Orbea becomes Equipo Euskadi and sign duo

The Fundación Euskadi's Continental team has gotten a complete make-over in time for the 2013 season: Miguel Madariaga today revealed a team that will be called Equipo Euskadi, that will don the iconic jersey of the foundation's formative years, and the two new riders that have been signed.

Gone are Orbea as title sponsor and their traditional blue theme, in comes Euskadi to replace them in the lack of a new title sponsor. Orbea will stay on as bike supplier, but the riders will no more wear their logo on their jerseys. Instead, they'll wear the white, red and green colours of the Basque Country, in a jersey reminiscent of the nascent Euskadi-Petronor team of 1994.

It was reported late last week that Madariaga was in talks with a company from Gipuzkoa in order to sign a pair of riders from the region, and it now appears those talks panned out well. The foundation's website can reveal that Mikel Iturria and Unai Iparragirre have inked deals with the team.

20-year-old Mikel Iturria is of course a familiar rider to the followers of the Basque amateur scene, having competed for the foundation's sub-23 outfit, Naturgas Energía, in 2012 after joining from Belca-Oriako in the winter of 2011. The former winner of the Vuelta a Pamplona for juniors grabbed a host of top ten finishes last season, and made his mark at the national championships.

24-year-old Unai Iparragirre will also be a familiar name to many, especially for those who keep a close eye on proceedings on the track. The native of Azpeitia has forged an impressive career on the tracks already despite his young age, and was only a couple of weeks ago crowned winner of the regional championships on the Antonio Elorza-track in Donostia. He's also represented Spain at World Cups on numerous occasions, and his strong finishing-kick has also come in handy on the road. Representing Bidelan-Kirolgi for the last four years, Iparragirre has taken loads of top finishes in the Lehendakari and Euskaldun race series over the years, his win in Zumaia last February among them.

These two new riders will team up with the following octet:

• Mikel Aristi
• Aritz Bagües
• Carlos Barbero
• Mikel Bizkarra
• Jon Larrinaga
• Igor Merino
• Haritz Orbe
• Illart Zuazubiskar

Photo: BiciCiclismo