Samu 7th in Worlds

Samu performed up to his best to claim a brilliant 7th in the road world championships in Stuttgart today. Unai also showed that he's still go it at the tender age of 34 and came home with the rather small main pack 49 seconds down on winner Bettini.

Samu was one of thirteen riders who managed to break clear on the last lap, but Bettini, Kolobnev, Schumacher, Schleck and Evans got away. Rebellin escaped the second group to snatch 6th, while Samu easily won the sprint for 7th to record another highly impressing result in the Worlds. He was obviously Spain's strongest riders, so one could question Antequera's tactics. Valverde was clearly not in shape, as I thought, and Freire couldn't follow Samu and the gang up the last climb. But anyway, great ride by Samu. He's still got some wins in store for us this fall I feel.

Unai was seen a lot at the head of the main pack all day. His Euskaltel cap and Euskaltel helmet left no one wondering what team this man is riding for, and it's always great to see the team represented at the Worlds. Unai was the only one from Venezuela to complete the race, and did so with a great ride. Unai came in with the 35-man strong main group, only 49 seconds down, to record an honourable 39th. So, all in all, great performance from him too.