Here's Samu's new mystery bike

Basque Cycling News were surprised to see Euskaltel team leader Samuel Sánchez aboard a blue and white Orbea Orca (instead of the team issue black and orange one) earlier this week at Tirreno-Adriatico, but a reason for the seemingly odd choice of equipment has now been given by the bike brand itself.

According to Orbea, the bike, titled "Million Name Orbea", is a tribute to the 2008 Olympic champion. When it became clear 'Samu''s participation in the 2012 Games in London was in jeopardy due to the many falls that ruined the latter half of his 2012 season, the Basque bike brand encouraged people to send in their messages of support for Sánchez.

More than 10 000 people sent in their best wishes and, though he was forced to watch the Olympics from his couch, Orbea decided to decorate an Orca with all the names of the best-wishers on it. If you look closely, you can see all kinds of different names in the paint job. If you have a lot of time on your hands this weekend, go ahead and see if you can spot all 10 000 of them.

Take a look at this small photo album on Orbea's Facebook page to get a glimpse of the bike.

Photo: Orbea