Gorka 5th overall with one stage to go

Gorka was once again Euskaltel's best man in the Vuelta a Valenciana today. By claiming 11th on the stage he is now 5th overall, which is a great performance from the super domestique. Amazingly, he beat Petacchi in the sprint! He was the only Euskaltel rider among that first 20-man strong lead group. Rubén, Haimar and Markel came in with the next group, 14 seconds back. Also worth mentioning was Juanjo's aggressive riding. He got into one of the early breaks and clinched some sprint points underway but, due to dangerman Contador's presence in the escape, it was reeled back in. Stage results:

• 11th, Gorka Verdugo, 0:00
• 32nd, Rubén Pérez, 0:14
• 33rd, Markel Irizar, s.t.
• 36th, Haimar Zubeldia, s.t.
• 79th, Beñat Albizuri, 1:00
• 88th, Juan José Oroz, 1:14
• 115th, Alán Pérez, 2:34
• 116th, Andoni Lafuente, 2:54
  

Almería and Murcia line-up

So turns out I won't be leaving today anyway. I will tomorrow though, but then just for a couple of days. So I'll be updating the blog all day.... the 7-man strong squad for the Clasica Almería and the Vuelta a Murcia has been revealed. The seven riders to line up on Sunday will also line up on Tuesday, and the team is made up of Samuel, Koldo, Iñaki (who'll all be making their season-debuts), Mikel, Josu, Jon and Iván. Looks solid on paper, and it'll be exciting to see what Samu and Koldo are able to pull off so early. I assume Mikel will be at the front in both races, so I'm looking forward to it.

Got to go

I'm really sorry, but I won't be able to update the blog until Monday. I'm going out of town tomorrow, and that's a shame as Iban's future will be decided on without me being able to bring you the news. Rest assured though that I'll give you plenty of post-CAS ruling news and features once I'm back. See you then.

Heaven or hell

In two days we will all know what the future holds for Iban. The Court of Arbitration for Sport will issue their ruling on Saturday; that's the plan anyway. Though, for once in this neverending saga, I think we'll get a decision. He'll either be cleared or sanctioned. There's no room for appeals. If he's cleared, well, he's free to race; whatever that means in today's pro cycling. If he's sanctioned though, it's the end. Goodbye. I can't see him return to cycling if he's suspended. If so, cycling will have lost one of their most gifted and charismatic riders. I'm confident though that he'll be cleared; I don't want to get everyone's hopes up, but he will. CAS simply can't convict him of doping in this case. No way. It'd be a crime. I'm nervous, I admit that. It might be the end for our hero. But there's no use to keep speculating on this. What happens, happens. That's life. All we can do is wait and hope for the best. I'm not going to pray, as I'm not religious. But for those of you who are, please do.

Gorka shines, but organisers ruin race

The organizing committee of the Vuelta Ciclista a Valenciana has clearly had better days. With two riders in front and 10 clicks to go, and two chase groups in hot pursuit not far behind, something rare and, I have to admit it, something I've never seen before, happened. The chase groups, who would surely have reeled the duo of Plaza and Vázquez back in, were directed the wrong way. All of a sudden they were riding on a highway, full of cars, parallel to the two leaders, who'd been shown the right way to the finishline. The two groups, with Gorka in the first one, and Haimar and Rubén in the second, lost a lot of time and are now most likely out of the running for overall classification honours. Gorka ended up only 16 seconds in arrears in a magnificent 7th spot, but it was considerably worse for Haimar and Rubén. They both lost 2:25, and are now well back on GC. As a result Gorka dropped to 4th on GC, but he's still only 26 seconds down on the leader. Haimar though will have to go for stage-wins if he is to win anything in this year's race, as he's now 2:34 back in 26th place. Stage results:

• 7th, Gorka Verdugo, 0:16
• 25th, Rubén Pérez, 2:25
• 35th, Haimar Zubeldia s.t.
• 51st, Markel Irizar, 2:54
• 70th, Juanjo Oroz, 16:48
• 107th, Beñat Albizuri, 26:16
• 114th, Andoni Lafuente, s.t.
• 130th, Alán Pérez, s.t.

Juanjo in break; Gorka 3rd overall

It was another great day out for Euskaltel today. The Vuelta Ciclista a Valenciana saw Juanjo strong in the break of the day, climbing well, while Gorka grabbed 9th on the stage and propelled himself from 5th to 3rd overall. It was a strong all-round performance from the team, as Rubén was 11th, while Haimar was also in the first group to cross the line. Due to his 9th place today, Gorka is also leading the combined classification, and is third in the mountains ranking. Gorka is on fire! Great to see him finally step out of the shadow as a domestique and get some results for himself for a change. Tomorrow will be a hilly affair so, despite his recent flue, I'll tell you this: watch out for Haimar. Today's results:

• 9th, Gorka Verdugo, 0:00
• 11th, Rubén Pérez, s.t.
• 41st, Haimar Zubeldia, s.t.
• 49th, Markel Irizar, 0:08
• 89th, Alán Pérez, 0:13
• 118th, Juanjo Oroz, 5:06
• 126th, Andoni Lafuente, 6:22
• 131st, Beñat Albizuri, 9:39

Overall classification:

• 3rd, Gorka Verdugo, 0:06
• 18th, Haimar Zubeldia, 0:10
• 29th, Rubén Pérez, 1:43
• 43rd, Markel Irizar, 1:51
• 61st, Alán Pérez, 1:56
• 68th, Juanjo Oroz, 6:46
• 128th, Andoni Lafuente, 18:57
• 132, Beñat Albizuri, 22:14
  

Gorka active and 5th overall in Valenciana

Gorka today showed what he's made of in the Volta a Valenciana's first stage. Gorka escaped with two other riders only 35 kilometres in on today's stage, and was only reeled back in with some 8 clicks to go. Underway he won one hill-climb and came second on another, so he's a good second in that competition. He's also second in the Intermediate Sprints classifications. Perhaps most impressive though was that he, after being in the front all day, sprinted to a great 10th on the stage out of a 22-man strong leadgroup who crossed the line together. In that group was also, as predicted, Haimar, who rolled in to 18th place on the stage. A good performance from him as well; I can't wait to see what he comes up with on the hillier stages. Rubén, in his first race of the season, was 40th, 1:33 down, the same as Alán and Juanjo. Andoni and Beñat both came in with the unusually big grupetto 12:25 in arrears. The bonus seconds collected underway means Gorka is a brilliant 5th overall, while Haimar is 20th overall. Though, the fight for overall honours seems already limited to 24 riders, as there's a big gap from number 24th, Fedrigo, to 25th, Zabel. Most of the best climbers and stage-race specialists are among those 24, so, by the look of it, we're in for quite a race.

Poll results: Should Euskaltel try to bring back Herrero?

Indeed they should. 86 % think that Euskaltel should do what they can to get him back, as he's a young, quality rider. He's got it all this rider; why the h*** did they not give him the money he wanted back in 2006?

Haimar heads Valenciana line-up

Haimar will lead the team's charge at the upcoming Vuelta Ciclista a la Comunidad Valenciana. The race is one of Haimar's early-season goals, along with Paris-Nice, so I expect him to be right up there fighting for general classification honours. Lining up with him in the five-stage race, starting on Tuesday, is Rubén, who'll make his season-debut, Gorka, Andoni, Markel, Juanjo, Alán and Beñat. Looks a solid squad to me. Aupa!

The Etxebarrias get honoured

Former Euskaltel riders and namebrothers Unai and David Etxebarria will be honoured today by a hundred friends and fans in the Kafe Antzokia de Durango. The riders both spent large portions of their careers with Euskaltel and gave the team tremendous success through the years. David's most notable results are his two stage-wins in the Tour in 1999, while Unai prides himself most on his 2003 Vuelta stage-win.

Mikel and Villa second in Seis Horas

Mikel and Marco Villa finished a great 2nd in yesterday's Seis Horas de Euskadi track event held in San Sebastián. The pair finished runner-ups to the unbeatable duo of Risi-Marvulli. If I'm not mistaken Mikel finished 2nd in this event back in 2004 as well.

Mikel aims for win on track

Mikel will, just like he did last year, compete in the Seis Horas de Euskadi track event tomorrow in San Sebastián. Mikel will team up with the decorated Italian Marco Villa, and will hope to go one or two better than last year, when he ended on the third step on the podium. Considering his current form, that shouldn't be impossible...

Aitor 7th in last Ruta stage

Aitor once again sprinted well to grab 7th on the last stage of the Ruta del Sol - Vuelta Ciclista Andalucía. His form is most certainly good, but the win still eludes him. The stage didn't produce any changes to the overall standings, so Mikel will probably feel a little disappointed to finish 4th overall. But still though, great riding again from him. All Euskaltel rider came in with the main pack today except for Josu and Igor. Josu ended up 13 seconds down, while Igor was 30. Jon tried to catch up with the break all day long, but in the end gave up as the duo at the front showed no signs of letting up. He too seems to be in a rather good shape. Anyway, that leaves us with the following final overall standings:

• 4th, Mikel Astarloza
• 23rd, Igor Antón
• 33rd, Jorge Azanza
• 42nd, Aitor Galdos
• 45th, Dioni Galparsoro
• 47th, Jon Bru
• 69th, Josu Agirre
  

Euskaltel ended up 6th in the team ranks, while Igor was 2nd in the Metas Volantes competition. Aitor, due to his consistently good sprinting, was 4th in the clasificacion regularidad. Mikel was of course also second in the Best Spaniard competition. All in all a good performance from the team, some riders seem to have their form spot on for the early-season. A win though would have been great, just to get underway for real...

Odriozola happy with Andalucía performance

Jon Odriozola, Euskaltel's sports director at the Ruta del Sol in Andalucía, spoke to the team's website after the 4th stage came to a close. Here's what the ex-pro had to say: "We've been very active in this race. Mikel, Igor and Dioni are all in good form, and have possibilities of winning stages with the help of Azanza and Bru. If it comes down to a sprint, we have Aitor. We've performed well overall. We came close to winning with Astarloza, and Dioni was close today, but it would be great to finish this race with a win."