Antón breaks collarbone

Igor Antón has crashed out of Liège-Bastogne-Liège and broken his left collarbone.

The 29-year-old reportedly crashed in the neutralized zone and will now be forced into a break from racing. According to DS in Liège, Gorka Gerrikagoitia, is was an avoidable fall.

"It was a most stupid crash", the normally soft-spoken ex-pro told www.biciciclismo.com. "He got tangled  up in something and hit the tarmac. He broke his collarbone. A great shame".

Antón was planning on taking part in the upcoming Tour de Romandie, but will now be forced to give that race a miss naturally.

Euskaltel is thus left with seven riders in the ongoing la Doyenne. Follow the race live here. 

Sicard: "Sánchez has big ambitions for Liège"

Romain Sicard is likely to form a key part of an Euskaltel team hoping to launch Samuel Sánchez towards the podium in tomorrow's Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Having done reasonably well in both Amstel Gold (64th) and Fleche Wallonne (51st) as a domestique, the young Frenchman is looking forward to lining up in the doyenne of the classics - and says Samuel Sánchez will be going for the win.

"I'm very pleased to be here. Lining up in a Monument like this is always motivating", he told www.culturesport.info. "The team will do its utmost to aid Samu, who's got big ambitions for this race. He'll try to fight for the win. We'll do our best to set him up for a tilt at it."

The 2012 edition is set to be one of the most open in years what with Philippe Gilbert failing to reproduce last year's form and a number of other contenders showing strong from in the past week. Sicard is aware a whole host of names could end up on the podium.

"Many riders can win tomorrow. We'll see Gilbert and Vanendert, as well as Spaniards like Joaquím Rodríguez and Alejandro Valverde. The list is very long."

It's a fact: Sicard has had 22 racing days so far this season (including the non-UCI ranked Cancer Council Classic). That's already three more than last year.

Startlist can be found here. 

Photo: www.cyclingnews.com

Lejarreta wins on the road

Orbea's top mountain biker Iñaki Lejarreta showed his impressive versatility by taking a victory on the road today. The 28-year-old triumphed in the Torneo Euskaldun-race in Lazkao, Gipuzkoa.

The Olympic Games hopeful cleverly outfoxed Azysa-Telco'm duo Sivori and Terpstra to snatch an unlikely victory after the trio had escaped early on and distanced the peloton by some margin. Another Azysa rider, Borja Abásolo, displayed his rich vein of form with fourth at 1:58. The 23-year-old, formerly of Cafés Baqué, finished a striking third in the Memorial Valenciaga a few weeks back and proved to be the strongest of the rest. Bidelan pair Mitxelena and Murgia finished fifth and sixth respectively.

Naturgas Energía did not field a team.

Results:

• 1, Iñaki Lejarreta, Orbea MTB
• 2, Ariel Alejandro Sivori (Azysa-Telco'm), 0:00
• 3, Mike Terpstra (Azysa-Telco'm), s.t.
• 4, Borja Abásolo (Azysa-Telco'm), 1:58
• 5, Julen Mitxelena (Bidelan-Kirolgi), 2:01

Full results here.

Another Euskaldun-race is on the menu tomorrow: the XLIV Trofeo Eusebio Vélez in Durana, Álava.

Photo from www.orbea.com

Samu to lead Liège charge

After much back and forth, Samuel Sánchez will lead Euskaltel in Sunday's big one: Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

So says the team's official website this afternoon. Igor Antón will as expected line up alongside the Olympic champ, and will potentially form a fearsome twosome if can rediscover some of the chispa that's been lacking thus far in 2012. Giro-bound Mikel Nieve will also take the start, but is unlikely to make much of an impression as he's only got 10 days of racing in his legs so far this season.

Full team: Igor Antón, Jorge Azanza, Gorka Izagirre, Egoi Martínez, Mikel Nieve, Rubén Pérez, Samuel Sánchez and Romain Sicard.

Izagirre: "I'm fine"

Gorka Izagirre might still make it to Liège on Sunday. The Flèche Wallone crash victim insists he's ready for the brutal conclusion to the Classics season - despite only yesterday being bandaged up from top to toe.

"My right hand and shoulder are worst off - I'm struggling to lean on the handlebars. But I have no problem turning the cranks. Of course, I've got scrapes all over: both my knees, both hands, my shoulders, my chin, my hips and my butt. I haven't gotten a full night's sleep yet, but I've gotten some sleep. I went for a 75-minute training ride with my team-mates though, and everything worked just fine. My legs? They're good. I told Gorka Gerrikagoitia I'll do Liège-Bastogne-Liège", he told el Diario Vasco.

Speaking of the fall itself, Izagirre is adamant it was all his own making.

"I was eating an energy bar, some guys ahead of me hit the brakes, I ran into them, and I crashed. It was my own fault".

Despite his strong desire to take part in the fourth Monument of 2012, the 24-year-old is aware it really isn't about him. If he's not recovered sufficiently to make a difference on Sunday, he'd rather see a completely fit team-mate take his place on the team.

"I'll be honest with myself and the team. We'll see how it evolves, but it's obviously not in Euskaltel's best interests if a guy at 50 percent lines up. I'll ride if I'm willing up for it. If I'm not ready, I won't mislead anyone".

"He looks like a mummy"

A nasty-looking crash took Gorka Izagirre out of Wednesday's Fleche Wallonne. The 24-year-old escaped serious injury, but is quite banged up at the moment and will be forced to sit out Sunday's big rendezvous: Liège-Bastogne-Liège. According to directeur sportif Gorka Gerrikagoitia, he's looking like everything but a bike rider.

"He's entire body is bruised and he's got bandages all over the place. He looks like mummy! It's been a while since I last saw such a heavy crash", the former Euskaltel-pro told el Diario Vasco.

The oldest of the Izagirre brothers crashed at heavy speed - but incredibly came away from the incident without any fractures whatsoever.

"It happened with 38 kilometres to go, at approximately 60 km/h. The road was quite dangerous, and he looked quite bad after the crash. He hit his shoulder, his face, his knees, his hands, his arms, both sides... I think he virtually hit every single body part. We originally thought of taking him to the hospital, but we eventually dropped that idea."

He added: "He's done with his first part of the season now. He was scheduled to return to racing in May at the Tour of Bavaria, and he'll do so if he's healed by then, but he'll take it easy in that race. After that, he'll head to the Tour de Suisse and the Tour de France".

Euskaltel call on Samu for Liège

After Igor Antón failed to animate la Fleche Wallonne yesterday, Euskaltel will be forced to call on Samuel Sánchez services in Sunday's Liège-Bastogne-Liège. DS Gorka Gerrikagoitia admitted as much when talking to el Diario Vasco today.

"Samuel was good in Amstel, and Antón was disappointing in Fleche. Antón didn't perform well in the Vuelta al País Vasco and is not at his game. We have a sure bet for the Classics in Samu, and in these conditions we have to put our trust in him.

"It's not set in stone that he'll line up, but that's the plan - unless he isn't feeling good. I was hoping for more from Antón in Fleche, so we have to give Samu a ring. I think he's still got the kind of form we saw of him in País Vasco", he explained.

Samu himself seemed to be at peace with the idea - even if he's feeling a bit under the weather.

"I'm only at about 50 percent, but it's most likely that I'll be in Liège on Sunday. I'm still recovering from Amstel as I arrived at that race with a cold I contracted in País Vasco because of the chilly temperatures. My form is good though, and I'm pleased with how Amstel turned out. If my legs didn't feel right I wouldn't do Liège, but they're working just fine. Let's hope I recover quickly", Samu said.

Teams for La Rioja

Euskaltel and Orbea will both send eight-man team's to Sunday's 1.1-ranked Vuelta a La Rioja. Pablo Urtasun, coming off a third-place overall finish in the Vuelta a Castilla y León, is likely to lead an able Euskaltel line-up in the 190km race. Orbea will as always count on the youngsters, and Bizkarra and Bagües particularly look primed for strong showings after a solid run of form of late.

Euskaltel squad: Pablo Urtasun, Amets Txurruka, Mikel Landa, Peio Bilbao, Miguel Minguez, Adrián Sáez, Iván Velasco and Ricardo García. DS: Álvaro González de Galdeano.

Orbea squad: Mikel Bizkarra, Andoni Blázquez, Aritz Etxebarria, Xabier Zabalo, Igor Merino, Haritz Orbe, Aritz Bagües and Illart Zuazubiskar. DS: Aritz Arberas.

Source: www.vueltalarioja.es.

Complete list of teams can be found here.

Fleche Wallonne no-show for Euskaltel

Euskaltel showed just how dependent they are on Samuel Sánchez these days with a muted performance in Wednesday's Fleche Wallonne. Team leader Igor Antón failed to shine and had to settle for 17th.

It wasn't for the lack of help though - of for trying for that matter. Antón was taken excellently care of by his team-mates and was brought to the bottom of the the vicious Muur de Huy by Peio Bilbao and Romain Sicard. Once the climbing started though, he was poorly positioned and never really had the legs to go with Rodríguez, Albasini et al. The 29-year-old didn't manage to replicate the results of the last two years (fourth and fifth in 2010 and 2011 respectively), and crossed the line in 17th place, 11 seconds off Rodríguez's blistering time.

"We can't be pleased with this race", DS Gerrikagoitia said unequivocally to the team's website upon completing the race. "The Muur is perfect for Antón, and 17th doesn't correspond with the quality he possesses. Alas, we're not satisfied".

His younger team-mates showed more encouraging signs though. Peio Bilbao delivered another fine Classic performance, coming home 44th, just 47 seconds in arrears. Sicard ended up a further 11 seconds back in 51st place.

On a less positive note, Gorka Izagirre tumbled heavily with just less than 40 clicks to go. The punchy rider was forced to abandon immediately, but the 24-year-old is doing well considering the circumstances.

"It was a very hard fall, but I don't think anything's broken. He's pretty banged up though," 'Gerri' said.

Izagirre will naturally sit out Sunday's Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Peio Bilbao, who was supposed to go home and put his feet up after Fleche Wallonne, will take his place.

Results:

• (1, Joaquim Rodríguez, Katusha)
• 17, Igor Antón, 0:11
• 44, Peio Bilbao, 0:47
• 51, Romain Sicard, 0:58
• 79, Egoi Martínez, 2:13
• 102, Jorge Azanza, 5:04
• 141, Ricardo García, 11:10

Full results here.

"On a scale from one to ten, we earned a ten"

Orbea DS Aritz Arberas lauded the team's performance in the recently concluded Vuelta a Castilla y León. On the team's website, the former Naturgas prodigy (as pictured above) expressed his delight with his young charges.

"I'm very pleased - we were at our game. We did a good Vuelta. We fought and succeeded in being present in all the breaks. It was very positive", he enthused.

The blue team failed to make an impression results-wise, but for Arberas that's not the most important thing at this stage of the riders' careers.

"Don't forget that one of our goals at this team is to learn. Our team is filled with young riders eager to do just that and eventually turn pro. Our chance is to animate the racing. We addressed the mistakes we made and learned from them. In that sense, it was a very enriching experience".

Next up for the Continental-ranked team in Sunday's Vuelta a la Rioja, now a single-day race.

Photo: www.fundacioneuskadi.com

"Samu could have won Amstel"

While Samuel Sánchez's seventh place in Sunday's Amstel Gold Race was no mean feat, directeur sportif Gorka Gerrikagoitia was left contemplating what might have been hadn't his star rider been forced to change bikes at the worst possible moment. Talking to BiciCiclismo, 'Gerri' didn't mince his words.

"He had to swap bikes after 230 kilometres, the worst possible moment, because of a mechanical. If it wasn't for that mishap, he could have landed a podium spot and, why not, won the whole thing. The way he got back on in the final 20 kilometres showed he was one of the strongest".

Despite showing such good form in Amstel, it's still an unknown whether he'll line up in Liège on Sunday.

"He won't decide until the last minute. It depends on how this week goes for him. He's already completed his schedule for this part of the season and was strong in Amstel."

Igor Antón's inclusion on behalf of Samu is the only change for tomorrow's Fleche Wallonne. Gerrikagoitia has high hopes for Antón, but admits the man himself isn't so sure about his state of form.

"We hope he'll be able to fight for, at least, the podium. Antón doesn't know how he'll perform though. Two years ago, when Evans won, he was very close to the victory. It's a race well suited to him. We hope to see the best of Antón this year on Wednesday, but he has his doubts", he said.

The native of Galdakao didn't sound so cautious, saying he expects to be among the favourites. Grabbing a top five would be difficult though, he warned.

For Sunday's Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Ricardo García and Peio Bilbao will be the only ones from the Amstel roster to drop out. Mikel Nieve and one more, perhaps Samu, will replace the young duo.

Photo: www.cyclingnews.com

Samu stays third in UCI rankings

Samu maintained his third place overall in the UCI's WorldTour-rankings after yesterday's Amstel Gold Race.

Samu scored 14 points for his seventh place, meaning he rose above Simon Gerrans who failed to grab a single point yesterday. Peter Sagan moved above both men though courtesy of his third-place finish. Samu is currently on 222 points, while Sagan is on 229. Tom Boonen continues to lead the way at the top of standings after his impeccable campaign, having amassed a gigantic 366 points. No other Euskaltel riders have accumulated any points.

In the team rankings, Euskaltel are still in eighth place on 222 points. Omega Pharma - QuickStep are top with 547.

Source: UCI.

Photo: www.cyclingnews.com

Unlucky Samu grabs 7th in Amstel

Despite being set back by a mechanical with less than 20 kilometres to go and getting his sprint interrupted by Cunego and Nordhaug's crash on the steepest ramps ofthe Cauberg, Samuel Sánchez persevered to grab a satisfactory seventh place in today's Amstel Gold Race.

The defining moment for the team came when Sánchez suffered the misfortune of a puncture/mechanical problem with approximately 20 clicks to go. The team, with the likes of Sicard and Martínez particularly prominent, dropped back instantly to help their leader bridge back up to a flying peloton. Approaching the Keutenberg some ten kilometres later he was finally back among the leaders, but naturally suffered from his exertions on the unforgiving ramps of the Cauberg. Still though, he had enough left in the tank to distance pre-race favourites like Mollema, Schleck, an off-colour Rodríguez, Henao, Valverde and Gerrans. Italian Gasparotto powered his way to a relatively surprising win ahead of Vanendert and Sagan.

Samu earned the team 14 valuable UCI WorldTour-points courtesy of his seventh place.

Another rider who enjoyed a good day in the saddle was young Peio Bilbao. The stand-out 22-year-old, impressive in the break of the day in Flanders a fortnight ago, once again made it into the main break in a big classic. The featherweight climber formed part of the early-race nine-man break and, as some of the more experienced heads in the group went out the back as the pace was upped inside the last 50 clicks, Bilbao put in a ride that belied his tender years and stayed away 'till only 27 kilometres were left to race. On this form, the native of Gernika might go on to animate Fleche Wallonne on Wednesday and Liège on Sunday.

Results:

• (1, Enrico Gasparotto, Astana)
• 7, Samuel Sánchez, 0:02
• 54, Egoi Martínez, 2:03
• 64, Romain Sicard, 2:21
• 69, Gorka Izagirre, s.t.
• 137, Peio Bilbao, 11:31
• DNF: Rubén Pérez, Jorge Azanza, Ricardo García.

Full results here.

Urtasun third in Castilla y León

Pablo Urtasun hung on to his third place overall in the Vuelta a Castilla y León's final stage earlier today. The 34-year-old cleverly got into the race-deciding break on the 173,5km stage into Segovia that eliminated overnight leader Luisle Sánchez from contention, and placed ninth on the day to secure a highly creditable third overall behind Movistar's Javier Moreno and Saur's Guillaume Levarlet. Yelko Gómez of Caja Rural sprinted to the stage win.

It could have been even better for Urtasun though if it wasn't for a mishap inside the last 500 metres. With both the stage and the overall to sprint for, Urtasun, on the wheel of second-placed Levarlet, was forced to unclip both pedals just when the sprint was about to start as Levarlet lost control of his bike. Both escaped hitting the ground, but the incident meant both lost any chance of the stage and the overall. Urtasun rolled in in ninth place, four seconds down, while the Saur rider took tenth and second overall.

Talking to the press post-stage, the Euskaltel hard-man didn't hide his disappointment.

"It's a pity I had that misfortune with 400 metres to go", he told the team's website. "After suffering a lot on the Nevacerrada and cresting it on (eventual overall winner) Moreno's wheel, not being able to dispute the stage and the general classification makes me a tad angry. If you end up third because there are two guys that are stronger than you, you might be satisfied, but finishing third like this annoys me. Now I'm just looking towards the upcoming races. I've shown I'm in good form, so I'll keep fighting".

Iván Velasco put in a good shift to place 22nd on the stage and thus maintained his ninth place overall.

Cazaux, Nieve and A Pérez failed to finish. Zuazubiskar dropped out for Orbea.

Orbea put both Mikel Bizkarra and Aritz Etxebarria in early breakaway attempts today, but none of them managed to stand the pace when the going got tough towards the end. Carlos Barbero finished as the team's highest placed rider on GC, 49th.

Stage results (Orbea riders in cursive):

• (1, Yelko Gómez, Caja Rural)
• 9, Pablo Urtasun, 0:04
• 22, Iván Velasco, 1:37
• 29, Mikel Landa, 2:07
• 40, Mikel Bizkarra, 6:25
• 44, Miguel Mínguez, 8:27
• 46, Amets Txurruka, s.t.
• 52, Carlos Barbero, 8:47
• 58, Jon Aberasturi, s.t.
• 60, Aritz Bagües, s.t.
• 66, Igor Merino, s.t.
• 69, Xabier Zabalo, 9:00
• 74, Aritz Etxebarria, 15:07

Final general classification:

• (1, Javier Moreno, Movistar)
• 3, Pablo Urtasun, 0:03
• 9, Iván Velasco, 1:50
• 30, Mikel Landa, 12:08
• 42, Miguel Minguez, 18:06
• 43, Amets Txurruka, s.t.
• 49, Carlos Barbero, 18:26
• 54, Aritz Bagües, s.t.
• 59, Jon Aberasturi, 22:25
• 65, Mikel Bizkarra, 25:18
• 71, Aritz Etxebarria, 28:45
• 80, Xabier Zabalo, 35:03
• 81, Igor Merino, 37:54

Full results here.

Team classification: Euskaltel third, Orbea 11th.

Spanish rider classification: 2, Pablo Urtasun, Euskaltel.

Regional rider classification: 1, Carlos Barbero, Orbea.