Landa and Bilbao looking to emulate Sicard

Euskaltel will send two of their brightest talents to a weekend double-header filled with climbing action.

Romain Sicard made a name for himself as a future Grand Tour contender back in 2009 by taking out, first, the Tour de l'Avenir and, then, the World Championships. Prior to that, though, he'd made waves in Spanish cycling by cantering to the win at the Subida al Naranco, a mountainous one-day event boasting such names as Koldo Gil, Ibán Mayo, Leonardo Piepoli, Roberto Heras and Abraham Olano on its roll of honour.

The 47th running of the race takes place this Sunday, this year, like in the last two seasons, as part of the amputated Vuelta a Asturias.

On Saturday the peloton will tackle a 156km recorrido taking in two cat.1-ranked ascents, while Sunday's race will as per tradition finish atop the Naranco, affectionately knows as Cima José Manuel Fuente - "El Tarangu".

Representing Igor González de Galdeano's team will be:
Garikoitz Bravo, Jure Kocjan (who'll make his first appearance since withdrawing from Paris-Nice with illness in early March), Peio Bilbao, Adrián Sáez, Mikel Landa, Tarik Chaoufi, Jon Aberasturi and Ricardo García.

Photo: Iñaki Azanza