Critérium International round-up

Euskaltel performed well in today's two last stages of the Critérium International. On the first stage, a short, but very hilly, affair, Mikel and Egoi came in with the best, both 1:43 down in 16th and 17th respectively. Egoi was even in the first serious break of the day but, sadly, the break came to nothing. Jorge also rode well on that first stage, coming in 1:50 back. Stage 2 results:

• 16th, Mikel Astarloza, 1:43
• 17th, Egoi Martínez, s.t.
• 32nd, Jorge Azanza, 1:50
• 37th, Iñigo Landaluze, 2:05
• 46th, Iván Velasco, 3:01
• 93rd, Josu Agirre, 8:01
• 118th, Aitor Hernández, 9:00

These results meant that Egoi and Mikel were both well placed overall going into the decisive 8,3 km ITT. Mikel did well to grab 21st place, only 32 seconds down on Norwegian hotshot Boasson Hagen. Egoi disappointed with only posting the 68th best time, a full 1:05 down. Mikel thus ended up a good 11th, while Egoi dropped to 20th overall. Aitor Hernández did reasonably well to claim 41st, only 52 seconds in arrears. Stage 3 results:

• 21st, Mikel Astarloza, 0:32
• 41st, Aitor Hernández, 0:52
• 68th, Egoi Martínez, 1:05
• 70th, Jorge Azanza, 1:07
• 76th, Josu Agirre, 1:13
• 93rd, Iñigo Landaluze, 1:31
• 104th, Iván Velasco, 1:43

Overall Mikel was 11th, Egoi 20th, Jorge 42nd, Iñigo 48th, Iván 53rd, Aitor 90th and Josu 104th. Not bad, not bad at all actually, but not breathtaking either. Mikel and Egoi both look to be in solid form these days, while Jorge also seems to be coming along nicely. Josu is obviously still finding his feet in these races, but that's only natural. He'll come good; trust me. The team ended up a good 5th as a team. Of course that doesn't mean anything at all, but I've always valued team-work, so it's always a positive I reckon.