Orbea go young

Euskaltel's feeder team, Orbea Oreka SDA, will be a much revamped formation next year. The team, with Álvaro González de Galdeano, Igor's older brother, at the helm, will focus almost solely on youth. The only riders to stay with the team from the 2007 season will be David Martín, Iván Melero and Igor Romero. The rest of the riders that made up this campaign's squad have all been showed the door to make room for no less than 9 riders, yeah you didn't misread it, under the tender age of 23. Those 9 include ex-Euskaltel rider Unai Uribarri, who'll be the team's most experienced rider. Joining him will be the vastly talented Eladio Sánchez, previously of Liberty Seguros, and the following 7 young hotshots: Daniel Sesma, Aitor Olano, Eriz Ruiz de Erentxun, Jonathan Castroviejo, Mikel Nieve, Sergio de Lis and Miguel Mínguez. I admit I don't know a whole lot about all these youngsters, which maybe isn't that strange considering that most of them are 19 and 20-year-olds. Though, I have been following two of them, namely Jonathan Castroviejo and Aitor Olano. The two caught my attention early on last season through strong performances and results in the Spanish youth categories, and I already then hoped they would come to Orbea's attention. They're hugely talented, just like the rest of the bunch, and hopefully they'll one day be a part of the Euskaltel line-up. At least time is on their side.