Round-up

I'm sorry for my absence, but I've been experiencing some network-problems of late. That all seems to have sorted itself out though, so I'll resume my blogging. Here's a short round-up of what's been going on:

• The Tour of Poland saw Iñaki finish a crediatble 14th overall after placing 11th on the last stage. Samu dropped out halfway through the race due to the unfavourable conditions. Samu was afraid the freezing cold and pouring rain could put pay to his Wordls preparations, and therefore decided to go back home and train instead. All in all and OK Tour of Poland performance from the team but, still, no wins to show for the effort.
• The Vuelta ended today. The last few stages saw what we've all become used to seing from the team; good riding, great effort, no win. Makes me proud, but also makes me sad to see the team giving it their all and just not being good enough to win. Credit to them for trying though. Losing Igor was a hard blow, but they've picked themselfes up and done their best. Koldo today collected yet another 4th place. He must be terribly disappointed with his sprints in this race. After all, the race wasn't top class every day. He looks close though, it's just a matter of details really. I reckon a place in the Tour line-up for him next year would do him the world of good experience-wise. It's just a matter of time before the wins start heaping up I feel. Egoi eventually finished 7th. That's awesome, just awesome. He's been terrific, and looks to be the rider I hoped he would be when the team re-signed him. Rubén as well did surpisingly well to claim 11th in the Nevacerrada time trial yesterday. He's turning into a complete rider Rubén, but the wins still elude him. There's a lot to improve upon for him, but the talent is there for him to develop. Euskaltel eventually ended up 2nd in the team classification after grabbing some vital extra seconds today. That's a brilliant result. Imagine how that ranking would have looked like if Igor was there. The final GC looks like this: 7th: Egoi. 28th, Mikel. 41st, Rubén. 45th, Amets. 51st, Iván. 63rd, Iñigo. 69th, Alán. 94th, Koldo. That's not too bad, but it's nothing more than I expected either. Madariaga declared himself happy with the team's performance, but, then again, he always does, so I don't really find his reactions very interesting to be honest. I'm longing for the season to end. It's been a terrible season overall for us Ibán and Euskaltel fans. Ibán is going through a hard time, and Euskaltel have performed well beneath what I had expected. If you, my readers, think I'm frustrated, then you're right. My frustration is obvious I guess, and I sense I'm not the only one feeling this way.