Benito bests Alain González in Amorebieta

Caja Rural's Miguel Ángel Benito ousted Naturgas Energía rider Alain González and Federico Moreira of Reyno de Navarra to win Saturday's Torneo Lehendakari race in Amorebieta, Biscay.

The prolific 19-year-old also won the race last year, and now moves top of the Torneo Lehendakari standings courtesy of Loïc Chetout's no-show.

According to the Basque Cycling Federation, Benito got a decisive gap on his three breakaway companions González, Moreira and Quintana in the last roundabout and held them off by a handful of seconds.

González, who showed his potential by taking the team's first win of the year in 2012 in Beasain, once again showed his potent burst of speed to secure the red and whites yet another podium of what's been a most fruitful season thus far.

Results:

• 1, Miguel Ángel Benito (Caja Rural), 2:24:22
• 2, Alain González (Naturgas Energía), 0:05
• 3, Federico Agustín Moreira (Reyno de Navarra), s.t.
• 4, Dayer Quintana (Lizarte), s.t.
• 5, Mario González (Cafés Baqué), 0:10
• 6, Imanol Estévez (Naturgas Energía), 0:45
• 7, Carlos Anton Jiménez (Caja Rural), s.t.
• 8, Gotzon Udondo (Seguros Bilbao), s.t.
• 9, Jorge Arcas (Lizarte), s.t.
• 10, Adrián González (Opel Ibaigane), s.t.

Photo: Caja Rural

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."

Estévez for Lehendakari, Chetout for Copa España

Naturgas Energía will spread their captains around this weekend: the team will be spearheaded by Imanol Estévez in the Torneo Lehendakari race in Amorebieta on Saturday, while Loïc Chetout will lead the team in the Copa de España-ranked in Torre Don Gimeno on Sunday.

Chetout leads both race series after an impressive start to the year, but will no be on hand to defend his one-point lead over Caja Rural's Jaime Roson on Saturday.

Team for Amorebieta (race six of 24, Torneo Lehendakari):
Imanol Estévez, Oier Sánchez, Alain González, Alain Santamaría, Eder Sáez de Ocariz, Alberto Barrón and Aitor Morales.

Team for Clásica de Torredonjimeno, in Andalucía (race five of eight, Copa de España):
Loïc Chetout, Pablo Comins, Álvaro Trueba, Karl Baudron, Víctor Etxeberría, Francisco Javier Martín and Noel Gil.

Photo: Pascal Baudron

Urtasun breaks Euskaltel duck

Pablo Urtasun finally got Euskaltel's season up and running on Friday by winning the Vuelta a Castilla y León opener in Valladolid.

The 33-year-old, second last weekend in the Klasika Primavera, bested Caja Rural's Francesco Lasca and Movistar's Enrique Sanz at the end of the 194,8km stage one.

A seven-man break, including young Basque Igor Merino of Equipo Euskadi, had animated the day's racing by jumping clear inside the first 10 clicks and staying away until only six were left to ride. Euskaltel, armed with speedy finishers Urtasun, Jon Aberasturi and Juan José Lobato, drove the pace at the head of the pack with Movistar and Caja Rural in the closing stages, and were duly rewarded when Urtasun proved the strongest to claim his seventh professional victory.

JJ Lobato expertly led out Urtasun on the slight rise to the line, giving the latter plenty of time to savour his win.

Watch how it unfolded below:



Results (full results here):

• 1, Pablo Urtasun, 4:31:28
• 5, Carlos Barbero (Euskadi), s.t.
• 6, Juan José Lobato, s.t.
• 27, Gorka Verdugo, s.t.
• 33, Jorge Azanza, s.t.
• 44, Mikel Nieve, s.t.
• 48, Aritz Bagües (Euskadi), s.t.
• 56, Mikel Iturria (Euskadi), 0:28
• 69, Haritz Orbe (Euskadi), 1:46
• 70, Robert Vrecer, s.t.
• 73, Ricardo Mestre, 2:49
• 80, Unai Iparraguirre (Euskadi), 4:07
• 103, Igor Merino (Euskadi), 6:06
• 119, Mikel Bizkarra (Euskadi), 13:27
• 120, Jon Larrinaga (Euskadi), s.t.
• 123, Jon Aberasturi, s.t.

Photo: Euskaltel Euskadi

Euskadi to look for Castilla y León breaks

With the stated aim of figuring in the breaks on a daily basis, Equipo Euskadi will field an attacking octet of riders at the Vuelta al País Vasco.

The stage-race commences today and runs through Friday, and the following red, green and white riders will be on show:

Igor Merino, Haritz Orbe, Mikel Bizkarra, Aritz Bagües, Jon Larrinaga, Unai Iparrraguirre, Carlos Barbero and Mikel Iturria.

"It's a high-level race, and we'll look to continue in the same vein as we've done recently", team DS Aritz Arberas told the team's website. "We've always managed to get into the breaks when we've been up against WorldTour teams, and we'll look to keep that up here".

Photo: Iñaki Azanza

Euskaltel opt for speed at Castilla y León

Euskaltel will send three of their fastest riders to the Vuelta a Castilla y León this weekend in the hope of grabbing that elusive first win of 2013.

Research by the guys over at BiciCiclismo shows the team has only gone this long without a win five times before in their long history, and the pressure is slowly starting to build after a lacklustre Vuelta al País Vasco.

They'll look to break their duck at the upcoming Vuelta a Castilla y León, running from Friday through Sunday.

Speedsters Juan José Lobato, Pablo Urtasun and Jon Aberasturi will all line up, and will be accompanied by a handy group of veterans.

Full team:

• Jorge Azanza
• Jon Aberasturi
• Gorka Verdugo
• Juan José Lobato
• Mikel Nieve
• Robert Vrecer
• Ricardo Mestre
• Pablo Urtasun

Photo: Iñaki Azanza

Sáez continues solid run

While Euskaltel's Classics department has undoubtedly failed to fire so far this year, Adrián Sáez has consistently come up with decent performances. On Tuesday he made an attack in the finale of the Paris-Camembert, and today he placed 13th at the GP Denain.

Arnaud Démare of FDJ proved the fastest over the 199 kilometres, besting Europcar upshot Bryan Coquard and team-mate Nacer Bouhanni. A 23-rider strong group made it to the line together, and Sáez was the team's only representative in that group.

Results:

• (1, Arnaud Démare (FDJ), 4:55:35)
• 13, Adrián Sáez, s.t.
• 88, Peio Bilbao, 1:39
• 108, Juan José Oroz, 3:19
• 109, Ricardo García, s.t.
• 121, Steffen Radochla, 4:10

Photo: Euskaltel Euskadi

Kocjan - I'll be back in a month

Jure Kocjan has had to endure a tough start to his Euskaltel career. The Slovenian hasn't raced since abandoning Paris-Nice in early March, and now we've finally been able to figure out why.

"I've been struggling with a virus infection", he revealed to Basque Cycling News. "The recuperation has taken longer than I expected it would. I rested for ten days and then resumed training. But after three days I felt very bad again. A 40km ride felt like 240 kilometres, so I rested for another ten days. But this week I've been able to train normally again.

"I've done numerous tests, and I'll have the results back from those in a few days. Hopefully we'll figure out what the problem was. I hope to be back racing in a month".

Beside being sat on the sidelines by illness, Kocjan says the start to his adventure in the Basque Country has been good as "the team feels like a family and my team-mates are all very friendly. To begin with, at the first races, I was actually surprised at how nice they were!".

Since then, though, it's safe to assume that not everyone has been so happy at the Euskaltel headquarters recently due to Alexander Serebryakov's doping positive.

"I was in shock when I read the news a few days ago", he said. "I hope he'll prove his innocence".

Photo: Euskaltel Euskadi

Euskaltel's chosen nine for the 'Corsa Rosa'

With less than four weeks to go until the kick-off of the year's first Grand Tour, Euskaltel have released their line-up for the Giro d'Italia.

Samuel Sánchez has long since made the 'Corsa Rosa' his main aim of 2013 and will be on the start line when stage one gets underway on May 4. Joining him in Italy will be a blend of decidedly experienced veterans and Grand Tour novices.

The full team is as follows:

• Jorge Azanza
• Ricardo García
• Egoi Martínez
• Miguel Mínguez
• Samuel Sánchez
• Ioannis Tamouridis
• Pablo Urtasun
• Gorka Verdugo
• Robert Vrecer

It will mark only Sánchez's second appearance at the race after his 17th overall in his debut back in 2005, while the trio of Ricardo García, Ioannis Tamouridis and Robert Vrecer will all get to make their three-week bows.

Egoi Martínez and Pablo Urtasun will both take the start of the Giro for the first time, while Jorge Azanza and Gorka Verdugo have both been present once before. That makes young Miguel Mínguez, a two-time veteran of the race, the rider with the most knowledge of the 'Pink race'. Mínguez enjoyed his international breakthrough at the 2011 edition of the race, while he got the dubious honour of finishing dead last, and so won the maglia nera, in 2012.

Photo: Euskaltel Euskadi

No cheese for Oroz and co.

Juan José Oroz showed he's back in shape after his Paris-Roubaix tumble by putting in a battling performance in Tuesday's Paris-Camembert.

The lanky veteran was on course for a strong result in the 'Hell of the North' when an inopportune and unlucky crash took him out of the race. In today's French cup race, he went looking for revenge.

After seeing an attack from fellow orange-clad rider Adrián Sáez reeled in, the 32-year-old jumped with approximately 10 clicks to go to avoid a bunch sprint. The French teams, always eager for success on home grounds, weren't about to let the chance of a win slip away, though, and eventually caught him.

Pierrick Fédrigo of FDJ emerged victorious at the end, while Oroz hung on for a solid 13th.

Results:

• (1, Pierrick Fédrigo (FDJ), 4:53:35)
• 13, Juan José Oroz, 0:21
• 38, Adrián Sáez, 2:51
• 52, Peio Bilbao, 8:35

Photo: Euskaltel Euskadi

Video: Klasika Primavera

Watch a 25-minute recap of Pablo Urtasun's near-miss at in Amorebietea in the video below:

de Galdeano - I'm very disappointed in him

As if the disappointment of a Vuelta al País Vasco without a win or a general classification contender wasn't enough, Igor González de Galdeano and Euskaltel were dealt a potentially devastating blow when news filtered through of Alexander Serebryakov's positive doping test on Saturday.

The Russian might have exonerated the Basque team of any guilt, but that's mere consolation for the man responsible for Euskaltel Euskadi.

Speaking to Euskal Telebista, de Galdeano spoke of his anger.

"The truth is I'm very disappointed", BiciCiclismo writes. "There can't be riders like that in this sport and in this team. This team is aiming to be transparent, clear and lead the way in the fight against doping.

Watch the former maillot jaune talk to Eitb below:

Airan Fernández conquers Valenciaga

Airan Fernández romped to a commanding win at the Memorial Valenciaga on Sunday to put the professional teams on alert.

The race in Eibar, Gipuzkoa, has for years been one of the most prestigious events on the calendar with a sizeable amount of the victors going on to forge careers at the top level of the sport.

Only time will tell if Fernández becomes the next to make it as a pro, but he certainly didn't do his chances any harm by soloing to the line to better his second place of 2012.

The day's racing had been animated by, first, Lokomotiv's precocious young Russian Vadim Zhuralev, before the younger brother of recent Vuelta al País Vasco winner Nairo Quintana, Dayer, went on the attack on one of the race's decisive climbs, Ixua.

The Lizarte rider didn't have the legs to open up a threatening gap, though, prompting team-mate Antonio Pedrero to go on the offensive on the last climb, the San Miguel, some 15 clicks from the line. Eventual winner Fernández and Telco'm's José Manuel Gutiérrez reacted and caught him on the descent, before the former took off three kilometres from the line and held off fellow Catalan Pedrero by nine seconds.

New overall leader is Naturgas Energía's stand-out Frenchman Loïc Chetout, who now holds the lead in the overall Copa de España rankings with 318 points - Fernández is 12 points back. Naturally, Chetout also heads up the sub-23 rankings.

Results (full results here):

• 1, Airán Fernández (Coluer), 4:13:03
• 2, Antonio Pedrero (Lizarte), 0:09
• 3, José Manuel Gutiérrez (Telco'm), 0:22
• 4, Júlen Mitxelena (Gipuzkoa-Eki Sport), 0:39
• 5, Ibai Salas (Caja Rural Seguros), s.t.
• 6, Adrián Alvaredo (Extremadura), s.t.
• 7, Loïc Chetout (Naturgas Energía), s.t.
• 8, Dayer Quintana (Lizarte), s.t.
• 9, Iván Rodríguez (Gomur - Cantabria Deporte), s.t.
• 10, Antton Ibarguren (Telco'm Conor Unsain), s.t.
• 18, Álvaro Treuba (Naturgas Energía), s.t.
• 30, Víctor Etxeberría (Naturgas Energía), s.t.
• 51, Alain González (Naturgas Energía), 6:28
• 77, Karl Baudron (Naturgas Energía), 9:25

Photo: Bikezona

Serebryakov caught for using EPO

According to a statement from the UCI today, Euskaltel Euskadi rider Alexander Serebryakov tested positive for the banned substance EPO when he returned an adverse analytical finding in an out-of-competition test taken on March 18.

The statement in full:

The UCI advised Russian rider Alexander Serebryakov that he is provisionally suspended. The decision to provisionally suspend this rider was made in response to a report from the WADA accredited laboratory in Köln indicating an Adverse Analytical Finding of EPO in a urine sample collected from him in an out of competition test on 18th March 2013.

The provisional suspension of Mr. Alexander Serebryakov remains in force until a hearing panel convened by the Russian Cycling Federation determines whether he has committed an anti-doping rule violation under Article 21 of the UCI Anti-Doping Rules.

Mr. Alexander Serebryakov has the right to request and attend the analysis of his B sample. 
Under the World Anti-Doping Code and the UCI Anti-Doping Rules, the UCI is unable to provide any additional information at this time.

UCI Press Service