David Etxebarria returns to Baqué

Remember this guy? As most of you probably can tell, the picture shows the legendary Once, Euskaltel and Liberty Seguros rider David Etxebarria. The Abadiño-born 39-year-old, a two-time Tour stage winner, was once one of Spain's finest and most popular riders, but disappeared into oblivion after retiring in the wake of the damaging Operación Puerto.

Close followers of the Basque amateur scene will know he's been working as a sports director for Koplad-Uni2 the last couple of years, but he's now decided to go back to his roots and take on a similar job at the famed Cafés Baqué outfit, Deia writes.

Baqué, which will embark on its 35th season in the sport in 2013 with a budget double the size of this year, was where Etxebarria learned the ropes of the sport before joining Once in 1994. He was one of the team's finest exports, alongside the likes of Joseba Beloki, Ibán Mayo, Iñigo Landaluze, Marino Lejarreta, Mikel Zarrabeitia, Igor Astarloa, Pedro Horrillo, David López and Unai Etxebarria - to name but a few.

At Baqué he'll replace a certain Rubén Gorospe, himself not an unknown to Euskaltel followers of course after his one-year stint with the team in its maiden season, who'll leave for "professional reasons", according to a press communiqué.

Photo: www123people.es