Sánchez makes up time on Wiggins

Samuel Sánchez inched closer to pre-race favourite Bradley Wiggins on Tuesday's fourth stage of the Giro d'Italia.

The Euskaltel captain, 14th across the line in Serra San Bruno at the end of a hilly 246km trek from Policastro, profited from gaps that opened up on the short, but wet and slippery descent to the line to claw back 17 seconds on the Team Sky leader.

"It was another dangerous day", he said upon crossing the line. "It was a hard finale, and the rain augmented the risk. Stages like these are stages you need to get through unscathed, be concentrated and  at your game. The team did all that very well. Miguel Mínguez and Ioannis Tamouridis got into the break and the rest of the team protected me very well".

The duo he mentions infiltrated the day's seven-man break, pleasing the team' sponsors by putting their logos on the screen for hours.

While the break never looked like making it to the line, Miguel Mínguez made the most of his day in the spotlight with a delightful attack inside the last 50 kilometres.

Having followed Ag2r's Julien Berard's initial acceleration, despite having his shirt full of water bottles as he prepared to aid his team-mates in the likely scenario of being caught, Mínguez proceeded to go it alone with some climbing reminiscent of fans favourites like Amets Txurruka and Egoi Martínez.

The Bilbao-native quickly distanced his breakaway companions and looked to be going strong, but the incessant pace in the bunch was always going to be his downfall.

With 42 clicks to go he was reeled in, paving the way for Enrico Battaglin to sprint to a surprise victory in the slight uphill drag to the line.

Save for Wiggins' slight time loss, the GC saw no big changes.

Results (full results here):

• (1, Enrico Battaglin (Bardiani Valvole), 6:14:19)
• 14, Samuel Sánchez, s.t.
• 33, Jorge Azanza, s.t.
• 82, Egoi Martínez, 6:14
• 104, Gorka Verdugo, 10:25
• 115, Robert Vrecer, 16:53
• 193, Ioannis Tamouridis, 22:55
• 197, Ricardo Mestre, s.t.
• 201, Pablo Urtasun, 25:44
• 202, Miguel Mínguez, s.t. 

Photo: Euskaltel Euskadi

Star-studded field for Vuelta al Bidasoa

The best sub-23 riders in the country will convene in the Basque Country tomorrow as the prestigious Vuelta al Bidasoa commences.

The four-day race will as usual take in stages around the river of Bidasoa, with the two final stages yet again likely to decisive.

The third stage, starting and finishing in Hondarribia, takes in the climb of climbs in the region, the mythical Jaizkíbel, only ten kilometres from the goal line. The final leg to Irún takes in three cat.1 ascents, meaning it's likely to once again stay tight on GC until the very last day.

Last year's champion, Alexey Rybalkin, will not be back to defend his crown, but his team, Lokosphinx, most definitely will. The team has taken out the last four (!) editions of the race, and they'll bring plenty of overall candidates this time around as well - not least in the shape of Vadim Zhuravlev and the Vdovin brothers, Sergey and Alexander.

The Russians aren't likely to have it all their own way, though, as numerous on-form domestic riders will line up.

The recently crowned overall Copa de España victor, Fernando Grijalba, will spearhead a strong Caja Rural team featuring the likes of Ibai Salas, Antonio Molina and Jaime Rosón.

The young Gonzalo Serrano and ever-reliable Argentine Ariel Sivori will be present in the colours of Supermercados Froiz, Gipuzkoa-Eki Sport will field dangerous pair Beñat Txoperena and Ibai Davoz, David Etxebarría's Cafés Baqué-Conservas Campos outfit will include Mario González and Iñigo Ojeda, while Adrián Alvarado will be one of the biggest favourites for the overall crown when he lines up for Bicicletas Rodríguez-Extremadura.

Further, GSport-Valencia Terra i Mar duo Manuel Sola and cyclo-cross specialist Marcos Altúr might throw up a surprise, and the same goes for the strong climber from Catalonia, Arnau Sole of Coluer.

The team to beat appears to be Lizarte, though. The pink squad has racked up win after win lately, and will send both Santi Ramírez, Antonio Pedrero and Dayer Quintana to the race.

On their part, Naturgas Energía will count on Víctor Etxeberría, eighth last year, and Loïc Chetout, who last week finished up the Copa de España in fourth overall.

"Víctor Etxeberría was laid low by bronchitis a month ago and still isn't at a 100 percent, but I hope he can be up there", DS Ion Lazkano says to El Diario Vasco. "What's more, Loïc Chetout might go well. We bring a potent team that can fight for the stage wins".

Visit the race's homepage for more info on stages, start lists and whatnot here  

Galdeano - Nieve hasn't been lucky

It's been a checkered year so far for Mikel Nieve.

The usually ever-reliable climber showed flickers of early-season form back in February when he finished third on a hard stage of the Tour Méditerranéen, but has since then found top results hard to come by due to persistent struggles with allergies.

Read: Allergies suspend Nieve's season

To get his season back on track, the 28-year-old opted out of the Tour de Romandie to "recover and start thinking about the second half of the season".

To perform up to expectations in that latter part of the season, Nieve will today travel to the thin air of Sierra Nevada along with a sizeable contingent of team-mates.

"He'll be back racing in the Bayern Rundfahrt and then the Dauphiné", team manager Igor González de Galdeano says. "Mikel has suffered from bad luck in this first part of the season, but he's now recovering from the health problems which hindered him. I hope he'll be back, fully competitive, by June and July".

Igor Antón, who'll co-lead the team with Nieve at this summer's Tour de France, is yet to decide on where he'll rev up for the big event.

"We still have to decide whether Igor goes to the Dauphiné or to the Tour de Suisse", de Galdeano explains. "We'll see how he does at the training camp and how he's going physically before deciding which race he'll line up in. There's plenty of time to take the right decision".

Joining the two ace climbers will be Romain Sicard, Juan José Oroz, Gorka and Ion Izagirre, Mikel Astarloza and Juan José Lobato.

Sánchez shows intent on tough Giro stage

Samuel Sánchez gave an early indicator of form in the Giro d'Italia by placing fifth on an unexpectedly tough third stage of the race on Monday.

The hills on the 222-kilometre long drag from Sorrento to Marina di Ascena turned out to be a bigger test for the general classification contenders than many had anticipated pre-stage, as several candidates for the overall win in Brescia, defending champion Ryder Hesjedal in particular, launched threatening moves off the front on the descent off of the final cat.3 climb of Sella de Catona.

The likes of the Garmin-Sharp leader, Astana's young climber Fabio Aru and Katusha's Luca Paolini were all in the midst of the attacks, and eventually it was the latter, riding his maiden Giro at 36, who managed to slip away in the last few kilometres to win solo and take the pink jersey with it.

A select group counting 16 riders came in 16 seconds down, with Cadel Evans leading the group across the line ahead of Hesjedal and Mauro Santambrogio.

Samuel Sánchez, always attentive and well shepherded on the last climb by Egoi Martínez and Jorge Azanza, came in fifth to rise to 20th overall.

After three days of racing, the Euskaltel leader is 1:18 down on new leader Paolini. He's still 1:01 and 47 seconds down on main favourites Bradley Wiggins and Vincenzo Nibali respectively.

Results (full results here):

• (1, Luca Paolini (Katusha), 5:43:50)
• 5, Samuel Sánchez, 0:16
• 26, Jorge Azanza, 0:50
• 59, Egoi Martínez, 1:52
• 62, Gorka Verdugo, s.t.
• 89, Ricardo Mestre, 8:27
• 129, Robert Vrecer, s.t.
• 157, Ioannis Tamouridis, 14:17
• 196, Pablo Urtasun, 19:31
• 198, Miguel Mínguez, s.t.

Photo: Euskaltel Euskadi

Sánchez - It was pure bad luck

Euskaltel and Samuel Sánchez were left to curse their bad luck after Sunday's stage two team time trial in the Giro d'Italia.

Ricardo Mestre's puncture inside the last two clicks forced the team to a near stand-still as they had to sit up and wait for their team-mate, seeing valuable seconds going down the drain in the process.

As it turned out, Euskaltel finished a minute down on Bradley Wiggins' Sky, meaning the Euskaltel team leader is the worst-placed pre-race overall candidate on GC heading into Monday's stage three.

"We were going well in the first part", he says according to BiciCiclismo. "But unfortunately Ricardo Mestre suffered a puncture towards the end. I think we may have lost 20 seconds, perhaps even half a minute.

"It was pure bad luck".

Despite suffering yet another bad start to a Grand Tour campaign, the Asturian prefers to look at it from a positive side.

"I'm pleased with my condition. Unexpected things like that can happen, but let's hope that we've now had our dose of bad luck and that we'll be more lucky soon".

Ill-fortune makes Euskaltel look bad

Euskaltel Euskadi put on what at first glance looked like a disturbing team time trial showing on the Giro d'Italia's second stage on Sunday.

Inside the final kilometre, four riders suddenly realized they were all alone up front with the all-important fifth fading badly and showing no signs of recovering.

It made for farcical scenes as Samuel Sánchez and co. were forced to soft-pedal in the closing stretches, going on to lose a massive 60 seconds to main GC favourite Bradley Wiggins and his Team Sky companions as man number five, Ricardo Mestre, crossed the line alone long after his team-mates were home and dry.

It made the team a laughing stock among fans (this writer included) and television pundits alike, but it later transpired the team could hardly have done anything to avoid it.

Mestre suffered a puncture with a kilometre and half left to ride and immediately went out the back, leaving Sánchez, Gorka Verdugo, Egoi Martínez and Jorge Azanza confused when the Portuguese didn't come through for his final effort at the front.

No matter the reason, the result leaves Sánchez well adrift on GC as the peloton heads back to the mainland after the 17,4km effort against the clock between Ischia and Foria.

He ceded a minute and one second to Wiggins, 52 seconds to Intxausti, 47 seconds to Nibali, 39 to Scarponi, 36 to Hesjedal and 24 to Evans.

What makes the disappointment even harder to swallow for the Euskaltel riders is the fact they'd gotten off to a more than decent start and were, by some experts' calculations, en route to post the fourth best time at the finish.

"The riders put in a huge effort and sacrificed themselves for the team, but we just can't seem to get it right in this discipline", a downbeat Gorka Gerrikagoitia said post-race. "On this occasion, though, it's down to bad fortune".

Results (full results here):

• (1, Team Sky, 22:05)
• 22, Euskaltel Euskadi, 1:01
• (Robert Vrecer and Ioannis Tamouridis 1:20, Miguel Mínguez 2:31 and Pablo Urtasun 3:16)

Gregori out-climbs young guns to take Urraki crown

Pedro Gregori added to his rapidly-growing palmarès by taking out the Subida a Urraki one-day race in Azpeitia, Gipuzkoa, on Sunday.

The 25-year-old Mutua Levante rider, who only started riding his bike at 19, bested Caja Rural's Antonio Molina in a two-up sprint at the top of the Urraki climb after a challenging 115,5 kilometres.

Gregori is fresh off overall victory at the recent Vuelta a Castellón and proved too hot in the dash for the line for Molina, three years his junior, to handle.

The race was the fourth of the year in the Torneo Euskaldun race series.

Third was Lizarte's Higinio Fernández, the former Caja Rural pro who was also to the fore in Castellón, while team-mate Antonio Pedrero, a victor in Soraluze yesterday of course, finished fourth.

Results:

• 1, Pedro Gregori (Mutua Levante), 3:05:28
• 2, Antonio Molina (Caja Rural), s.t.
• 3, Higinio Fernández (Lizarte), 0:30
• 4, Antonio Pedrero (Lizarte), s.t.
• 5, Borja Abásolo (Debabarrena), 1:20
• 6, Joseba del Barrio (Gipuzkoa-Eki Sport), 1:42
• 7, Egoitz Murgoitio (Hirumet-Taldea), 2:30
• 8, Rodolfo Villalobos (Telco'm), 3:38
• 9, Júlen Mitxelena (Gipuzkoa-Eki Sport), 3:51
• 10, Eric Altuna (Telco'm), 3:53

Photo: www.fccv.es

Urtasun - I'm very discouraged

Bad luck hit Euskaltel in Saturday's Giro d'Italia opener as Pablo Urtasun crashed, injuring an elbow and a hip in the process.

The all-rounder, who grabbed Euskaltel's first win this year at the Vuelta a Castilla y León, managed to complete the stage in obvious pain before getting his injuries examined. Luckily for both team and rider, no fractures were sustained.

Nonetheless, Urtasun wasn't best pleased with life when talking to the team's website later on.

"I'm discouraged", he said. "I've been training in Almería on a few occasions, I've done six hour rides in which I've suffered a whole lot, I've climber dozens of mountains to get into shape, and then one crash wipes all that away.

"My elbow is inflamed, but what will hurt the most tomorrow is my hip. We were riding along pretty fast when the crash occurred, so I took a big hit. I've experienced this before, and a week of pain now lies ahead of me. It's a shame to have this kind of luck when I've prepared so well for the race".

The opening 130km leg in downtown Naples saw numerous crashes, not least the big one inside the last two clicks that saw the peloton split up and Mark Cavendish sprinting to an anticipated win from a small group left at the front.

None of the Euskaltel riders got tangled up in that one, though, and team captain Samuel Sánchez got through the day without any mishaps or time losses.

"The team did a great job today", he praised afterwards. "They kept me well positioned all day, so I've only got words of gratitude for them. It was important to get off to a good start, so in that regard Pablo Urtasun's crash was a shame".

Miguel Mínguez also suffered a minor crash underway, but the native of Bilbao quickly got up and finished the stage without major trouble.

On a more positive note for fans of the 'the Carrots', Ricardo Mestre made his Grand Tour bow with a bang. The Portuguese made it into the break of the day and gave Euskaltel presence up ahead of the pack.

Ioannis Tamouridis was the team's top finisher, the Greek rider placing a noteworthy 13th after avoiding the pile-up near the end.

Results (full results here):

• (1, Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma-Quick Step), 2:58:38)
• 13, Ioannis Tamouridis, s.t.
• 40, Samuel Sánchez, s.t.
• 42, Egoi Martínez, s.t.
• 44, Jorge Azanza, s.t.
• 76, Gorka Verdugo, s.t.
• 104, Ricardo Mestre, s.t.
• 122, Robert Vrecer, s.t.
• 156, Miguel Mínguez, s.t.
• 207, Pablo Urtasun, 5:07

Photo: Kevin Remmerie

Landa almost lands Madrid

Mikel Landa went awfully close to grabbing a morale-boosting win at the Vuelta a la Comunidad de Madrid on Saturday.

The ace climber, who's struggled for form all spring, was beaten to the line in the one-day race in a two-up sprint with Movistar's Javi Moreno at the top of the cat.1 Alto de Mocuera.

It was a close miss, but the 23-year-old wasn't all that downbeat when talking to the press afterwards.

"This result is important as it boosts my morale", he said. "It's been a difficult start to the season. Allergies have hindered me in bringing out the best in myself and profit from the work I've laid down. Today I was able to do something meaningful on the bike, and that always motivates you to keep working".

Sports director Álex Díaz explained post-race that Peio Bilbao had actually been the team's designated captain, but that all changed when the slender Gernika-born escalador hit the tarmac in a feed zone.

Bilbao got back up and finished the race, but could only muster 17th.

Another Euskaltel rider who caught the attention was Garikoitz Bravo who once again made it into the break of the day.

Results:

• (1, Javi Moreno (Movistar), 4:25:01)
• 2, Mikel Landa, s.t.
• 17, Peio Bilbao, 1:44
• 32, Adrián Sáez, 3:57
• 61, Ricardo García, 12:20
• 68, Jon Aberasturi, 12:25
• 71, Tarik Chaoufi, 13:52
• 74, Garikoitz Bravo, 15:28

Photo: Iñaki Azanza

Euskaltel set for first Grand Tour of 2013

Euskaltel will aim to build on their rich recent history at the Giro d'Italia when the year's first Grand Tour starts off on Saturday.

The team has three stage wins to its name over the last two years courtesy of Mikel Nieve and Igor Antón's epic wins in the mountains in 2011 and Ion Izagirre's stunning triumph last year.

Samuel Sánchez will be the team's main man this year, of course, as he leads a team consisting of riders from four different countries:

• 91 - Samuel Sánchez
• 92 - Jorge Azanza
• 93 - Egoi Martínez
• 94 - Ricardo Mestre
• 95 - Miguel Mínguez
• 96 - Ioannis Tamouridis
• 97 - Pablo Urtasun
• 98 - Gorka Verdugo
• 99 - Robert Vrecer

Photo: Euskaltel Euskadi

Pedrero bests Estévez in Soraluze

Lizarte continued their recent hot streak as Antonio Pedrero sprinted to win in Soraluze on Saturday.

The Catalan proved to be the fastest in a ten-man group that just about held off the pack, ousting Naturgas Energía's Imanol Estévez and his own team-mate Marc Soler.

Pedrero's win comes hot on the heels of team-mate Santi Ramírez's win in Legazpi on Wednesday and in Álava last Sunday.

Estévez's speedy team-mate Alain González finished just off the podium in fourth, while Nairo Quintana's younger brother, Dayer, continued his run of fine form by finishing sixth.

Results:

• 1, Antonio Pedrero (Lizarte), 2:41:13
• 2, Imanol Estévez (Naturgas Energía), s.t.
• 3, Marc Soler (Lizarte), s.t.
• 4, Alain González (Naturgas Energía), s.t.
• 5, Iñaki Gonzálvez (Mutua Levante), s.t.
• 6, Dayer Quintana (Lizarte), s.t.
• 7, Ariel Sivori (Supermercados Froiz), s.t.
• 8, Mario González (Cafés Baqué-Conservas Campos), s.t.
• 9, Jaime Rosón (Caja Rural), s.t.
• 10, Ibán Davoz (Gipuzkoa-Eki Sport), s.t.

Lucky seven in Madrid?

While the vast majority of Euskaltel fans will have their eyes firmly set on Italy this weekend, a septet of orange-clad riders will quietly aim to deliver the team its first ever triumph in the Vuelta a la Comunidad de Madrid.

The race has been reduced to a one-day test this year, meaning it'll all be decided on Saturday.

Awaiting the peloton is a hilly 167km ride that finishes atop the cat.1-ranked Alto de Morcuera, the recorrido taking in another six categorized climbs before the final one.

Representing Euskaltel will be Ricardo García (who was originally set for the Giro d'Italia), Adrián Sáez (pictured above), Mikel Landa, Garikoitz Bravo, Peio Bilbao, Jon Aberasturi and Tarik Chaoufi.

Last year's running of the race, the 26th edition, saw Russian Sergey Firsanov of RusVelo taking a surprising win. Mikel Landa finished up seventh.

Photo: Kevin Remmerie

Estévez and co. set for double-header

After the disappointment of missing out on the overall Copa de España crown earlier this week, the Fundación Euskadi's sub-23 team will be back in action this weekend.

Naturgas Energía will send teams to both Saturday's Torneo Lehendakari-ranked race in Soraluze and to the Euskaldun-ranked Subida a Urraki in Azpeitia on Sunday. Both races are held in the Gipuzkoa region.

The former was taken out by the prolific Fernando Grijalba of Caja Rural in 2012, and the red and whites charged with bettering their fourth place from last year (through Jon Larrinaga) are:

Imanol Estévez, Javier Francisco Martín, Noel Gil, Alain González, Karl Baudron, Alain Santamaría, Oier Sánchez, Bernat Font, Aitor Morales, Éder Sáez de Ocariz and Alberto Barrón.

Sunday's race sees a mountaintop finish, as the winner will be crowned atop the Urraki climb. The race also regularly takes in the Subida a Mandubia, so it was no surprise to see Arkaitz Durán claim last year's spoils ahead of noted climbers Ariel Sivori and former pro Higinio Fernández.

Naturgas Energía will be represented by the following 10 riders:

Víctor Etxeberría, Alberto Barrón, Éder Sáez de Ocariz, Noel Gil, Alain Santamaría, Pablo Comins, Álvaro Trueba, Oier Sánchez, Aitor Morales and Bernat Font.

Photo: Pascal Baudron

Mestre's long road reaches Naples

He's come a long way in 12 months, Ricardo Mestre.

At this time last year, the 29-year-old was just about to embark on the Vuelta a la Comunidad de Madrid in the colours of his local team, Carmim-Prio, hoping to build form for his main season goals to come later in the year, the GP Torres Vedras and the Volta a Portugal.

Fast forward a year, and he's a couple of days away from starting his first Grand Tour with a WorldTour team.

As for many of his fellow foreign recruits at Euskaltel Euskadi, it's been quite the journey. Not that he minds - he's been waiting for an opportunity to race at the highest level for years.

The softly-spoken Mestre had been building a steady reputation for himself in his home country for the better part of a decade before Igor González de Galdeano came calling in the winter. Mind you, though, the longest race he'd ever done was the ten-stage Volta a Portugal and the equally long Tour de l'Avenir back in 2006.

Now, 21 days of racing arguably the most spectacular race on the planet awaits. He's bound to be nervous.

"Right now I'm not really nervous, but, yeah, the closer we get to the start of the race the more I'll feel it", Ricardo Jorge Correia Mestre tells Basque Cycling News. "But I think I'm in good shape. I've been training well and I aim to be at my very best".

The native of Faro, the southernmost city in Portugal, touched down in Italy a few days ago having done 22 days of racing so far in 2013. While the top results might not have come at the frequency he was accustomed to while racing in his homeland, he's quietly content with how he's performed in the iconic orange jersey thus far.

"I'm pleased with how I've done", he says. "I'm progressing little by little. In the Volta a Catalunya I was hoping to be a bit better (he finished 96th overall), but the rest of the season has been positive for me.

"My main goal in Italy will be to stay as close as possible to Samuel Sánchez", he says of his team leader who's aiming for a stage win and an overall podium placing. "How the race is developing and how my legs are feeling will decide what I can do besides that".

Curiously, the 2011 victor of the Volta a Portugal wasn't in the original line-up for the 'Corsa rosa' released by the team a fortnight ago.

At the start of this week, though, Ricardo García, who'd featured in the announced roster, was dropped, his place taken by Mestre. The team offered no explanation for the sudden turn of events, and the man himself appears to be in the blue as well.

"I don't know why that happened", he says. "The team heads had always told me I was in the ten-man long-team for the Giro d'Italia, and that I had to train well and prepare well. After the conclusion of the Vuelta a Castilla y León I was told I would be on the team if everything turned out well."

And turn out well it did for the Portuguese. On Saturday he'll be lining up in Naples for the 96th edition of the Italian three-week race, riding side by side with the likes of Bradley Wiggins, Vincenzo Nibali, Cadel Evans, Ryder Hesjedal, Mark Cavendish and Samuel Sánchez.

Who would have thought that a year ago?

Photo: Iñaki Azanza