Urtasun - This boosts my morale

If you look closely, you can see Mikel Astarloza at the back, arms aloft, celebrating what he thinks is Euskaltel's maiden triumph of an increasingly lacklustre 2013 season.

Of course, Movistar's Rui Costa pipped Pablo Urtasun to the line in the Klasika Primavera on Sunday, meaning Euskaltel's search for win number one is still on in mid-April. Add in Alexander Serebryakov's doping positive, and it's been a rough start to the year for Igor González de Galdeano's charges.

Urtasun isn't too downbeat, though. Talking to the media post-race in Amorebieta, the 33-year-old said a close second is better than not being close at all.

"This time of year is when we need to start getting results, and this second place boosts my moral ahead of the Vuelta a Castilla y León", he said of the three-stage race commencing this Friday. "That being said, opportunities like these need to be grasped, and we missed out by a tiny margin today.

"I had to start my sprint from pretty far out as we didn't know if we were going to catch Contador and Intxausti or not. Rui Costa got on my wheel, and I didn't manage to shake him off when I started sprinting. He did well to wait until the last moment".

Urtasun is set to be one of the team's go-to men in Castilla y León alongside the likes of Mikel Nieve and Juan José Lobato, and Urtasun seems to be relishing getting the race underway.

"The team did a great job on Sunday - they role really well. As for me, I noticed I had the legs to fight for the triumph and, in that regard, I'm optimistic looking ahead".