Naturgas Energía 2010 line-up

La Fundacion Euskadi's under-23 team, Naturgas Energía, have released their 2010 line-up. The team will consist of: Alberto Guinea, Efrén Carazo, Carlos Barbero, Fernando Grijalva, Unai Martínez, Mikel Martioda, Alex Bilbao, Peio Bilbao, David Hidalgo, Jon Larrinaga, Igor Merino, Rory Martínez, Mikel Bizkarra, Aitor Ocampos, Urtzi Legarra, Alfonso Sainz and Andoni Sánchez. Most of these names might be new to you, but a number of these riders might make up part of the Euskaltel line-up in a few years, so be sure to pay attention to these talented guys. Stand-out performers with the team regularly earn a ride with Euskaltel's feeder team Orbea, and just the past year four riders made the jump. Noel Martín, Xabier Zabalo, Jon Aberasturi and Mikel Landa all showed promise on the Spanish youth circuit and signed up for the highly-effective Orbea team. Of this quartet my bet is on Mikel Landa and Noel Martín to make the biggest impression, and on the Naturgas roster you could do worse than pay attention to third-year rider Aitor Ocampos and second-year riders Peio and Alex Bilbao and Jon Larrinaga. The team grabbed an impressive 17 wins in 2009 alone, and will look to build on that success as soon as the racing starts.

@Twitter

As some of you might have noticed, the Euskaltel riders have finally joined the rest of the peloton in sharing their thoughts on the world on Twitter. If you have a Twitter account, be sure to follow the Euskaltel riders to get some inside info on what the life of a pro is really like. The guys have been twittering like crazy the last few days and have put out some cool photos from the Tour Down Under. Check it out.

Tour Down Under

As I continue my backpacking trip around the world, I decided to stop by Adelaide for the Tour Down Under. Here's a few of photos from yesterday's Cancer Council Helpline Classic:

Sicard talks of his delight at being in Australia

The line-up for the race

Getting a photo with the great Daniel Sesma

Pablo Urtasun

• Full name: Pablo Urtasun Pérez
• Date of birth: 29.03.1980
• Place of birth: Urdiain, Navarra
• Turned professional: 2005
• Joined Euskaltel: 2009
• Previous teams: CSC (stagiare, 2003-2004), Kaiku (2005-2006), Liberty Seguros (2007-2008)
• Palmarès: 1st: stage 1 Volta ao Alentejo 2006, stage 3 Vuelta Ciclista a la Rioja 2007, stage 2 Volta al Sotavento Algarvio 2007, stage 5 Vuelta a Asturias 2008, stage 1 Vuelta a Asturias 2010, stage 7 Tour of Britain 2012, stage 1 Vuelta a Castilla y León 2013. 2nd place: stage 3 Vuelta a Castilla y León 2006, stage 3 International Rheinland Pfalz Rundfahrt 2006, overall International Rheinland Pfalz Rundfahrt 2006, stage 2 Tour de Suisse 2010, Vuelta a La Rioja 2012, stage 1 of Vuelta a Asturias, Klasika Primavera 2013. 3rd place: stage 2 Volta ao Alentejo 2006, stage 4 Volta ao Santarem 2007, stage 1 Vuelta Ciclista a Asturias 2007, stage 5 Vuelta a Castilla y León 2009, Prueba Villafranca de Ordiozia 2009, stage 1 Vuelta a Castilla y León 2010, stage 2 Vuelta a Castilla y León 2012, overall Vuelta a Castilla y León 2012.

Sergio De Lis

• Full name: Sergio De Lis De Andrés
• Date of birth: 09.05.1986
• Place of birth: San Sebastián/Donostia, Gipuzkoa
• Turned professional: 2008
• Joined Euskaltel: 2009
• Previous teams: Orbea-Oreka SDA (2008)
• Palmarès:

Romain Sicard

• Full name: Romain Sicard
• Date of birth: 01.01.1988
• Place of birth: Hazparne, Pays Basque, France
• Turned professional: 2009
• Joined Euskaltel: 2010
• Previous teams: Orbea (2009)
• Palmarès: 1st: Subida al Naranco 2009, stage 2 Ronde de l'Isard 2009, stage 8 (ITT) Tour de l'Avenir 2009, overall Tour de l'Avenir 2009, Under-23 World Road Race Championship 2009. 2nd: Prologue Tour de Loir-et-Cher 2009, stage 1 Tour de l'Avenir 2009, stage 6 Tour de l'Avenir 2009, stage 4 Critérium du Dauphiné 2010. 3rd: overall Tour de Haut Anjou 2009, stage 3 Cinturó de L'Empordá.

Gorka Izagirre

• Full name: Gorka Izagirre Insausti
• Date of birth: 07.10.1987
• Place of birth: Ormaiztegi, Gipuzkoa
• Turned professional: 2009
• Joined Euskaltel: 2010
• Previous teams: Contentpolis AMPO (2009)
• Palmarès: 1st: Stage 4 Tour de Luxembourg 2010, Prueba Villafranca Ordizia 2010, Prueba Villafranca Ordizia 2012. 2nd: Trofeo Deiá 2011. 3rd: Stage 16 Tour de France 2012, stage 3 Paris-Nice 2013.

Beñat Intxausti

• Full name: Beñat Intxausti Elorriaga
• Date of birth: 20.03.1986
• Place of birth: Zornotza, Bizkaia
• Turned professional: 2007
• Joined Euskaltel: 2010
• Previous teams: Grupu Nicolas Mateos (2007), Saunier Duval-Prodir/Fuji Servetto (2008-2009)
• Palmarès: 1st: Stage 3b (ITT) of the Vuelta a Asturias 2010. 2nd: stage 4 of the Tour de San Luis 2008. 3rd: stage 7 of the Tour de l'Avenir 2007, overall in the Vuelta al País Vasco 2010, stage 4 of the Vuelta a Asturias 2010, overall of the Vuelta a Asturias 2010.

Jonathan Castroviejo

Full name: Jonathan Castroviejo Nicolas

Date of birth: 27.04.1987

Place of birth: Getxo, Bizkaia

Turned professional: 2008

Joined Euskaltel: 2010

Previous teams: Orbea-Oreka SDA (2008-2009)

Palmarès: 1st: stage 3 Tour du Haut Anjou 2009, stage 5 Tour de l'Avenir 2009, prologue Ronde de l'Isard 2009, prologue Tour de Romandie 2011, stage 1 (ITT) Vuelta a Madrid 2011. 2nd: stage 2 Tour de Haut Anjou 2009, overall Ronde de l'Isard, overall Circuito Montañes 2009, stage 3b (ITT) Vuelta a Asturias 2010, Spanish National Time Trial Championship 2011. 3rd: stage 6 Circuito Montañes 2009, overall Vuelta a Madrid 2011. 6th: Spanish National Time Trial Championship 2009.

Miguel Mínguez

• Full name: Miguel Mínguez Ayala
• Date of birth: 30.08.1988
• Place of birth: Bilbao, Bizkaia
• Turned professional: 2009
• Joined Euskaltel: 2010
• Previous teams: Orbea (2009)
• Palmarès:

Daniel Sesma

• Full name: Daniel Sesma Sorbet
• Date of birth: 18.06.1984
• Place of birth: Arre, Navarra
• Turned professional: 2008
• Joined Euskaltel: 2010
• Previous teams: Orbea-Oreka SDA (2008-2009)
• Palmarès:

Mikel Nieve

• Full name: Mikel Nieve Iturralde
• Date of birth: 26.05.1984
• Place of birth: Leitza, Navarra
• Turned professional: 2008
• Joined Euskaltel: 2009
• Previous teams: Orbea-Oreka SDA (2008)
• Palmarès: 1st: Stage 16 Vuelta a España 2010, stage 15 Giro d'Italia 2011. 2nd: Stage 8 Tour de Suisse 2012. 3rd: stage 20 Giro d'Italia 2012, stage 2 Tour de Suisse 2012, stage 5 Tour Méditerranéen 2013.

Ibán pay homage to World Champ Astarloa

Ibán will today take part in a tribute to 2003 World Road Race Champion Igor Astarloa. The celebration will be held in Ermua, Astarloa's hometown. After a few turbulent years on the road, Astarloa has decided to quit the sport after 10 seasons in the pro peloton. The tribute features a who's who of past and present Basque cycling greats, including, among others, Big Mig Induraín, Roberto Laiseka, Marino Lejarreta, Sabino Angoitia, Koldo Fernández, Mikel Zarrabeitia, David and Unai Etxebarria, and of course the man himself.

Where do we go from here?

I need your help readers. Well, "readers" might not be the best word. I guess you-guys-that-used-to-read-my-blog-before-a-way-too-long-hiatus would be a better word. Or description at least. Or not, whatever. Anyway, I need your help in deciding how I'm going to do this blog. I promised you, and I'm true to my word, that I'll start posting regularly again in the not too distant future. The only thing that keeps me from getting started again is that I don't know what to write about. This blog was supposed to be about Ibán, but what is there to write about a former disgraced cyclist? Obviously he's still my biggest hero, but writing about my admiration for Ibán, which is kind of boring and might seem a little weird to most people, is going to be hard given that he's not riding any more. I guess most of you'll think: "Get over it, he doped, concentrate on Euskaltel in stead". Well, that's not going to happen. My idea was always to go back to writing solely about Ibán again, but I can't do that either, can I? And if I was to just write about Euskaltel, then I'd have to rename the blog, something which is not going to happen. So that leaves me with no idea on how to do this. I'm open to all suggestions, please just let me know what you think by either leaving a comment in the "comments" section below, or send me an e-mail. Looking forward to hearing from you all.