Murcia: Euskaltel no-show; Landa injured

Euskaltel's already stuttering season today took a turn for the worse: in the second stage of the Vuelta a Murcia, young prodigy Mikel Landa crashed out of the race inside the last five clicks and was later diagnosed with a broken right collarbone. Add to that a lackluster performance from the team, and Euskaltel's season just doesn't seem to get going. The stage ending atop the Sierra Espuña was, on paper anyway, suited to quite a few in the team's line-up. The team failed to put a rider in the break of the day, and were subsequently forced to do the majority of the work at the head of the pack. They succeeded in keeping the break in check, and even sent neo-pro Jon Izagirre up the road in a late attack, but it was doomed from the off. The peloton naturally split into several small groups once the road started to tilt upwards. Landa was actually right up there when he crashed out, but I guess that's scant consolation for him now. Miguel Minguez was the first orange-clad rider to cross the line, coming home in 22nd place, 2:24 back. Not bad for the wiry climber, but still some way off a big result. Nieve, slowly builing his form for May, ended up 49th at 4:52, while Antón was 59th at 5:26. Jon Izagirre was made to regret his earlier attack by finishing a full 17:35 in arrears, while the Pérez's came home 23:15 back on winner Contador.

Missing in Murcia

Euskaltel had an off-day in today's opening stage of the Vuelta a Murcia. There's really not much more to it than that. No one figured in the breaks, and the best placed rider turned out to be Rubén Pérez in a distant 33rd place. Landa, Minguez and Nieve even conceded 20 seconds to the front group, while Antón and Alan Pérez ended up 37 seconds back. Jon Izagirre found the going tough and lost a full 5:33. Not a good day in other words, and already after the first stage the riders seem to be out of contention for GC. The one positive, though, was that none of the riders ended up on the floor, as numerous crashes plagued the last kilometres. Tomorrow will be hilly and hard, so hopefully they'll be there or thereabouts come the end of the stage!

Reds ready for busy weekend

As usual, Naturgas Energía have two races coming up this weekend. First up is the hilly GP de Ereño this Saturday, followed by the GP Llodio the day after. Arberas will lead a team of nine for the first race, consisting of Damien Garcia, Loic Chetout, Karl Baudron, Fernando Grijalba, Efrén Carazo, Alberto Guinea, Carlos Barbero, Alain González and Eduardo Ardaiz, while on Sunday, the aforementioned Baudron, Garcia, Chetout, Grijalba, Barbero, Carazo, González, and Álex Bilbao, Urtzi Legarra, Jon Larrinaga and Igor Merino, will take to the start. Race results to come Sunday/Monday.

Paris-Nice team

According to the team's website, the following eight riders will represent Euskaltel Euskadi in the upcoming Paris-Nice, starting this Sunday: Jorge Azanza, Pierre Cazaux, Iñaki Isasi, Gorka Izagirre, Samuel Sánchez, Romain Sicard, Pablo Urtasun and Gorka Verdugo. Gorka Gerrikagoitia will lead the riders in their quest for glory. Personally, I can't really see much glory coming their way I'm afraid. Samu has said he's hoping to do well, but he's naturally some way off top form as he's aiming to peak for the Vuelta al País Vasco. Same goes for Romain Sicard. Sicard told L'Équipe yesterday: "I'm a realist - with only the Vuelta a Andalucía in my legs, I'm not competitive enough yet", so I'm not really expecting any miracles from him so early on in the season. Gorka Izagirre might well turn out to be Euskaltel's best hope, for a stage-win anyway, as he for one is in great shape. Urtasun might try to mix it up on the flatter stages, but I can't really see him pulling off a win against some top-class opposition. Azanza, Isasi, Verdugo and Cazaux also have bigger objectives further down the road, so don't expect any fireworks from the team just yet.

High hopes for French trio

This year's Naturgas Energía roster includes three Frenchmen: Karl Baudron, Loic Chetout and Damien García. The trio obviously hope to follow in the footsteps of Thierry Elissalde and a certain Romain Sicard by riding for Euskaltel one day. Though no one are doubting their talent, Naturgas trainer Iñigo Urretxua says they've got a lot to learn. The French way of riding is very different to the Spanish way, he argues. "For example, they're always attacking, it's like they're not thinking! We want them to adopt our philosophy, a philosophy that's built around the team. The team is essential", he told DEIA at the team's presentation yesterday. "They're brave and very strong. They're strong riders. They climb well, and they sprint well. Especially so Chetout, perhaps - who won, among other races, the junior edition of the Vuelta a Gipuzkoa in 2010 - but that doesn't count for much, as it's now, in the amateur ranks, that they'll start to develop the skills that they'll try to exploit in the professional ranks."

Successful surgery for Fernández

Koldo Fernández today underwent successful surgery on his broken right collarbone in Bilbao, writes his team's website. He'll head back home tomorrow, but will probably take two weeks completely off the bike before starting his comeback on the rollers. Team doctors were reticent on when the injury-prone sprinter will return to competition, but it's believed it'll be close to three months before he can once again pin on a start-number.

Samu set for Classics

According to Biciciclismo, Samu Sánchez will take part in this year's Ardennes Classics. Samu opted not to take the start last year, but Galdeano confirmed to the Spanish website that he'll return for Fleche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège this season. Depending on his state of form after concluding the Vuelta al País Vasco a few days prior, he might also do Amstel Gold. Igor Antón, who stepped in admirably for Samu last year by taking 4th and 6th in Fleche and Liège respectively, is not likely to show. With both eyes fixed on the Giro, it's unlikely that the diminutive climber will line up, but Galdeano refused to rule it out entirely.

Murcia line-up revealed

According to the team's own website, Euskaltel will send the following seven riders to the Vuelta a Murcia: Igor Antón, Jon Izagirre, Mikel Landa, Minguel Minguez, Mikel Nieve, Alan Pérez and Rubén Pérez. The race commences this Friday with what's expected to be a sprinter-friendly stage, continues on Saturday with a summit finish atop the Interpretación de Sierra Espuña, and concludes on Sunday with an individual time trial in downtown Murcia.

Euskaltel duo scout Vuelta climbs

Mikel Nieve and Igor Antón are both targeting the Vuelta a España later this season, and the featherweight duo are leaving nothing to chance as they aim to go even better than last year.

The duo memorably grabbed three mountain-top stage-wins between them, and, just like last year, they'll be well prepared for what's to come in late August. Yesterday, the two climbers, accompanied by DS Josu Larrazabal, did the last 70 kilometres of stage four that ends atop the Sierra Nevada, writes El Correo. Inside those last 70 clicks were also the cat. 3 climb of Blancares, and in total they spent approximately three hours on the road. They both rode in Almería this past Sunday, and next up for the duo is the Vuelta a Murcia on Friday.

Díaz optimistic despite losses

Despite his team losing two riders on the day of it's official presentation, Orbea directeur sportif Álex Díaz retains an optimistic view of the year ahead. With his roster being reduced from 13 to 11 riders due to Peio Bilbao's signing for Euskaltel and Joseba Larralde's decision to retire, Orbea might look short number-wise, but Díaz thinks they'll cope. "Generally, 11 riders is enough", he told Biciciclismo in Mallabia earlier today. "We'll see how the season pans out, and we hope we'll be lucky when it comes to injuries." Quizzed about the season in front of them, he revealed Orbea will take part in some as of yet unfamiliar races. "Our intention is to expand the calendar. We'll dispute the races we did last year, and we'll add some new ones in France and Portugal. The team is different compared to last year. We're much more mature now. I feel the riders are more motivated and ready to work as well. I'm very pleased. And with Euskaltel Euskadi just 'above', they've got that added incentive".

Orbea youngster retires

Orbea rider Joseba Larralde has decided to retire from the sport, it was unveiled today at Orbea's official presentation in Mallabia. The soon-to-be 25-year-old has struggled to make an impression during his years with Euskaltel's feeder-team, but no reason was given for his somewhat surprising decision to hang up the wheels just a couple of months into the new season. Euskaltel's website writes: "he's decided to approach life in a different way and to look for work in other areas".

Ocampos breaks collarbone

Naturgas Energía youngster Aitor Ocampos has suffered a broken collarbone, team DS Arberas told www.fundacioneuskadi.com . The versatile rider suffered the misfortune in Saturday's season-opener in Zumaia. It's a strong blow for the fourth-year Naturgas rider, as this year is probably his last to earn a 'promotion' to Orbea or face getting dropped from the team. Ocampos enjoyed a reasonably strong 2010 season, but it's hoped he'll take another step this year to show he's ready for racing on the Conti-level with Orbea.

Bilbao joins Euskaltel

Euskaltel have suprisingly decided to sign Orbea youngster Peio Bilbao with immediate effect. The 21-year-old climber only joined Orbea from feeder-team Naturgas ahead of this season, but only a month into his stay with the Continental team has impressed sufficiently to earn a 'promotion'. The lanky Bilbao has showed considerable promise and talent already this season with his performances in Mallorca and Andalucía, and he's now been drafted in to fill the place of the injured Koldo Fernández (who's expected to be sidelined for close to three months). "They (Euskaltel) told me this morning. I didn't know anything about it, and I'm very surprised", a delighted Bilbao told www.biciciclismo.com. "I prepared well in the winter, and I've adapted to the level quite well." The Gernika native is likely to make his bow with his new team in either the GP Indurain or the Klasika Primavera in roughly a month's time.

Fernández scheduled for operation

According to http://www.biciciclismo.com/, Koldo Fernández is scheduled for operation this coming Thursday in Bilbao. The crash-victim fractured his right collarbone in the recently-concluded Vuelta a Andalucía, and is sadly thought to be out of action for three months.