Euskaltel come crashing down in Eurométropole

Both Peio Bilbao and Robert Vrecer hit the deck in this weekend's concluding stages of the Eurométropole Tour.

The former emerged relatively unscathed from his tumble on day two, while the latter needed a few stitches to his elbow after coming down on the wind-plagued stage three. Neither were seriously hurt, though.

Jon Aberasturi was the rider who came closest to scoring a notable result for the team, coming in 17th, 16th and 15th respectively, adding to his 15th on the opening day.

The young sprinter was also the team's best rider on GC, finishing the four-day race in a respectable 18th.

Final general classification:

• (1, Jens Debusschere (Lotto-Belisol), 15:39:04)
• 18, Jon Aberasturi, 0:23
• 64, Adrián Sáez, 0:58
• 69, Ioannis Tamouridis, s.t.
• 125, Miguel Mínguez, 14:36

Photo: BCPT

Official: Ion Izagirre signs for Movistar

The youngest of the Izagirres will team up with brother Gorka at Movistar in 2014, the team confirms in a press release on Friday morning.

Ion had a year left on his contract with Euskaltel and would have formed a key part of Fernando Alonso's set-up if the team had materialized, but has now - entirely as expected - secured a ride with Eusebio Unzúe's squad for next year.

The press release makes no mention of the length of the deal, though.

Ion signing with Movistar takes the tally of Euskaltel riders with a secure feature next year up to four. Mikel Landa, Mikel Nieve and the Izagirre brothers are thus far the only riders to have found a new home for 2014.

Photo: Iñaki Azanza

Euskaltel line-ups galore

Euskaltel have a hectic week and a half ahead of them with races in Italy, France and Belgium.

The big one is of course this Sunday's Il Lombardia.

Perennial contender Samuel Sánchez will be absent due to the injury picked up at the worlds, but the team will field a potent seven-man group anyhow. Ion Izagirre, Mikel Landa and Egoi Martínez will lead the team and be accompanied by Juan José Oroz, Garikoitz Bravo, Gorka Verdugo and Mikel Astarloza.

Before the 'Race of the Falling Leaves' commences, an eight-man squad will have taken part in the four-day Eurométropole Tour (formerly known as the Circuit Franco-Belge).

Representing Euskaltel for the last time will be Jon Aberasturi, Adrián Sáez, Ioannis Tamouridis, Robert Vrecer, Steffen Radochla, Ricardo Mestre, Peio Bilbao and Miguel Mínguez.

The race's first stage on Thursday was taken out by the on-fire Jens Debusschere of Lotto-Belisol in a sprint. Euskaltel's top man was unsurprisingly speedster Aberasturi in 15th.

Results:

• (1, Jens Debusschere (Lotto-Belisol), 4:22:05)
• 15, Jon Aberasturi, s.t.
• 39, Ioannis Tamouridis, s.t.
• 61, Adrián Sáez, s.t.
• 73, Peio Bilbao, s.t.
• 122, Miguel Mínguez, s.t.
• 136, Ricardo Mestre, s.t.
• 148, Steffen Radochla, s.t.
• 161, Robert Vrecer, s.t.

The same octet riding Eurométropole will also line up for Binche-Tournai-Binche (October 8), Paris-Bourges (October 10) and Paris-Tours (October 13).

Txurruka prolongs Caja Rural stay

While many of his former team-mates at Euskaltel are now scrambling to ensure the continuity of their careers, Amets Txurruka has decided to extend his love-in with Caja Rural for another season.

The iconic little escalador swapped the orange of Euskaltel for the green of Caja Rural prior to this season and went on to enjoy arguably his best season on the bike since getting his breakthrough at the Tour de France in 2007.

A mountains jersey in the Vuelta al País Vasco and a stage and the overall of the Vuelta a Asturias gave the Pro Continental team some handy triumphs and some much-needed exposure, and sports director Eugenio Goikoetxea was only too keen to keep the 31-year-old on.

"It's great for the team that he's prolonging his contract", he told the team's website. "We've seen throughout his career what he's able to and what he's done this year, so we're very pleased he's decided to extend his stay with us".

Photo: www.cyclingnews.com

Confirmed: Mikel Landa signs for Astana

According to trustworthy website El Pedal de Frodo, Mikel Landa has inked a two-year deal with Kazakh outfit Astana.

The young climber has been heavily linked with the team in recent months and on Wednesday told said website that a deal has indeed been reached.

"I'm very grateful to Astana for giving me this opportunity. I'm looking forward to embarking on this new adventure", he says.

Having spent the last three years in the famous orange of Euskaltel, he naturally had words of gratitude for his now former employer as well.

"I want to thank Euskaltel Euskadi and the Fundación Ciclista Euskadi for giving me the opportunity to become a professional cyclist", he's quoted as saying.

Photo: BCPT

Mikel Astarloza ends career

After 12 years as a professional, Mikel Astarloza has decided to end his career come the end of the current season.

The 33-year-old will finish his career on the bike at the upcoming Tour of Beijing, Astarloza writes in a press release on Tuesday.

"Although I've only been able to lift my arms in celebration three times, my biggest triumph has been to be able to enjoy my profession and make a living of what I like the most, pushing the pedals...

"It's been a long journey on which I've made many friends and seen a lot of new places - I'll take with me many fond memories. Retiring is the hardest decision I've had to make so far, but I'm turning 34 and I think it's time to change my lifestyle.

"I'll leave behind me many things that I'll for sure go on to miss, but I'll take on the new objectives in life with the same motivation I've always done".

Astarloza refrains from saying what these "new objectives" actually consist of, but be makes no mention of staying in the world of cycling.

The native of Pasaia, Gipuzkoa, entered the cycling world in 2002 with French team Ag2r Prévoyance, making the step into the professional ranks from Olarra-Ercoreca - later to be known as Orbea, Euskaltel's long-standing feeder team.

He stayed in France for five years and grabbed arguably his biggest win already in his second year, winning the Tour Down Under outright.

The powerful all-rounder matured into a decent GC rider after joining Euskaltel in time for the 2007 season, but his career and reputation was forever tarnished by his EPO positive after winning stage 16 of the 2009 Tour de France.

Ever since returning from his doping ban, Astarloza has failed to hit the heights of his form pre-ban. His 2013 season has been high on race days but low on top results, his 14th on home roads in the Clásica San Sebastián his standout performance.

Photo: BCPT

Sánchez ruled out for rest of season

Samuel Sánchez has been forced to put a premature end to his season - and his Euskaltel career with it - after crashing hard at the recent World Championships.

'Samu' crashed out of the road race and failed to finish the marquee event. Two days later it's been confirmed by VeloNews that he'll skip this weekend's Il Lombardia.

The 35-year-old is reportedly bruised up and suffers from knee pain, and has been ordered by team doctors to take two weeks off the bike.

While he might be done racing for the year, he'll by no means struggle to find stuff to do in his spare time. The Euskaltel icon is yet to confirm where he'll be getting his pay check from next year, but it's widely believed he'll join Alberto Contador at Saxo-Tinkoff.

Photo: Iñaki Azanza

Nieve - I'll ride for Sky in 2014

Mikel Nieve has - entirely as expected - confirmed he'll be riding for Team Sky in 2014 and beyond.

The 29-year-old has been heavily linked with the British powerhouse squad in the last few weeks and today revealed he's indeed decided to sign for David Brailsford's team.

The two parties have agreed on a two-year deal, and the only thing that's lacking in order to make it official is the rider's signature.

"I've opted to go to Sky", he told el Diario de Navarra, according to BiciCiclismo. "I still haven't signed the documents as I have to see what happens with my contract with Euskaltel, but we've decided on a deal for 2014 and 2015.

"I'd already made my mind up on signing for Sky before Fernando Alonso entered the scene".

The ace climber reportedly had a host of suitors lined up for him, but talks with a fellow Basque swayed him in direction of Sky.

"I've spoken a lot to Xabier Zandio about this", he said. "He told me a lot of good things about the team. I've as well spoken to the team itself. It seems like the best option, and I'll be signing for them because it's the best team in the world".

Nieve has excelled in a leadership role for Euskaltel ever since his breakthrough marathon win on stage 16 of the Vuelta a España's 2010 edition.

At Sky he'll team up with the likes of Christopher Froome and Bradley Wiggins, though, and he's fully aware of the fact that he'll first and foremost be a super domestique.

"I know I'll be tasked with working for others and that I'll be going to a team where I can help out in the mountain stages. I'm aware it'll be a different kind of racing and that things will be different, but I think it'll be good for me - it's the best team there is and I can grow as a rider there".

Nieve signed for Euskaltel from satellite team Orbea in the winter of 2009, going on to become one of the team's most valuable riders. His palmarès includes queen-stage wins in both the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España.

Photo: Iñaki Azanza

Euskaltel duo fail to finish Worlds

Only two of six Basques managed to cross the finish line at the recent UCI Road World Championships.

Samuel Sánchez and Egoi Martínez both failed to finish the elite men's race, the duo both doing their work for team leaders Alejandro Valverde and Joaquim Rodríguez before the big finale. 'Samu' hardly looked to be on his a game (and eventually crashed out), while Martínez did as the majority of the Spaniards early on and stayed out of the limelight.

One Basque who did reach the line - and with some bravado - was the ever-reliable Jonathan Castroviejo. The Movistar rider took valuable pulls on the front and eventually crossed the line in 48th, eight minutes down on victor and team-mate Rui Costa.

In the sub-23 race, both Mikel Iturria and Haritz Orbe failed to complete the race. The duo both did what they were asked to - especially the former, who set the pace at the front for some time - but both eventually posted DNFs as Spain's challenge faltered spectacularly.

In the junior men's race, young Caja Rural prodigy Alex Aranburu enjoyed a solid debut. The youngster, equally at ease in the mud as on the road, modestly told this website only days before the race that his goal was to finish the race "and do my best", and he duly succeeded by being the nation's top finisher in 47th - four minutes back on Mathieu van der Poel.

Photo: Orbea

Iparragirre makes a name for himself in China

The Equipo Euskadi sprinter grabbed his best result of the year in what is possibly his last race as a professional at the Tour of China II on Monday.

The likely collapse of the Basque Continental team may leave a lot of the team's riders on the metaphorical street come 2014. Iparragirre, having signed a one-year deal prior to this year, has steadily built up a reputation as a sprinter to be reckoned with in his first year among the pros, but the 25-year-old track specialist told Basque Cycling News only last month that no teams had enquired about his services for 2014 and beyond.

The native of Azpeitia, Gipuzkoa, did his chances of landing a ride for next year no harm in China, though, finishing the race in third overall. What's more, he grabbed second, third and fourth on stages.

The team, having taken out the team classification at the Tour of China I, emerged victorious in the combined team rankings to close out their first race in Asia on a high.

Final general classification:

• (1, Alois Kankovsky (ASC Dukla Praha), 18:17:58)
• 3, Unai Iparragirre, 0:20
• 15, Aritz Bagües, 0:33
• 32, Mikel Bizkarra, 3:42
• 55, Illart Zuazubiskar, 3:44
• 75, Mikel Aristi, s.t.
• 86, Jon Larrinaga, s.t.

While a bunch of riders competed in China, an Euskadi contingent also took part in the Tour du Gévaudan - the race, as usual, being the team's last competitive outing of the year.

Naturgas Energía duo Loïc Chetout and Víctor Etxberría were supposed to be given their first chance with the team, but in the end only the latter joined up. Chetout, the team's standout rider this season, crashed last week and didn't recover in time to line up for his first pro race.

In his place, Haritz Orbe stole the headlines for the team with his fourth place finish on the second and last stage.

"We weren't on our guard on day one, but we were active and present in the breaks the following day", team DS Aritz Arberas told the team's website. "We were strong - Orbe came in fourth. With this race and the Tour of China done and dusted with, Equipo Euskadi have finished its season".

Final general classification:

• (1, Yoann Bagot (Cofidis), 8:24:41)
• 20, Igor Merino, 5:34
• 53, Víctor Etxeberría, 19:37
• 56, Carlos Barbero, 21:48
• 69, Haritz Orbe, 35:37

Photo: Fundación Ciclista Euskadi

Rumour mill round-up: Nieve to Sky, Sánchez negotiating with Saxo

With the Alonso-Euskaltel deal falling through, every Euskaltel rider is suddenly back on the market.

That's except for Gorka Izagirre, of course, who's already signed with Movistar. According to various reports, his brother Ion is desperate to join up with him. Ion naturally has no shortage of offers, but it's believed he's more keen to stay in Spain than move abroad. The pressing question is if Movistar has a spot open for him. Only today, Eusebio Unzúe signed John Gadret. Expect a deal to be reached between the two parties rather quickly if a contract is indeed put on the table.

According to the 'twittersphere' and the usually reliable guys over at BiciCiclismo, Mikel Nieve is on the verge of joining Sky. Samuel Sánchez on his part is said to be negotiating with Riis and Contador at Saxo-Tinkoff, but the Euskaltel icon has naturally not commented on the rumours in person.

Speaking to BiciCiclismo on Friday, he even said that "it wouldn't be a big drama" if he was to retire come the end of the season.

Read that article here.

Juan José Lobato is allegedly close to inking a deal with Cofidis, while Igor Antón is said to be fighting with Jan Bakelants and Thomas de Gendt over the last spot available at Omega Pharma-QuickStep.

Ioannis Tamouridis, currently at the Worlds in Florence, claims he's received no offers whatsoever, but several Pro Continental teams are said to be keen to take on the Greek.

Photo: BCPT

New Basque team in the making

To make up for the disappearance of Euskaltel Euskadi and the Continental-ranked Equipo Euskadi, the Basque Cycling Federation is working on setting up a new team for next year.

According to the president of the federation, José Luis Arrieta, the team is likely to consist of 16 to 20 riders (all under the age of 25), have a Continental or Pro Continental license, and a budget in the range of 1,5-2 million euro.

According to BiciCiclismo, the team's goal is to eventually participate in the biggest races on the domestic calendar - including the Vuelta a España, Vuelta al País Vasco and the Clásica San Sebastián.

"Yes, I think the team is viable", he told Radio Euskadi. "It's feasible, it's possible. Hopefully we'll be able to register the team with UCI in time. Ideally we'd be Pro Continental, but if not we'll take it step by step. What's pivotal is to create a group of riders, maintain the motivation and to have a decent budget".

Basque Cycling News will naturally have more on this case as it develops.

Euskaltel riders voice their dismay; Euskaltel hit back

The Euskaltel riders weren't overly happy to receive the news of the team failing to reach an agreement with Fernando Alonso's men on Monday.

According to various sources, the riders let their frustration and anger known at a meeting with the telephone company. Mikel Astorkiza, Euskaltel's corporate director, was allegedly in the firing line, with the riders understandably at a loss to figure out how a deal was not reached when Euskaltel wanted to sell and Alonso wanted to buy.

Only a few days later, Euskaltel decided to hit back at the critics.

In an at times strongly-worded press release, the team's long-standing sponsor denied they were at fault for the breakdown in negotiations and reserved the right to "take legal action to defend itself against false accusations".

The telephone company claims it's not true that they requested any sort of financial compensation from Alonso's men. What's more, they claim talks didn't reach a standstill over where the team was to be situated, and that the differing tax laws in Euskadi and Asturias were not an issue that hindered the negotiations.

More significantly, and contrary to reports, the dispute over the contracts of the team's backroom staff and sport directors were not the reason for the tentative agreement reached on August 31 being broken.

All in all, Euskaltel say they didn't hinder a deal being reached whatsoever, which begs the question what actually happened at the meetings between the two parties.

Alonso's men haven't offered an explanation as of yet, while Euskaltel still maintain that negotiations are confidential and thus should be kept away from the public eye.

Photo: BCPT

Castroviejo "satisfied" with Worlds TT

Jonathan Castroviejo missed out on his pre-race goal but was still a happy man after finishing the World Championships Individual Time Trial in Florence.

The Movistar rouleur had hoped for a top ten prior to the race but eventually had to make do with 14th, more than three minutes down on winner Tony Martin.

Post-race, he said he was pleased considering the circumstances.

"I'm really pleased with how I felt, but it's hard for me on a route like this", he told the Spanish Cycling Federation's website. "Riders with my weight have to do almost double the effort on a course like this to be up there with the best, but still the likes of me, Porte and Kwiatkowski were relatively close.

"My goal was to finish inside the top ten, and the difference between fifth and my position was for large parts no more than half a minute. We got close, and I'm happy with the outcome".

While Castroviejo was the only Basque on show in Florence on Wednesday, another rider with close ties to the Basque Country took to the course as well.

The man in question was naturally Ioannis Tamouridis. The Greek champion wasn't on his best day, though, and eventually came through for 44th.

Photo: www.zimbio.com