Briefs

• Naturgas Energía's Loic Chetout experienced an unlucky start to the season. The talented youngster hit the deck in Saturday's Route de l'Atlantique - the team's first race of the year. His elbow took the brunt of the crash, fundacioneuskadi.com reports, and he was forced to step off the bike. It's not overly serious, though, and he's likely to be ready for the team's next race.
• Barakaldo native track star Unai Elorriaga took out the overall world cup crown in the points race in London this weekend. The 31-year-old former Cafés Baqué rider placed third behind fellow Spaniard Albert Torres and Russia's Kirill Sveshnikov, but still did more than enough to secure the overall title.
• While top results were once again hard to come by for Naturgas Energía over the weekend at the Essor Basque, directeur sportif Iñigo Urretxua was more than pleased with his young charges. "Considering the high level of competition, even the French national team took part, I'm very happy with the team's work", he told Euskaltel's homepage. "Looking forward to the coming weekend's race, this race did the riders' form good."
• Click this link to check out every roster of every Spanish amateur team in 2012. Top quality work from BiciCiclismo - as usual.