Galdeano - I'm not complaining

In four days, Euskaltel will once again have gone through the first two months of the year without a win to their name. While that might bother victory-craving supporters, it's not bothering the leader of the team.

Igor González de Galdeano expressed his contentment at his 'new' team's start to 2013 when speaking to El Diario Vasco on Monday.

"All the changes at the team delayed our season preparations a bit", he said, "That put us back, but it didn't stop us doing our best Tour Down Under ever. There are no complaints from me about the start to the season we're having.

"We didn't do badly at the Tour of the Med or in the Vuelta a Andalucía. In the latter race, Ion (Izagirre) had one bad day that impeded him from challenging the very best on GC. What's more, he was close to winning a stage".

Two of the most prominent riders so far this term have, unsurprisingly, been the ever-reliable pair of brothers that are Gorka and Ion Izagirre. The duo will both line up on Sunday for Paris-Nice, and Galdeano is expecting them to come up with the goods.

"Gorka, Ion and Mikel Nieve are all at a good level of form", he assured. "Astarloza is as well. We'll field a very competitive team. It's not strong enough to win the race, but for sure to fight it out on many of the stages. As always, the list of participants will be very strong in France, but we hope to get something out of the race".

Joining the quartet at the season's second WorldTour race will be Romain Sicard, Jure Kocjan, Gorka Verdugo and Rubén Pérez. At the same time, Samuel Sánchez will lead a contingent at the 'Race of the two seas'.

"We'll also head to Tirreno-Adriatico with a strong group. Samuel Sánchez will be there, Egoi Martínez, Jorge Azanza, Ioannis Tamouridis, Robert Vrecer... The riders on show in Italy will be in a less advanced state of form, though. Between all the riders racing in Paris-Nice and Tirreno we'll pick 12 for a Vuelta al País Vasco long-team".

Photo: Euskaltel Euskadi