
• 13th, Nieve, 0:20
• 42nd, Martínez, 1:15
• 48th, Txurruka, 1:42
• 58th, Oroz, 2:08
• 75th, Azanza, 3:42
• 90th, Isasi, 6:19
• 96th, Verdugo, 6:27
• 123rd, Cazaux, 15:30

Of note was Txurruka's ride. He attacked on the third-to-last climb and quickly built up a decent gap. He was inevitably reeled in before the penultimate climb but still proved his form is there or thereabouts. His pedal-stroke looked decent and I reckon he'll be strong in the last two weeks if he avoids crashes and the like.

Just in: Antón back in form

Igor Antón seems to be rediscovering his best form with a sixth-place finish atop the brutishly steep El Escorial climb at the end of today's eighth stage of the Vuelta. Antón bested numerous big-name rivals on his way to sixth, while Nieve was once again up there, placing 13th. The latter is thus 12th overall heading into tomorrow's mountainous stage nine, and Antón's performance today is a big plus for the remainder of the race. Stay tuned for full results and reactions later tonight.

Zabalo on the mend

www.fundacioneuskadi.com today reports that Xabier Zabalo's condition is improving. The 23-year-old is allegedly responding well to surgery performed yesterday and is conscious and speaking. He doesn't seem to suffer from a loss of memory either, as he remembers the moments before the crash and also the hours prior to it. His broken jaw will be operated on this coming Monday.

GP Plouay roster

Koldo Fernández and Mikel Astarloza will headline Euskaltel's team in the GP Plouay on Sunday. The one-day WorldTour-event will also see Landa, Bilbao, Velasco, J Izagirre, Minguez and Sicard line up (the exact same team as in Poitou Charentes in other words). Based on the last few races, expect to see Izagirre in a break and Koldo sprinting for a top 10 finish.