Status quo in Beijing

Iván Velasco and Samuel Sánchez are still on the fringes of the top ten in Beijing after Friday's penultimate stage.

The duo went into the mainly flat 166km leg from Yanqing to Chang Ping ranked 11th and 14th overall respectively, and the sprinters' anticipated domination did little to change the general classification - except for Samu moving up to 12th, but still a minute off runaway winner Tony Martin's time. Katusha's Marco Haller, who's been due a win this season after a steady first campaign among the pros, bested a host of big-name speedsters to claim a surprising win, while all seven remaining riders in orange crossed the line inside the pack.

Results stage four (full results here):

• (1, Marco Haller (Katusha), 3:35:39)
• 21, Samuel Sánchez, s.t.
• 23, Iván Velasco, s.t.
• 33, Peio Bilbao, s.t.
• 53, Mikel Landa, s.t.
• 59, Mikel Nieve, s.t.
• 67, Gorka Verdugo, s.t.
• 93, Igor Antón, s.t.

General classification:

• (1, Tony Martín (Omega Pharma-Quick Step)
• 11, Iván Velasco, 1:00
• 12, Samuel Sánchez, s.t.
• 32, Igor Antón, 3:45
• 44, Gorka Verdugo, 5:38
• 55, Peio Bilbao, 10:18
• 59, Mikel Nieve, 11:40
• 113, Mikel Landa, 22:45

Photo: Fundación Ciclista Euskadi

Samuel Sánchez stands up for Lance

Lance Armstrong's definite fall from grace has provoked many a reaction during the last 24 hours. Most are saying "about time", but there's still a considerable minority in the peloton steadfastly standing by the disgraced Texan. In what is likely to come as a disappointment to many, Euskaltel leader and icon Samuel Sánchez appears to be one of the latter.

"Until the contrary is proved, he remains innocent", he told the Associated Press ahead of embarking on the Tour of Beijing's third stage on Thursday. "Lance has overcome many controls, and even until today he has never been found positive in any of them", he continued, clearly swayed by Lance and his lawyer's over-used, and unfounded one at that, mantra of Lance being "the most tested athlete in the world".

"About all the accusations that have been poured against him, we have to see what the goal of them all are, whether there's an economic motive there or they just want to harm his image. We still need to wait and see what decision the UCI reaches and see what they rule. The UCI are all the time saying they're working on today's cycling, not the cycling of the past", he added.

While Samu's amiable ways, welcoming grin and ever-dimplomatic answers have made him astoundingly popular, and rightly so, over the last decade both domestically as well as internationally, his answers in this case leave a lot to be desired for those looking for a big-name rider in the pack to step forward, break the omertá and tell Lance just what kind of damage he's done to their sport and their profession. Samu is arguably Spain's only true great at present never to have been implicated in doping-related activities, save for Joaquin Rodríguez perhaps, and as such could have been his nation's leading voice in the never-ending fight against performance-enhancing drugs in the sport. Are comments like these the way to go in that regard?

 Don't hesitate in letting your feelings on the matter show in the 'comments' section below.

New writers

I'm glad to announce that, as you might have noticed by now, two writers have joined the website to help keep it up to date and relevant. Their names are Josh Buehner and Chris Kuntz, they're both Americans, and both possess bags of knowledge on Basque cycling. In the future (more precisely around the turn of the year), we intend to move Basque Cycling News away from the blog-concept and over to a more regular news site (so to speak) with a modified domain name. All in due time though - we'll keep you posted!

Euskaltel line up for season finale

France will again play host to Euskaltel's final season outing this year, with Sunday's Tour de Vendée being the last competitive race for 'the carrots'.

The French one-day cup race will be the last chance to see Euskaltel in competition as he have come to know it ever since the team's inception back in 1994. Hoping to claim what would be a perfect ending to the outfit's unique "Basque-only"-era, will be the following seven riders according to the team's website:

• Mikel Astarloza
• Pierre Cazaux
• Ricardo García
• Rubén Pérez
• Adrián Sáez
• Romain Sicard
• Pablo Urtasun

As he's competing in the Tour of Beijing as we speak, last year's runner-up, young Peio Bilbao, will not be on the start line. Euskaltel's main cards to play will thus be the speedy Pablo Urtasun and Rubén Pérez, while the likes of Pierre Cazaux and Romain Sicard might also figure in the closing kilometres.

The team has, perhaps surprisingly some would say, a relatively rich history in the 205km race: Erstwhile Euskaltel sprinter Koldo Fernández tasted triumph at Vendée both in 2008 and 2010, while Bilbao, as mentioned above, finished second to Marco Marcato in last year's edition.

Mikel Gaztañaga, another former Basque sprinter, took back-to-back wins in 2006 and 2007 in the colours of Atom and Agritubel respectively, but, despite his successes, the Itsasondo-born rider never got to don the orange of his home team. Neither did Alberto Leanizbarrutia, the victor in 1988, who went on to enjoy a solid career at ONCE.

Anyhow, if you feel like taking a look at the race's roll of honour, parcours or the participating teams and riders, click this link.

Photo: Euskaltel Euskadi

Euskaltel's Day Out

The Tour of Beijing has been decent so far for Euskaltel-Euskadi but today, the Basque side was able to show its true colors today by animating the race up to Badaling on the Great Wall. In what came down to a select sprint won by Astana's Francesco Gavazzi, Samuel Sanchez and Ivan Velasco were not able to move themselves up the General Classification.

The 162.5 kilometer day started out fast with attacks flying but nothing sticking as the peloton made their way up the 1st 2nd category. On the descent however, a group of seven broke away from the pack including Mikel Nieve and opened up a significant gap on the subsequent 3rd category climb. The group enjoyed a three to four minute gap for the majority of the day until the business end of the race. Meanwhile, in the peloton, Miguel Minguez was forced to abandon in the feed zone  ending what has been a promising year for the young rider.

As the gap began to fall as the race neared the final climb, attacks began to shatter the break. After Christian Meier (Orica-GreenEdge) attacked the group with 12 km to go, the rest of the group, including Nieve, were swept up with 11km to go by the peloton, after being out for almost 130 kilometers. Sylvain Georges (Ag2r-La Mondiale) attacked the peloton after Meier was brought back and was able to open up a brief gap until 4 kilometers to go when Euskaltel-Euskadi stalwart Igor Anton launched his own attack. Anton was able to create a gap but a charging Edvald Boasson Hagen (SKY) flew by Anton, leaving him to be swept up by the peloton a short time later.

Boasson Hagen's move looked strong and looked like he could take a solo victory before the select peloton began to ramp up for an uphill sprint with 1km to go. On the line, Boasson Hagen was overhauled by the Italian Gavazzi with Sanchez and Velasco finishing on the same time, in 13th and 16th respectively.

Stage 3 results (full results here)

• 1, (Francesco Gavazzi (Astana), 4:05:08)
• 13, Samuel Sánchez, s.t.
• 16, Iván Velasco, s.t.
• 32, Igor Anton, 0:33
• 42, Pieo Bilbao, 0:53
• 57, Gorka Verdugo, 2:23
• 105, Mikel Landa, 8:25
• 106, Mikel Nieve, s.t.
• DNF, Miguel Minguez

With only two stages left, Velasco (11th overall) and Samu Sanchez (14th) are still 1 minute behind Tony Martin. With the final two stages looking like sprint stages, the men from Euskaltel-Euskadi will have to go on the attack if they want to rise up the G.C.

Cazaux leaves Euskaltel

French-Basque Pierre Cazaux will leave Euskaltel at the end of the season, www.biciciclismo.com reports.

The 28-year-old Saint-Palais-born rider joined the orange team from Francaise des Jeux ahead of the 2011 season, and was a few weeks ago reported to be in negotiations with incoming General Manager Igor González de Galdeano over an extension to his contract. These negotiations now appear to have broken down. BiciCiclismo does not quote any sources, solely stating he's one of five, along with Amets Txurruka, Iván Velasco, Alan Pérez and Víctor Cabedo, who won't stay on with the "new Euskaltel" next year.

The article further states that Mikel Astarloza, Jorge Azanza, Juan José Oroz and Pablo Urtasun have all come to agreements with Galdeano, and thus are four of 18 riders set to stay on into 2013.

Full list of riders:

• Antón, Igor
• Astarloza, Mikel
• Azanza, Jorge
• Bilbao, Peio
• García, Ricardo
• Izagirre, Gorka
• Izagirre, Ion
• Landa, Mikel
• Martínez, Egoi
• Minguez, Miguel
• Nieve, Mikel
• Oroz, Juan José
• Pérez, Rubén
• Sáez, Adrián
• Sánchez, Samuel
• Sicard, Romain
• Urtasun, Pablo
• Verdugo, Gorka

New riders confirmed:

• Aberasturi, Jon
• Bravo, Garikoitz

Photo: Fundación Euskadi Ciclista

Report: Lobato, Mestre and Serebryakov to Euskaltel

The never-ending rumour mill that is Euskaltel's dealings in the transfer market keeps on turning. A host of riders, ranging from José Rujano to Robert Vrecer, have been linked to the team in the last few months, and today, a trustworthy source has it that the team have obtained the services of three non-Basque riders.

Cycling scribe Benito Urraburu at San Sebastián-based daily El Diario Vasco says the signings of Spanish sprinter Juan José Lobato, Russian speedster Alexandre Serebryakov and Portuguese all-rounder Ricardo Mestre are more or less done deals. While the same was said of the likes of Marek Rutkiewicz, André Schulze, Linus Gerdemann, Carlos Barredo, Jure Kocjan, José Rujano, Robert Vrecer et al., I would argue that there's considerable more reason to believe señor Urraburu than various other cycling websites who have gotten it wrong in the past.

According to the Basque newspaper, the trio would add 300 "sporting merit"-points to Euskaltel's current tally of 381 - and thus greatly improve the team's chances of finishing top 15 in the UCI's too-hard-to-grasp rankings at the end of the season. Whether that would be enough, though, is another matter entirely.

29-year-old Ricardo Mestre has of course been linked to the team in the past. The Carmin-Prio rider has taken out the Trofeo Joaquim Agostinho the last couple of years, not to mention a stage and the overall of last year's Volta ao Portugal. Check out his profile here.

23-year-old Juanjo Lobato, riding for home team Andalucía-Caja Granada, has not been linked to the team earlier (as far as I know anyway), and has two stages of the Vuelta a Chile and one at the Tour of Qinghai Lake to his name this year. The speed merchant, who last year triumphed in the Circuito de Getxo, would be a considerable addition alongside Jon Aberasturi to the team's sprinting department. Check out his profile here.

24-year-old emerging sprinter Alexandre Serebryakov of Team Type 1 would also add depth to Euskaltel's sprint train (that must be the first time anyone put 'Euskaltel' and 'sprint train' in the same sentence, and for good reason). The Russian has added a number of wins in lesser races to his palmarès this season. Check out his profile here.

And, of course, don't forget to voice your opinion on these new "signings" in the comment section. What do you make of them?

Photo: www.cyclingnews.com

Euskaltel team up with Bio Racer

In keeping with the wholesale changes at the team ahead of 2013, Euskaltel are set to be equipped in jerseys manufactured by Belgian brand Bio Racer next season.

So claim El Diario Vasco this morning. This should mean the team will cease its partnership with Nalini/Moa at the end of the current campaign, the Italian brand having taken over as kit supplier from the local, much-loved Etxe Ondo brand in 2010.

Mind you, as with most "news" regarding Euskaltel this year, it's yet to be confirmed by the team itself.

Take a look at Bio Racer's products here!

Euskaltel caught napping as Martin delivers blow

Despite putting on an aggressive performance throughout the Tour of Beijing's second stage, Euskaltel's hopes of GC glory took a massive hit as defending champion Tony Martin stole a march on the rest and claimed a commanding solo win.

The powerful German stormed to the win at the end of the 126km second stage, attacking on the concluding descent some 25 clicks out and holding off a select chase group by almost 50 seconds. 'The carrots' had lit up the racing beforehand through attacks from the likes of Samu, Antón, Verdugo and Nieve, after having assumed control of the pack once the day's main break had settled, but could do little to reel in Martin as he blasted to a Samu-esque win off the descent and to the line in Mentougou.

Hopes of decent GC placings are by no means over though, as Samuel and Velasco, clearly intent on showcasing his solid form in his last outing with the team, came in with with a group of GC contenders just four seconds down on the first chase group. Antón, who looked eager but clearly lacking his top form (as has been the case all year long), got into a promising late-race move with the likes of Dan Martin, Ryder Hesjedal and Steven Kruijswijk, but faded badly in the closing stages and crossed the line a massive 2:56 in arrears alongside Nieve and Verdugo.

Stage 2 results (full results here):

• (1, Tony Martin (Omega Pharma - QuickStep), 2:53:05)
• 18, Iván Velasco, 0:50
• 19, Samuel Sánchez, s.t.
• 48, Gorka Verdugo, 2:56
• 50, Igor Antón, s.t.
• 52, Mikel Nieve, s.t.
• 77, Peio Bilbao, 9:06
• 114, Mikel Landa, 13:13
• 126, Miguel Minguez, s.t.

With three stages left to go, Velasco is placed a healthy 12th overall at just 60 seconds, five places ahead of Samu who's also just a minute behind.

Steady start in Beijing

Tipped by some as the man most likely to win the Tour of Beijing overall, Samuel Sánchez got off to a decent start on Tuesday's opener.

The 117km leg from the Tiananmen Square to the iconic Bird's Nest stadium was an altogether uninspiring and straightforward stage, as the sprinters teams exerted their prowess from the off and set it up for the anticipated dash for the line. Liquigas' Elia Viviani emerged victorious, but of more importance (from an Euskaltel point of view that is) was the fact that the pack split up somewhat on the run-in. 58 riders made it into the main group, among them the Euskaltel leader and loyal domestique Iván Velasco. The nine seconds Samu got on some of his adversaries are not likely to be all that important when the overall is to be decided, but at least he's on the front foot for once in a stage race.

Euskaltel's other main GC cards, Antón, Nieve and Verdugo, all came in with the second group.

Results stage 1 (full results here):

• (1, Eli Viviani (Liquigas), 2:37:49)
• 30, Iván Velasco, s.t.
• 55, Samuel Sánchez, s.t.
• 62, Mikel Nieve, 0:09
• 66, Igor Antón, s.t.
• 67, Gorka Verdugo, s.t.
• 102, Peio Bilbao, s.t.
• 132, Mikel Landa, 0:57
• 142, Miguel Mínguez, 1:44

Photo: Deia

Patxi Vila ends career

Francisco Javier Vila Errandonea, commonly known as Patxi Vila, has decided to put an end to his career with immediate effect.

The 36-year-old current Utensilnord-Named rider finished 46th yesterday in what was his last ever competitive bike race, the Gran Premio Bruno Beghelli. The native of Hondarribia has enjoyed a 12-year long professional career, turning pro with iBanesto back in 2001 after spending his formative years at Caja Rural.

Despite having ridden for such illustrious teams as the aforementioned Spanish powerhouse and Lampre, as well as claiming an epic stage of the Paris-Nice in 2006, Vila will mostly be remembered for failing a testosterone test in March 2008 and his subsequent 18-month suspension.

In an open letter at www.biciciclismo.com, Vila says he'll remain attached to cycling through his future work on the technical side of the sport for a bike brand, while he closes out his statement by writing, somewhat oddly, that "I'm sorry if I have, at any moment during my career, failed, offended or simply not been 'educated'". Read the full statement here.

Photo: Pedalierweb

Murgoitio takes 'cross season opener

Egoitz Murgoitio continued where he left off last season by taking out the Spanish cyclo-cross season opener in style on Saturday.

The Grupo Hirumet Taldea rider was a class above the rest as he triumphed in the first race of the Spanish Cycling Federation's Superprestige race series in San Antolín de Ibias, Asturias. The 29-year-old held off former Euskaltel rider Aitor Hernández by 19 seconds, while former national champ Javier Ruís de Larrinaga of MMR-Spiuk grabbed the last podium spot on offer.

21-year-old Iñigo Gómez took the sub-23 classification, while Felipe Orts won the juniors' race. Roció Gamonal, Hernández's team-mate at Orbea, won the women's race.

Results II MMR CX Experience, Asturias (full results here):

• 1, Egoitz Murgoitio (Grupo Hirumet Taldea), 58:36
• 2, Aitor Hernández (Orbea), 0:19
• 3, Javier Ruíz de Larrinaga (MMR Spiuk), 0:40
• 4, Mauro González (TB Transportes), 0:57
• 5, Jaime Juncal (Aquagest), 1:16

Aitor Hernánez, enjoying a stellar start to his second season in the 'cross field, made up on Sunday for missing out on the big prize the day before, besting Larrinaga to take the first cyclo-cross race of the season on a point-to-point course. The race, held over 53 clicks from San Antolín de Ibias to the Polideportivo de Cerredo, saw Hernández add to his recent victory in the Open Caja Rural de BTT by holding off Larrinaga by approximately half a minute. Third was for veteran road racer and 'crosser Josep Betalú.

Results II MMR CX Experience, 53 kilometres, Asturias:

• 1, Aitor Hernández (Orbea)
• 2, Javier Ruíz de Larrinaga (MMR Spiuk)
• 3, Josep Betalú (GSport - Valencia Terra i Mar)

Photo: www.bhbikes.com

Euskaltel no-show in Paris-Tours

The Paris-Tours has never been Euskaltel's race, and today's anonymous performance from the guys in orange did little to change that.

In theory, a team featuring the likes of fast-finishing Pablo Urtasun and Rubén Pérez, not to mention an in-form Pierre Cazaux, could have played a part in the finale. When all three abandoned though, it wasn't easy for the remaining riders to make much of an impact. Ricardo García and Romain Sicard had reasonably good days in the saddle, both coming in with the main chase group at 28 seconds, in 46th and 51st respectively, while Mikel Astarloza and Adrián Sáez crossed the line within the next big group at 2:14.

Results Paris-Tours (full results here):

• (1, Marco Marcato (Vacansoleil-DCM), 4:50:34)
• 46, Ricardo García, 0:28
• 51, Romain Sicard, s.t.
• 90, Mikel Astarloza, 2:14
• 98, Adrián Sáez, s.t.

Photo: Fundación Euskadi Ciclista

"I hope to stay here for many years"

It was revealed on Wednesday that former Caja Rural, Kaiku, Fuerteventura and Contentpolis-Ampo directeur sportif Óscar Guerrero will join Euskaltel's coaching staff in time for the 2013 kick-off. Speaking to the media a few days later, the likeable Navarra native seemed as surprised as anyone to be offered a place at his local team after several years out of the game.

"I didn't think they would call me, it was very unexpected", he told Punto Radio. "It was a very motivating phone call and I hope to pay them back for the confidence they've shown in me. After three years off the road, albeit not away from cycling, I return with tremendous illusion."

Guerrero has penned a two-year deal with the team, but would love to make his stay longer than that.

"I hope to do well and remain at this team for many years. This is a bigger project, with more races, including being at three different places at the same time almost all year, with the best riders in the world. (As for the change in philosophy at Euskaltel), Igor had to go for something big. The WorldTour is the only race series with TV coverage. Up until now it's been all Basques, but from now on the majority will be Basques coupled with some riders from outside who bring points. We're bound by the UCI's rules, that's the reality, and we have to follow their way".

Photo: EITB