Urtasun - It was an emotional victory

Pablo Urtasun got a much-needed win for Igor González de Galdeano and co. by taking the team's first victory of 2013 in Friday's Vuelta a Castilla y León.

It's been a testing year so far for the 'orange armada': the foreign signings have failed to deliver, the team was, up until yesterday, the only WorldTour team without a win this year, Mikel Nieve, Igor Antón, the Izagirre brothers et al. have failed to find form, and the team put on a, frankly, miserable showing at the Vuelta al País Vasco last week. And then there was the tiny matter of Alexander Serebryakov testing positive for doping.

In an interview with el Diario Vasco a few days back, Galdeano admitted it has been his "toughest period at this team" ever. Surely, then, getting off the mark on Friday must have been a big relief for everyone associated with the team.

Man-of-the-moment Urtasun admitted as much post-race, saying it was an emotional moment crossing the finishing line in Valladolid arms aloft.

"We're very pleased", he told the team's official website. "It was a vert emotional win, a very nice one, and one we've been waiting for.

"We met up with González de Galdeano yesterday, and he transmitted calmness. He told us the wins would come if we continued to work well, and that relaxed us. And one day later we were able to open our account! We knew we'd been working well, but the pressure builds up if the results aren't there. All in all it's an important triumph - it boosts our confidence and gives us tranquility."