Txurruka does the double

Some people claim good things always come in twos. For Amets Txurruka, that most certainly seems to be the case.

The ever popular climber from Etxebarria backed up his maiden professional win on Saturday by claiming the overall of the Vuelta a Asturias courtesy of his seventh-place finish in today's second and final stage of the Vuelta a Asturias, also known as the Subida al Naranco.

That makes it two wins in two days for the Caja Rural rider, and just like that his palmarès isn't as sad a sight as it used to be.

The stage win was reserved for Movistar's Javier Moreno, the 2011 victor of this race, who bested Mikel Landa and Txurruka's team-mate André Cardoso at the summit of the mythical Naranco climb. Landa's third place yesterday and second today landed him second overall, with the last place on the podium going to today's winner.

It could so nearly have been more for Landa's team, though. Adrián Sáez, in some of his finest form these days, attacked at the base of the final climb and was only reeled in under the flamme rouge, while Garikoitz Bravo and Landa himself had been in dangerous-looking breaks earlier on.

Another Euskaltel youngster seemingly on the mend is Peio Bilbao. The 23-year-old has been having a hard time of it lately, finding both results and form hard to come by. He seems to be on the right path now, though, with two top 10s this weekend netting him seventh overall - easily his best result since October 2011.

Results (Equipo Euskadi in cursive):

• (1, Javier Moreno (Movistar), 4:04:55)
• 2, Mikel Landa, s.t.
• 8, Peio Bilbao, s.t.
• 12, Adrián Sáez, 0:12
• 16, Haritz Orbe, 0:46
• 20, Aritz Bagües, 1:20
• 21, Igor Merino, 1:28
• 29, Mikel Iturria, 4:30
• 30, Mikel Bizkarra, s.t.
• 40, Jon Larrinaga, 7:26
• 54, Ricardo García, 15:45
• 55, Jon Aberasturi, s.t.
• 59, Garikoitz Bravo, s.t.
• 66, Jure Kocjan, 21:30
• 69, Mikel Aristi, 24:26
• DNF: Unai Iparraguirre

Final general classification:

• (1, Amets Txurruka (Caja Rural), 8:25:48)
• 2, Mikel Landa, 0:03
• 7, Peio Bilbao, 0:14
• 11, Haritz Orbe, 1:13
• 14, Igor Merino, 2:33
• 17, Adrián Sáez, 5:26
• 25, Aritz Bagües, 9:19
• 30, Mikel Bizkarra, 12:29
• 36, Garikoitz Bravo, 16:50
• 43, Mikel Iturria, 20:38
• 47, Ricardo García, 25:13
• 54, Jon Aberasturi, 35:18
• 58, Jon Larrinaga, 38:12
• 63, Mikel Aristi, 43:59
• 68, Jure Kocjan, 52:38

Photo: Team Caja Rural