Euskaltel strong on the Alpe

Euskaltel showed their strength in depth on today's queen-stage in the Dauphiné by taking eighth on the stage through Samu, the mountains jersey courtesy of Egoi, the team rankings, as well as placing three riders in the top 18. Not bad. Just like yesterday, Egoi got into the break of the day and accumulated maximum points on all climbs but the Alpe itself to move into the lead in the mountains classification. Ahead of tomorrow's final stage he leads overall 'winner' Brajkovic by 22 points, so surely the jersey is his for the keeping. Naturally the break he was in didn't stay away, but he got what he was after. Gorka, laying 11th overall prior to the stage, struggled big time today and lost contact on the Glandon; the big climb preceding the Alpe d'Huez. Alan, Iván and Samu all dropped back to help pace Gorka back into the leading pack, but it was to no avail. Gorka simply had an off-day and had lost 16 minutes by stage's end. As a result he dropped from 11th to 42nd on GC. As for Samu, he looked good today. After taking it easy on the first five stages to hone his form for the Tour, he decided to give it a go today. He came away with a creditable eighth on the stage and in the process showed his form is coming around nicely. Romain was also up there today, taking an impressive 13th on his first time up the Alpe. He now occupied the exact same place on GC going into the last stage. Iván was once again strong as well, taking 18th. He's really getting back to his best, he's a shoo-in for the Tour I reckon. Due to the results of these three riders, Euskaltel won the day's teams classification and now leads the overall teams classification. Great stuff. As for the other guys, Egoi and Alan came in with Gorka 16:01 back, while Iñaki was 71st at 20:34 and Jorge 127th at 31:46.

Jonathan solid in Suisse prologue

Jonathan put in a very decent ride in today's Tour de Suisse prologue. Among great time triallers like Cancellara, Kreuziger, Rogers, Sagan, Martin, Lance, Leipheimer, Larsson and Løvkvist to name but a few, he placed an excellent 13th, just 14 seconds down on the invincible Cancellara. Great ride, he's really starting to find his feet in the Pro Tour. The other guys were all a little bit more off, with Pablo in 51st, 31 down, JJ 64th at 36, Daniel 82nd at 41, Aitor H 97th at 47, Javier 108th at 50, Amets 130th at 59 and Koldo 160th at 1:24. Tomorrow's stage is likely to be one for the sprinters, so hopefully Pablo and Koldo will team up nicely to bring home a good result.

Baby watch: Basque struggle

Naturgas trio Mikel Bizkarra, Aitor Ocampos and Pello Bilbao suffered big time in the first stage of the Giro Bio, or Baby Giro as it's known, yesterday. The youngsters found the going way too tough in Italy and ended up way back. Bizkarra finished with a big group 8:31 down, while Ocampos came in about two minutes later. Pello Bilbao surprisingly struggled the most, coming in 12:46 adrift in 154th place. The rest of the Pays Basque team, though, did better. Igor Romero came home with the second group, no more than 37 seconds in arrears, while Ugaitz Artola came in alongside Bizkarra and Mikel Filgueirea alongside Ocampos. Not a great start results-wise, but they're here to learn, not to win.

Adrián Sáez grabs excellent 4th in Montañés

Adrián Sáez de Arregi recorded a nice fourth place on yesterday's third stage of the Circuito Montañés. The youngster was in the break of the day, but due to the undulating parcours of the stage, he went out the back of that escape group when eventual winner Lilian Jegou upped the pace. He still held on for fourth though, which is a good result for him. Beñat Urain was the only Orbea rider to finish in the main pack, whilst Ricardo García, Andoni Blázquez, Xabier Zabalo and Mikel Landa all came in some thirty seconds further back.

'Sicard better off in Euskaltel than in France'

Bernard Hinault, the five-time Tour winner, is already known to be a great admirer of Romain Sicard. Hinault has sung the praises of the prodigious Frenchman several times already this year, and yesterday he was at it again. According to El Correo, he thinks Romain is better off at Euskaltel than with a French team. "His choice of team was good", the 'Badger' said. "He went to a Spanish team, a Basque team. They trust him there and they've given him a measured calendar, one that will allow him to progress. They're not asking him to win races, they're asking him to learn. Last year he won the Worlds and l'Avenir, obviously he's a good rider. I spoke with him at Paris-Nice. He seems like a good lad. And yes, he's a rider who attacks, and I like that. But I think Euskaltel do right in not sending him to the Tour this year. It would be a bit early. He's got plenty of time. I prefer Romain to be with Euskaltel than in a French team. It's better for his progression."

Egoi grabs fifth in fifth stage of Dauphiné

Egoi grabbed fifth place on today's hilly ride in the Dauphiné from Serre Chevalier to Grenoble. The ever-aggressive Egoi got into the break of the day along with four other riders early on but, come the Col de Chambrousse, a monster-climb situated 30 kilometres from the line, featherweight climber Daniel Navarro attacked the bunch and quickly bridged up to the leading quintet. He didn't stay there for long though, as he jumped the front group almost immediately and left everyone, including Egoi, trailing in his wake. It was an impressive showing from the Astana rider who held off Capecchi and Pinot for 30 clicks from the top of the climb. Egoi came in alongside Moreau and Champion to grab fifth, 1:39 down. The main pack, containing Gorka, Samu, Romain and Iván, came in 3:04 back. The remaining three riders, Iñaki, Jorge and Alan, rolled in with another big group at a massive 18:33. Egoi remarked after the stage's conclusion that he felt 'rather well', but that he's 'still got some way to go to reach top form for the Tour. But I actually feel better now than at the same time last year, a year in which I did well in the Tour.' Sounds good to me!

Jon Izagirre drops out of Montañés

Jon Izagirre sadly abandoned the Circuito Montañés today on the second stage. I didn't get to see the race myself so I'm not really sure why, but I'll bring the news to you as soon as I'll find out. On a brighter note, Mikel Landa took a good ninth place on today's demanding stage. Mikel finished, with Xabier Zabalo and Ricardo García, in the main group behind the four strongest riders; Lelarge, Garcia de Mateo, Higinio Fernández and Iriarte. Adrián Sáez and Andoni Blázquez ended up in a group 13:48 adrift, while Beñat Urain was three minutes further back.

Romain brilliant in Dauphiné

Romain showed glimpses of his undoubted talent by taking an excellent second place on today's first mountain-top finish in the Dauphiné. The 210-kilometre stage ending atop the Risoul saw an aggressive Euskaltel team all day. Early on the climb, Egoi, then Iván, delivered proof they're approaching top form by attacking out of the peloton. None of them managed to sustain their attacks though, and they both drifted backwards after giving it a shot. In a steadily-diminishing group of favourites at the front of the race, Euskaltel still had the impressive Gorka Verdugo and Romain present. Samu, though, was once again gone missing. Anyway, the two others did the team proud. Gorka stayed with the top favourites until two kilometres were left to ride, while Romain went even better. Nicolas Vogondy attacked Contador, Brajkovic and co. with force with 1,5 to go, and Romain soon went after him. It was too little, too late though for the World Champ. Eventually he had to settle for second on the stage, 12 seconds down on Vogondy, but still ahead of Contador and the rest. Amazing riding. Gorka came through in 22nd place, just 55 seconds adrift, and thus keeps hold of his 10th place overall. Iván was 53rd, Egoi 69th, Samu a worryingly 70th, 4:22 down, while Jorge, Alan and Iñaki was 118th, 120th and 124th respectively, all at 12:55. The French prodigy was naturally happy afterwards, saying he was 'a little surprised', but nonetheless 'very happy to be among the best on a stage like this'.

Suiss line-up

Euskaltel have confirmed their roster for the Tour de Suisse starting on Saturday. Tour-bound Amets and JJ will be present and looking to hone their form, while other hopefuls like Koldo and Aitor H will also line up. Joining them will be Jonathan, Daniel, Javier and Pablo, so a strong all-round team for sure. "With some of the riders we'll fight for stage-wins, whilst for some of the others it's all about getting them into optimal shape for the Tour", was sports director Alvaro's comment on the team. The race consists of eight stages, of which two are time trials.

Orbea off the pace in Montañés stage 1

The going got a little too tough for the young guns at Orbea today in the first stage proper of the Circuito Montañés. Chilean Oyarzun escaped to beat seasoned veteran Sergi Escobar for the stage win, and the duo finished one second ahead of a select group of eight. None on the Orbea guys featured in that group, but most of them, that being Ricardo García, Andoni Blázquez, Mikel Landa, Jon Izagirre and Beñat Urain, finished inside the main peloton at 1:03, while Xabier Zabalo ended up at 1:32 and Adrián Sáez came in a big 18:42 down. That leaves Jon Izagirre in 13th after the first two days.

Dauphiné ITT: Gorka good, Samu bad

It was another day of contrasting performances in the Dauphiné for Euskaltel. Gorka, just like in the prologue, displayed great form by taking a highly respective 15th over the 49 kilometres, while the man who's form is supposed to be on the up with less than four weeks to go until the Tour, Samu, failed badly by placing 48th, 4:14 down. Of course, we've seen it all before: GC candidates being way off the pace in the lead-up to the Tour and then all of a sudden being right in the mix when July comes around. Let's hope this is the case with Samu. He's usually a master when it comes to preparing for races and peaking at the right time, so I'm not going to get overly worried just yet. As for the other guys, Romain did okay to finish 42nd, 3:53 back, while Egoi was 69th at 4:53, Jorge 95th at 5:51, Iñaki 110th at 6:19, Iván 131st at 7:11 and finally Alan 145th at 7:50. With the form Gorka is in at the moment he's surely a dead cert for a ride in the Tour. So too is JJ who's been in good shape all year and have been taking part in recon rides on the pavés and in the Pyrenees. Samu is the captain obviously, so he'll be there, and so too will Egoi, Iñaki and Amets. I reckon Rubén, with his performances of late and his Tour pedigree, should be a shoo-in as well, so that leaves two places up for grabs. I'd love to see Koldo go, but I'm not sure Igor is keen on sending a sprinter. Iván, if he recaptures his form pre-injury, would be a great addition, and so too would Alan. So there you go, Euskaltel for the Tour for you!

Jon Izagirre 5th in Montañés prologue

Jon Izagirre got his Circuito Montañés challenge off to an excellent start in the prologue today. The 5,8 ITT in Santander saw Martijn Keizer of the fabulous Rabobank Conti team take the win, but Jon was only 15 seconds down in 5th place ahead of such illustrious names as Niels Albert, Philipp Walsleben, Victor de la Parte and Boy van Poppel to name but a few. Adrián Sáez de Arregi and Ricardo García also did well to claim 22nd and 23rd respectively, while Andoni Blázquez was 36th, Xabier Zabalo 41st, Beñat Urain 77th and Mikel Landa 78th.

Bira a no-go

La Bira, one of the most important and prestigious amateur races in the whole of Spain, will not be held this year due to a lack of funding. The Bira would surely have been one of Naturgas' biggest objectives this year if the funding was in place, but now they'll have to do without the long-running stage-race for at least a year. The race was first staged in 1981 and has a proud history. But, like a lot of races in Spain the last few years, they've struggled to keep it going due to the dwindling interest from sponsors. Former Euskaltel quartet Mikel Zarrabeitia, Mikel Artetxe, Roberto Laiseka and David Etxeberria stepped in last year and assumed control of the race to try to keep it alive. They succeeded last year, but this year they were forced to admit defeat in the search for funding. The race has been the breeding ground for many of Spain's best cyclists, and was won last year by talented Uruguayan Fabricio Ferrari.

Iñaki goes close

Iñaki went close to taking both the stage-win and the leader's jersey in today's second stage of the Dauphiné. Having gotten into the break of the day along with four others, Iñaki was virtual leader out there all day as he started the stage only 34 seconds back on Contador. The quintet looked to stand a chance as they carved out an eight-minute gap and still had in excess of three left going under the 2o-kilometres-to-go banner. But it wasn't to be though as the sprinter teams got together and reeled them in right beneath the flamme rouge. Tough luck for Iñaki and his mates, but still a very good effort. Eventually he rolled in alongside all of his team mates on the same time as winner Haedo, meaning Gorka V is still ninth overall with the hills and the mountains on the horizon.