Euskaltel miss out in road race champs

Euskaltel were no match for Movistar in today's national road race champs in Salamanca. While Francisco Ventoso grabbed the title pretty much everyone knew he would, Pablo Urtasun was the team's top finisher in ninth.

It wasn't for the lack of trying though - neither on Euskaltel nor Orbea's part. Gorka Izagirre, Adrián Sáez, Egoi Martínez, Gorka Verdugo and Rubén Pérez, not to mention Orbea's Igor Merino, Omar Fraile and the highly rated Aritz Bagües, made sorties off the front at various points in the race, but Movistar always had a rider or five more in every meaningful break and set it up perfectly for Ventoso to claim the win. Former Euskaltel sprinter Koldo Fernández added another medal to his collection with silver, while the always underrated Francisco Pacheco of Gios-Deyser grabbed bronze. Verdugo, A Pérez and Astarloza also finished top 20 to make sure it wasn't a total write-off for the team.

Results:

• (1, Francisco Ventoso (Movistar), 5:08:48)
• 9, Pablo Urtasun, s.t.
• 11, Gorka Verdugo, s.t.
• 13, Alan Pérez, s.t.
• 19, Mikel Astarloza, s.t.
• 23, Rubén Pérez, s.t.
• 24, Amets Txurruka, s.t.
• 31, Egoi Martínez, 0:11
• 35, Jon Izagirre, 0:48
• 36, Adrián Sáez, 0:49
• 40, Aritz Bagües, 1:18
• 41, Carlos Barbero, s.t.
• 58, Mikel Bizkarra, 10:49
• 59, Omar Fraile, 11:47
• 60, Xabier Zabalo, s.t.

Picture: www.fundacioneuskadi.com