Lucky seven in Madrid?

While the vast majority of Euskaltel fans will have their eyes firmly set on Italy this weekend, a septet of orange-clad riders will quietly aim to deliver the team its first ever triumph in the Vuelta a la Comunidad de Madrid.

The race has been reduced to a one-day test this year, meaning it'll all be decided on Saturday.

Awaiting the peloton is a hilly 167km ride that finishes atop the cat.1-ranked Alto de Morcuera, the recorrido taking in another six categorized climbs before the final one.

Representing Euskaltel will be Ricardo García (who was originally set for the Giro d'Italia), Adrián Sáez (pictured above), Mikel Landa, Garikoitz Bravo, Peio Bilbao, Jon Aberasturi and Tarik Chaoufi.

Last year's running of the race, the 26th edition, saw Russian Sergey Firsanov of RusVelo taking a surprising win. Mikel Landa finished up seventh.

Photo: Kevin Remmerie