Who's in and who shouldn't be in

The confusion surrounding who'll make up the Euskaltel roster from next year and onwards, who's set to stay and who's set to go, seems to be palpable, so I'll try to make it clear.

As far as I know, nine riders are now formally tied up for 2013. These nine are:

• Igor Antón
• Mikel Astarloza
• Peio Bilbao
• Omar Fraile
• Gorka Izagirre
• Ion Izagirre
• Mikel Landa
• Mikel Nieve
• Romain Sicard

Omar Fraile penned a two-year deal running from 2013 before joining Orbea this term, meaning he should, contractually, join up ahead of next season. He hasn't enjoyed the stellar season at Orbea many might have expected so far, but at least he hasn't been off the pace and has looked quite solid at Conti level.

As for Sicard, he signed a deal keeping him at Euskaltel to the end of the current season, but with an option to prolong it for another couple of seasons - I might well be wrong, but I seem to recall that was the case. There's been no official word from the team saying that's option has been exercised, but judging by the team heads' comments in the press, he's set to ride in orange next year as well despite rumours linking him back home over the border.

Samu will also stay on, no doubt about that, but as far as I know no new deal has been signed as of yet. It's surely only a matter of time though, but per today only nine riders seem to have contracts in place.

What'll be interesting to see, though, is of course who the team decide to recruit. Of non-Basques, riders like Carlos Barredo, Daniel Navarro and Benjamin Novál, to name but a few, have been linked to the team, while home riders David López, Haimar Zubeldia, Markel Irizar and even good old Iker Camaño have been rumoured to be alternatives for Galdeano et al.

While signing non-Basques might be needed at the end of the season to keep the team among the 15 best teams in the WorldTour based on points, it also comes with a considerable risk. When Madariaga, Galdeano and co. meet up with the UCI's Licence Commission every year to line out why exactly they should receive a licence, playing the "unique team"-card seems to do the trick every year with the UCI. If the team opts away from the one thing that separates them from all the other teams in the peloton, i.e. a roster exclusively made up of locals, Euskaltel will be treated just like every other team. That means being judged on sporting merit and a sound economy alone. That puts a team like Euskaltel, below average results-wise and not exactly Sky in financial terms, at a considerable disadvantage. As it stands now, Euskaltel is something completely different from the likes of Rabobank and Europcar. And I thoroughly believe that's the team's best card.

Signing non-Basques like Navarro and Barredo might make the team a little bit less mediocre, but then again they're no Luis León Sánchez or Alberto Contador. Make no mistake, Navarro and Barredo are top-quality riders most teams would be glad to have in their ranks, but it's not like they would give Euskaltel a Tour victory and put them up there with the very best teams in the business. They might inch Euskaltel a wee bit closer to the SKYs and the BMCs of this world, but then Euskaltel would be just like every other team out there: average, almost exclusively reliant on results and everything but unique. That's not the way to go.