2010's Euskaltel Euskadi

A bit of bad news via this article published at Daily Peloton, Mikel Astarloza is no longer with the Euskaltel Euskadi team. They couldn't keep him after someone in Madrid "cooked his positive". Anyway, the team has a new roster and with the addition of Romain Sicard and Beñat Intxausti seems like hopes are riding high, here you have it:

2010: The Year of Truth for Euskaltel-Euskadi

Christopher Fauske

The Orange squad retools and looks to reassure the major sponsors

Last time Basque regional telecoms company Euskaltel thought about pulling its sponsorship of the Basque-country cycling squad that bears its name, the regional government and at least one provincial one reminded the company about its obligations to Basque identity and aspirations.

One year later, the telecoms firm once again looked to the governments, this time for support not guidance, and the word to the foundation that runs the team was clear: one more problem with allegations of doping and the money, from the tax payers and from Euskaltel, is gone.

Sponsorship contracts have been rewritten to give the company and the governments an out in the event of any team riders repeating the positives of Iñigo Landaluze and Mikel Astarloza this past summer.

Landaluze admitted doping, stressed he did it without the knowledge of the team, and retired. Astarloza maintains his innocence, has promised to contest the findings, and, at least through the end of the European season, he had the public support of the team. Now, though, 2010 calls and Euskaltel-Euskadi has severed ties with Astarloza and has removed the image of him celebrating his 2009 stage 16 Tour de France win from its web site banner.

In his place is the team’s first UCI rainbow jersey holder, the U23 road champion and new signing, Romain Sicard, a transfer from the foundation’s Orbea continental squad.

Still prominent on the banner is Olympic champion Samuel Sanchez who opted to stay with the squad in 2009 rather than chasing more lucrative offers from other pro tour teams.

So there is real potential in the 2010 squad, which was announced in its entirety last Thursday. However, the state of the Basque economy, the change in government from a nationalist to a more Madrid-friendly Socialist one, and the doping results from 2009 combine with the foundation’s UCI pro tour license expiring in 2010 to make this coming season the most critical in the squad’s history since 1995 when they rode without a major sponsor, the last pro team to manage this feat.

Sicard will be joined in 2010 by three other Orbea colleagues, Jonathan Castroviejo, Miguel Minguez and Daniel Sesma. Two other riders are transferring home to the Basque region’s team, Gorka Izagirre, from Contentpolis AMPO Murcia, and Beñat Intxausti, from Fuji-Servetto (formerly Saunier Duval, but no one wants to dwell on that).

Intxausti told the media at his introduction that “I really wanted to join the home team. I've been very happy at Fuji…but now I'm very excited.”

Igor González de Galdeano, 2009’s directeur sportif and next year’s team manager (Miguel Madariaga will be president), expressed confidence that "with Beñat Intxausti we have put the icing on the cake. He has spent three years as a professional and each season he’s been getting better."

Intxausti himself expressed the hope that he could ride the Tour de France in support of Igor Antón, said he would welcome the chance to try his hand at the Vuelta Ciclista al País Vasco, and may be unique in the Basque squad in expressing an interest in riding the Spring classics, mentioning Liege-Bastogne-Liege as a race he particularly enjoyed as a young fan.

But hopes aside, the hard reality is that 2010 will be a tough year for Euskaltel-Euskadi with close scrutiny coming from all quarters. One false step off the bikes could be fatal for the team.

Euskaltel-Euskadi in 2010:

Returning riders: Samuel Sánchez, Igor Antón, Javier Aramendia, Jorge Azanza, Sergio de Lis, Koldo Fernández de Larrea, Aitor Galdos, Aitor Hernández, Iñaki Isasi, Egoi Martínez, Mikel Nieve, Juanjo Oroz, Alan Pérez, Rubén Pérez, Amets Txurruka, Pablo Urtasun, Ivan Velasco, and Gorka Verdugo.

New riders: Romain Sicard (Orbea), Jonathan Castroviejo (Orbea), Miguel Minguez (Orbea), Daniel Sesma (Orbea), Beñat Intxausti (Fotoon-Servetto), Gorka Izagirre (Contentpolis-AMPO-Mucia).

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Romain Sicard's Win

Back in 2006 we had the chance to spend a few days during the summer in the northern Basque town of Hazparne and during a road trip to Mauleon we had the chance to see a number of cyclists going up and down the steep hills of Iparralde. Well, today at Velo News they have this note about Romain Sicard, a Basque rider who just won a competition called Avenir:

Sicard wins Avenir, Van Garderen second

American Tejay van Garderen wrapped up an excellent Tour de l’Avenir with second place overall in the nine-stage U23 race across northern France.

Despite a challenging circuit in Besançon in Sunday’s final stage, there was no shaking race winner Romain Sicard (France A). Dutch rider Van Winden won the stage.

Van Garderen’s second overall was the best U.S. result at the prestigious Avenir race since Kevin Livingston was second to Frenchman Laurent Roux in 1997.

“Thanks USA team and staff,” Van Garderen wrote on Twitter. “Second overall at Tour de l’Avenir. No time to relax. Mendrisio, here we come!”

Van Garderen will race with Columbia-HTC next season and will line up later this month for a shot at the U23 world title in Switzerland.

Tenth overall last year, Peter Stetina also rode well throughout the week to cap an excellent performance by the American squad.

Sicard won Saturday’s time trial, just three seconds ahead of Van Garderen, to secure the overall title.

He becomes the first French rider to win the Avenir since Sylvain Calzati in 2004.

“It’s a great satisfaction to win the Tour de l’Avenir, the most important victory of my amateur career,” Sicard said. “It was difficult every day because we were forced to carry the weight of the race on our shoulders.”

Sicard will join many of the top amateurs heading to the pro ranks next year and he has already signed a deal to join Euskaltel-Euskadi for 2010.

Sicard, who hails from the Basque region of France, is just the second French rider to race with the Basque-backed team.

Hopefully Romain will contribute to Euskaltel Euskadi's stands during the 2010's Tour de France.

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Astarloza's Saga

Seems like the Spaniards are upset about the achievements by the Euskaltel Euskadi team in general and by Mikel Astarloza in particular during the recent edition of the Tour de France. And when a Spaniard is mad at a Basque usually what happens is that the Spaniards uses the Spanish institutions as repressive tools. Now the Spanish cycling big bosses are accusing Mikel Astarloza o using illegal substances, but Mikel is not bowing to them so he called a press conference to talk about the issue, this is the coverage by Daily Peloton:

Astarloza declares innocence

"I have not taken anything illegal." Something about this case makes no sense.

"I have not taken anything illegal," Mikel Astarloza stated bluntly on Aug 4 at a press conference in Donostia-San Sebastian.

Astarloza read a statement, with family and friends behind him. Both Amets Txurruka (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and former teammate and current Astana rider Haimar Zubeldia were part of the group showing their support for Astarloza.

Astarloza took no questions after his statement in the course of which he observed that now there is a "biological passport, it is crazy to dope. It would be sporting suicide." He stressed that he has always been "scrupulous" in following rules and has always kept the UCI informed of his whereabouts. He stated that had he intended to dope he would have "provided a false address" or otherwise have avoided UCI-sanctioned testers.

The Euskaltel-Euskadi rider admitted that "I know it is my word against the test lab, but I am innocent." Astarloza added that whatever the result of the investigation he has "lost faith in the system."

At one stage during the press conference, Astarloza held up paperwork reportedly from the Madrid lab that had conducted the test and said "there is evidence to doubt the credibility of the analysis," but he did not elaborate, preferring, he said, to explain what he meant at the "right time."

"I'm completely sure of my innocence. Completely," Astarloza said, promising that "whether the result of the second test is negative, I will not stop until I find out where the result came from. And I will. Whatever if takes, I'll find out."

Astarloza and the team, which has announced that it is standing behind the rider, await results of the B sample, which the rider immediately requested be tested after learning by e-mail from the UCI last Friday of a "non normal" test for EPO in an A sample taken out of competition on June 26.

Analysis:

Now that Mikel Astarloza has spoken, it is legitimate to ask the question "why should we believe this rider when so many other protestations of innocence have turned out to be just so much bluster?"

And this is a good question.

First, it is worth noting that the timing of the Astarloza case couldn't look worse for him. Less than a month before the June 26 out-of-competition test that is at the heart of the case against Astarloza, Euskaltel-Euskadi teammate Iñigo Landaluze tested positive for the third-generation EPO CERA during this year's Dauphiné Libéré.

But here, already, there are notable differences in what happened next. Landaluze issued a statement admitting the results, did not request the B sample be tested, made an explicit statement that no one on the team knew anything about his doping and, essentially, retired from racing. Euskaltel-Euskadi made no comments in support of the rider.

Not so when Astarloza received news of the UCI sanctions last Friday. The team almost immediately posted a statement on its web site expressing its strong support for the Tour de France stage winner. More importantly, the team announced that its support for Astarloza was based not on his word but, rather, on the fact that "after failing to find any abnormality in the internal controls...we will stand by the cyclist and support his innocence until proven otherwise." In other words, other blood and urine tests contemporaneous with the June 26 test show no evidence of EPO use. In this day and age, the team's statement is a remarkably frank expression of support. It also indicates that the foundation which manages the team is confident about its own internal controls.

The team has committed to standing by Astarloza at a time when it is under enormous pressure financially, and the decision to publicly support a rider accused of doping cannot have been taken lightly. Team manager, soon to be president, Miguel Madariaga is struggling to secure sufficient funding beyond 2010. Already, the 2009 squad and its program is smaller than its 2008 counterpart. [Among those affected by that retrenchment was Haimar Zubeldia, who moved to Astana and looks set to go to Radioshack but who nonetheless appeared with Astarloza at the Aug. 4 press conference.]

The foundation is up against two significant challenges. The first is the struggling economy in western Europe, which resulted in a downturn of 2.5% in the first quarter GDP of 2009 in the Basque region of Spain, home to almost all the team's sponsors. Additionally, the most recent elections in the Basque country saw a change in the governing party from a nationalist grouping to one led by the Socialist party with closer ties to Madrid. It's not clear just how much the Socialists will want to continue supporting an implicitly nationalist organization.

The contract extension recently offered Koldo Fernandez through 2010 contains a clause committing him to Euskaltel-Euskadi in 2011 if it continues to hold a UCI pro tour license. This wording suggests the foundation has still not ruled out the option it was exploring last year of racing as a continental squad. It has commitments from ASO, the Tour de France organizers, that it will be invited to participate if it changes its status, and such a change would allow it to shrink its budget, compete in all Basque country events, Le Tour, and, presumably, La Vuelta, and spare it the need to go to Australia, Poland, and other such places far beyond the market of its sponsors. That invitation to the Tour is likely to evaporate if the Astarloza ruling stands.

Sponsors will have an immediate out clause in their contracts in the event of the team getting mired in significant doping scandals, and you only have to look at Liberty Seguros-Würth and Saunier Duval-Prodir to see how quickly sponsors can run.

A cynic would argue at this stage that Euskaltel-Euskadi has no choice but to stand behind Astarloza. If the rider does turn out to have used EPO the future of the foundation and the team would be tenuous at best. The Landaluze case reminded people that in 2001 Txema del Olmo tested positive for EPO and was fired, as, three years later, was Jesus Losa, the team doctor named in the Cofidis affair. Aitor González twice tested positive in 2005 for a methyltestosterone metabolite. González claimed the positive test was the result of a contaminated dietary supplement purchased at a fitness center. He was suspended for two years and has now retired from the sport. 2005 was also the year in which Landaluze famously beat the UCI in a case where he argued that a sample that had returned a positive had been so badly handled by the lab there was no way of telling if the positive result was accurate.

Astarloza being found to have used EPO would, surely, end the team's credibility with too many sponsors. The foundation's only hope, the nay-sayers would claim, is that he somehow gets out from under this mess.

Additionally, after the Pyreneean stages of this year's Tour, Astarloza was frustrated and remarked that "honestly, I don't know what more we can do to win a stage." You might read that as saying that even after doping the results weren't coming.

But Astarloza's frustration can just as readily be read as a positive statement admitting, albeit resignedly, that, as Madariaga put it, Euskaltel-Euskad is fishing for talent in a "small creek" while other teams have the great big sea to draw upon.

Something about this particular case makes very little sense.

Astarloza is one of the thinkers of the peloton. He has already started to make his name as a journalist. He speaks eloquently of Basque aspirations and his statement on August 4 was in both Basque and Spanish. The stage win in this year's Tour de France was enormously rewarding to him as an athlete, but as a professional off the bike with his future ahead of him Astarloza has more to lose by doping than most cyclists. He rides for a team which he says he is "really proud to be part of. We have the name of our country on our jersey...people think about what we represent. Being Basque means you have a feeling. You must have it inside. It's a feeling of someone who loves the country, the language and the culture. It's a matter of pride. People recognize this."

It simply doesn't make sense that an athlete of Astarloza's intellect and experience would opt to use a simple form of EPO in 2009. The tests are established. It's not as if he is accused of using a drug that there was previously no known test for, or that it is an old, stored sample being tested. To use EPO in June 2009 in professional cycling you would have to have a sense of impunity beyond the likes of even Bernard Madoff or a reckless, self-destructive streak Astarloza has shown no sign of possessing. The fact that Haimar Zubeldia and Amets Txurruka joined Astarloza at his press conference indicates that two of those who know him best also appreciate that something about this case makes no sense.

Those internal test results of Euskaltel-Euskadi might just show that, in fact, the case doesn't make sense because it is all one gross error.

Update: After winning stage one of the Vuelta a Burgos, Koldo Fernandez was quoted on the team web site saying "a large part of this win is dedicated to Mikel Astarloza." The foundation has also updated the banner on its web page to prominently display Astarloza winning stage 16 of this year's Tour de France. It's fair to say the team is investing a huge amount of moral authority and taking enormous financial risks. Can anyone name a situation in which so much support has been thrown behind a rider by a team?

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Astarloza Takes Tour Stage

Great news!

Euskaltel Euskadi has finally taken a stage in this year's edition of the Tour de France. Here you have it via Yahoo News:

Astarloza tames mountains to win stage

Astarloza wins with late surge. Contador stays in yellow ahead of Armstrong and Wiggins. Voigt crashes heavily, forced out of tour

Julien Pretot

BOURG ST MAURICE, France, July 21 (Reuters) - Spain’s Mikel Astarloza used his climbing and downhill skills to win the mountainous 16th stage of the Tour de France on Tuesday as the leading contenders unsuccessfully tested each other out.

The Basque rider, 29, surged in the last two kilometres of the 159-km trek to Bourg St Maurice to give his Euskaltel team their first Tour stage victory since 2003.

“I’m a good climber, I can keep a good pace on the flat, but I’m not a sprinter. My only chance was to attack from far and I’m delighted it worked,” Astarloza told reporters.

Astarloza, who finished ninth overall in 2007, climbed to 11th place in the general classification.

Frenchman Sandy Casar had to be content with his sixth second place in a Tour stage, ahead of compatriot Pierrick Fedrigo, winner of the ninth stage in Tarbes.

Astarloza and the two Frenchmen were part of a break which shaped up in the two big climbs of the day, the Grand St Bernard and Petit St Bernard, crossing over to France from Switzerland and Italy.

Spaniard Alberto Contador retained his leader’s yellow jersey one minute 37 seconds ahead of team mate Lance Armstrong with Briton Bradley Wiggins third, 1:46 behind.

The leading contenders seemed content to neutralise each other until six kilometres from the top of the Col du Petit St Bernard when Andy Schleck suddenly raised the tempo.

Great job Euskaltel Euskadi!

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Euskaltel Euskadi and The Pyrenees

The Daily Peloton page has published an article about how Euskaltel Euskadi fared at the Pyrenees this year, here you have it:

Three Days in the Pyrenees

Christopher Fauske

Euskaltel-Euskadi finally has something to shout about in its back yard.

Le Tour de France comes through every year, and every year—whether the cols are early or late in the race—there is talk of how this is the stamping ground of Euskaltel-Euskadi, of how hundreds of thousands decked out in bright orange, waving the flag of the Basque country, and getting in the faces of riders will astonish the millions watching on TV, many of them clueless about the root cause of the fervor.

And each year when it is over, commentators and cynics alike are left wondering why, how, once again, the team from the Basque country didn’t really figure in the races.

For the 2009 version of the race, the team talked down expectations before the start. Amets Txurruka had reflected that “personally, I would prefer for the Pyrenees to come towards the end, because when other people are fresh it’s more difficult for me to stand out. At any rate, these are special stages for us and we will try to put on a good show for our fans.”

The first week’s racing played out to include some utterly unexpected time losses for potential GC leaders and highlighted the apparent dominance of Astana, with only Columbia-HTC and Garmin-Slipstream at first offering a challenge. But there were also some individual stage wins that no one saw coming and races-within-races developed. Euskaltel-Euskadi, though, was suffering, most noticeably during the TTT through Barcelona when team captain Mikel Astarloza fell twice. He later expressed gratitude to the team for limiting his loss to mere “minutes.” Importantly, though, the team responded to Astarloza’s falls that day as a team, and it was that attitude that would influence its approach in the Pyrenees.

Day one in the Pyrenees (stage 7) saw Egoi Martinez join a nine-man breakaway that stayed away to the end, ultimately crossing the line alone in fifth place, 45 seconds back. The day’s outing eased him up to fourth place in the King of the Mountains competition. But no one seemed to notice particularly, and stage 8 saw the squad send Astarloza on to the attack from the start. While stage 7 was the only mountain-top finish in the Pyrenees, there were enough climbing challenges on stage 8 for the breakaway to be whittled down as the day wore on, and after the Col d'Agnes Astarloza was one of only four riders to settle into the task of staying away for the final 40KM. He was rewarded with a third place finish, gaining 1’ 54” on the race leaders.

Despite the third place finish, frustration showed in his remarks that “Honestly, I don’t know what else can we do to achieve a stage victory.” Still, he reflected, “I have taken some time [out of the GC leaders]. We went for the victory and those two minutes are a little reward for so much work."

Stage 9 revealed that Euskaltel-Euskadi was not just launching riders each day in hopes of a stage win in the local mountains, a strategy that would most likely have seen Igor Antón get the nod for the final stage. Instead, Martinez attacked once more, this time supported by Txurruka. On the Col d’Aspin, the two of them joined the remains of an earlier escape and by the Col du Tourmalet they had firmly established themselves. Martinez, who had quietly picked up 11 KOM points on stage 8, snagged 8 more points on the Col d’Aspin and 16 on Col du Tourmalet before re-joining the chasing peloton, mission accomplished, and ending the day in the Polka Dot Jersey.

It was, he said later, something of importance to the team, and to him personally: “ [After my fifth place one stage 7] I said we are a team that has trouble winning. Yesterday, Mikel Astarloza was very strong but could not finish his great work.”

“Last night the team agreed we had to do everything possible to win the Polka Dot jersey and that we had a lot of work to do.” This was the team’s focus, and “Amets Txurruka has done an incredible job,” Martinez offered.

Toward the end of the day, after the racing was over and the circus was preparing to move on, Martinez made his way to the team bus, where he was met by team president Miguel Madariaga, who embraced his rider while reportedly close to tears. “This is the first time in the history of our team we have this jersey that is so beloved by Basque fans," Madariaga told the media who remained.

DS Igor González de Galdeano then announced the team’s intentions: “We will see if we can keep it!" Which might just change the strategy for the Alps, but before next weekend come stages of various complexion, all with a few mountain points on offer here and there, and, as Thor Hushovd neatly demonstrated on stage eight, those small points can matter.

And as George Hincapie in turn showed, one way to protect a points jersey for a teammate, or, at least, to limit the damage, is to go out and grab them for yourself. It may be that prior to the Alps, Martinez is protected not just by his own accomplishments but by his teammates attacking to protect the points on offer. And all the while Astarloza will wait for the Alps, which, as he reminds people, “have treated me very well, and in the third week [of the Tour] endurance runners like me should benefit.”

For now, though, the image that is captured in Basque eyes is that of one of their own, Egoi Martinez, on the podium in red and white. It’s not bright orange, but no one minds.

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Euskaltel Euskadi's Odds

This article about how Euskaltel Euskadi may fare in this year's edition of the Tour de France was published at Daily Peloton:

2009 Tour de France - Euskaltel/Euskadi Pronóstico

Christopher Fauske

The orange warriors of the Basque team bring its best balanced and strongest team to the tour. The team is aiming for a good showing and stage wins... but where and when in the 21 days of racing will they find the opportunity and magic?

It’s easy to make light of the chances of Basque team Euskaltel-Euskadi in the Tour de France. One leading US publication estimated 10,000:1 as the ratio of the number of Basque flags on the mountains to the number of stage wins by the team. Mainly, this easy joke pays tribute to the importance the team has in contemporary Basque society.

It might also turn out to be unintentionally prescient as the squad does have a legitimate shot at picking up a stage win or two. Those chances partially lie in lucky breaks going the way of the orange squad; but they also lie in the hard work that DS Igor González de Galdeano has invested these past two years.

Before dismissing the team completely, it’s worth bearing in mind that prior to the Olympics last year one member of the team’s staff told me that Samuel Sanchez had, maybe, a “one per cent chance of Gold.” And look who won.

So where, and under what conditions, might the team pick up those stage wins?

First, the structure of this year’s Tour teams means that much is likely to be unpredictable. Astana is sending 4 legitimate GC contenders to the event. It will surely take a remarkable feat of discipline to figure out the appropriate tactics for that team on any given day.

The defending champion is now riding for a team that struggled throughout the Giro to protect its top rider, and at least some of Carlos Sastre’s best chances lie in long, lethal solo attacks on the climbs. Such attacks should shatter the field. They will also bring a response from Saxo Bank on behalf of one or other Schleck brother. Rabobank will be sending Giro champion Denis Menchov up the climbs. Cadel Evans seems to once again be trying to win le Tour with a solo effort.

Put all that together, take away race radios for two stages, throw in the flat stages made for Mark Cavendish, add the fact that Mont Ventoux is on the penultimate day (and somebody is going to have try to save something for that even while fending off attacks throughout the stages leading up to it) and it should be fiendishly difficult for any team to know just how to approach many of the race days. Several teams will be looking to take advantage of any resulting confusion in race tactics, Euskaltel-Euskadi among them.

Euskaltel-Euskadi’s GC contender is Mikel Astarloza. This will be his seventh tour. He finished 9th two years ago and sixteenth last year. His form at the 2009 Dauphiné Libéré was promising, and he was more comfortable with long solo climbs than he has been in the past. As other riders look to keep an eye on each other, Astarloza might just be able to pull away on one of the critical climbs and steal a march on his rivals. If his GC position during the transition stages isn’t too great a threat to race leaders, he also has the experience and the talent to join a long escape and help it stay away.

The team has three other potential stage winners in Amets Txurruka, who made a splash on his 2007 tour debut, picking up the most combative rider award, joining a long break on stage 12 that stayed away until the final kilometer, and wearing the white jersey for best young rider, albeit that he was “borrowing” it. Txurruka has not lost the ability to stay away on long breaks, and his increasing experience should help him on the road, especially those two stages that are going to be radio-free.

Additionally, the timing of the mountain stages and the need of several teams and a bunch of riders to gauge their efforts suggest that on several stages if the right group of riders get into a breakaway, they will be able to stay away from a peloton unlikely to be that interested in a chase. Look for Txurruka to contest at least one of those stages.

Koldo Fernández is Euskaltel-Euskadi’s first legitimate sprinter. Odds have to be on Mark Cavendish to win any sprint stage where he is with the lead group in the final kilometer, but there are two or three other sprinters with teams capable of countering at least some of Columbia-High Road’s lead-out efforts. On days when it is their intention, Euskaltel-Euskadi is fielding a team that can deliver Fernández to the final kilometer in good shape. Look for him to mix it up after this and to seek an unexpected opening, perhaps capitalizing on other teams’ final run-in countering of Cavendish’s moves.

The team has made it clear that Igor Antón is going to be looking for a stage win. Last year, his campaign was marred by injury, but anyone who saw his stage sixteen win in the 2006 Vuelta a España between Almería and the Calar Alto observatory knows he can climb. If Astarloza can rely on the rest of his team for support, the Euskaltel-Euskadi will be able to send Antón on his own forays. This might happen as early as the Pyrenees and definitely in the Alps. Who knows what Mont Ventoux will bring?

There is always at least one stage in the Tour when the day’s winner is a surprise to everyone, and if you were to look for Euskaltel-Euskadi’s potential “surprise,” neither former Lance Armstrong lieutenant Egoi Martinez nor Alan Pérez seems implausible.

In short, this is most likely the best balanced, strongest team Euskaltel-Euskadi has yet brought to the Tour.

Predictions: Mikel Astarloza, 7th in GC. Koldo Fernández, at least one second place stage finish. Most likely stage win, stage 11. Igor Antón, most likely stage win, stage 9 or 17. Amets Txurruka, most likely stage win, stage 13.

Hopefully he's right.

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Euskaltel's '09 Tour's Team

This article about Euskaltel Euskadi's line up for this year's edition of the Tour de France was published at VeloNews:

Euskaltel names Tour team

Euskaltel-Euskadi will be hoping for big performances at the Tour de France following relatively lackluster spring campaign.

The Basque Country-based Euskaltel team will ride this year without the services of consistent top-10 threat Haimar Zubeldia (who’s already punched himself a ticket back to the Tour with Astana), so the team will look to Igor Antón and Mikel Astarloza to fill the void.

Astarloza has already finished in the top-10 and rode well to a top-5 finish at the Dauphiné Libéré. He’s a steady climber who always seems to be there in the key moments.

Antón will likely forget about the GC and instead focus on trying to win a mountain stage, ideally at Arcalis, when tens of thousands of orange-clad Basque fans will be clogging the roads in the Pyrénées.

Also skipping the Tour this year is Olympic champion Samuel Sánchez, who wants to focus on winning the Vuelta a España and the world championships in the second half of the season.

Koldo Fernández will try his luck in the sprints while Egoi Martínez and Amets Txurruka, winner of the most aggressive prize in 2007, will be on the attack.

Euskaltel-Euskadi for Tour de France

* Igor Antón
* Mikel Astarloza
* Koldo Fernández
* Egoi Martínez
* Juanio Oroz
* Alan Pérez
* Rubén Pérez
* Amets Txurruka
* Gorka Verdugo

Best of lucks to all of them, we will miss Zubeldia.

.... ... .

On The Road

This article about the Basque cycling team Euskaltel-Euskadi was published at the Daily Peloton:

Euskaltel-Euskadi On the Road - 2009

In American parlance, the emphasis is on rebuilding, as Basque team Euskaltel-Euskadi takes to the 2009 season with a reduced roster compared with 2008 and an emphasis on youth.

By Christopher Fauske

In American parlance, the emphasis is on rebuilding, as Basque team Euskaltel-Euskadi takes to the 2009 season with a reduced roster compared with 2008 and an emphasis on youth. Of course, it is a campaign strategy complicated—or at least touched by irony - in that the squad is headed by Olympic gold medalist Samuel Sanchez. Sanchez will be a marked man this year, and any Euskaltel-Euskadi contingent in a race that includes him will have little opportunity to test its mettle under the radar.

One wrinkle of Sanchez’s higher profile is the question of the role Koldo Fernandez will play in the 2009 campaigns. He is the team’s first legitimate sprinter, a rider they intend to help develop into a weapon they have never before brought to the peloton. Fernandez is an example of how Euskaltel-Euskadi is developing its tactical options under the leadership of DS Igor González de Galdeano, a veteran of earlier incarnations of a team which distinguished itself for the passion of its fans and with very few results to show for it. Basque fans want to see their riders attack on the mountains, says team press secretary Jesus Aizkorbe. As a youth, “Koldo was a great sprinter, but when he was an amateur he tried to be good in the mountains.” Since he joined the team in 2004, managers have “convinced him to be a sprinter. He’s unique in the team’s history. We have had fast riders before, but not sprinters.”

Fernandez’s presence on the team and Sanchez’s increasing skills as a one-day specialist has led to the Basque team’s interest in the northern classics shifting from one of grudging acceptance that UCI pro tour rules required their presence, to an attitude of at least some interest. It is an interest tempered by Sanchez’s focus on preparing for Le Tour. Rather than taking both Fernandez and Sanchez to the north, then, Euskaltel-Euskadi has sent one squad north with their sprinter while another works to support Sanchez in the south.

It was a strategy that started less than convincingly when Fernandez managed 51st place in the Tour of Flanders, having missed all major breaks. But things looked up a bit on April 8 when Fernandez managed sixth in a field sprint at Gent-Wevelgem and Sanchez moved into second overall in the Vuelta al Pais Vasco in front of home crowds.

In 2009, the team is choosing to stay away from some races in which it has historically played no great part, chief among them the Giro D’Italia, where the team’s 2008 experience was described by one critic as that of “strangers in a strange land” and by another as “dreadful.”

Aizkorbe is blunt in his assessment, “We have no interest in the Giro. In 2005 and after we were obligated to go, but there’s no interest for us or our sponsors.” With the separation of the pro tour from the historic races, Euskaltel-Euskadi is “free to decide,” while acknowledging that the team “must compete in the Vuelta al Pais Vasco and Le Tour.” Aizkorbe is clear that ASO has committed to offering the team a Tour invitation for the next several years.

In 2008, the foundation that runs the team finished the year about €1M in the red and is looking forward to a less expensive 2009 campaign. The size of the squad has been reduced from 27 to 23, a little larger than originally planned. The most noticeable change from 2008 is the departure of long-time rider Haimar Zubeldia, now with Astana.

Despite these challenges, team management is increasingly confident of its ability to attract the best in Basque talent, as the return of Egoi Martinez from Discovery in 2008, and the decision of Sanchez to stay after his Olympic medal suggest. After the Olympics, foundation president Miguel Madariaga publicly acknowledged he would not be able to offer a salary much larger than that which Sanchez had accepted earlier in the year. The contract was renegotiated, but Sanchez endeared himself to team and fans alike when he stated bluntly “I see myself at Euskaltel.”

Sanchez’s perspective is not unique. Mikel Astarloza says pointedly, “for years we had the pressure [of having to keep up]. But now we come with a feeling of pride.” Under the leadership of Madariaga and Igor González de Galdeano the riders have solidified behind a philosophy that “the team knows it’s known. The riders know there are big teams out there, but it doesn’t mean our riders are not competitive. Their mission is to do their best. Now, when riders reach this level they choose to stay here,” says Aizkorbe. With a little prodding he says of the rider whose name is still associated with the team, “Iban Mayo was a completely different case. He never bought into the idea of Euskaltel-Euskadi.”

As part of its commitment to developing younger riders, the team is also looking to offer longer contracts. Within the pro tour peloton, contracts for all but the very biggest names are for one or two years, but Euskaltel-Euskadi is moving to offer three-year contracts and so its staff is paying more attention to the younger riders. “You have to be confident to offer a contract like that,” says Aizkorbe.

Still, there are challenges despite the greater flexibility in scheduling, the addition of a pure sprinter to the team’s top flight, and the options offered by having a one-day threat in Sanchez who is also a legitimate Grand Tour contender.

Fans and Le Tour

The fan base has at times got out of hand, and organizers of Le Tour responded by changing when the race comes through the Pyrenees to try to get past the ugly TV images of the recent past. The riders have become advocates of better behavior, reminding the Basque population that the world is watching. “There were really difficult days in the Pyrenees,” Aizkorbe admits, and for a while tour organizers avoided weekend stages in the Pyrenees, but although “it’s a bigger problem than the team can solve the team tries to get the message to fans. But there are people who don’t understand cycling. They are soccer fans who go there to have a party. It’s not comfortable.”

Still, these days the team is in the position of trying to adjust people’s expectations. In the past, “the team has been criticized by journalists for trying too hard to win a stage in the Pyrenees,” Aizkorbe says, “but now it’s not enough for us just to win a stage, so we cannot afford anymore to go into the Pyrenees and then relax. For us it’s better when the Alps come first,” as they will not in 2009.

As for the Vuelta a Espana, which famously avoids the Basque country, Euskaltel-Euskadi would very much like to see it move back to the spring slot it used to occupy, after the Vuelta al Pais Vasco and before Le Tour. It would in some sense allow the team to return to its main purpose, representing the Basque country where, in Astarloza’s words “cycling has reached the people.”

.... ... .

Sánchez to Stick With Euskaltel

This note comes to us thanks to Velo News:

Sánchez outsider for Lombardia

Olympic champ expected to stay with Euskaltel

By Andrew Hood
Posted Oct. 16, 2008

Despite trying to cash in on his Olympic gold medal, Samuel Sánchez says he’s likely to stay with Euskaltel-Euskadi for the 2009 season and beyond.

What is certain is that his final race in 2008 will be at this weekend’s Giro di Lombardia, with a start in Thursday’s Giro di Piemonte thrown in for good measure.

“I felt pretty good at Paris-Tours. I arrived with the front group after 252km, a good distance for me,” Sánchez told the Diario Vasco. “I will go to Lombardia with the idea of racing to win. To win? At least I will try.”

Sánchez has twice finished on the Lombardia podium (3rd in 2007, 2nd in 2006), but never won.

The hilly Italian classics suits his punchy style that led him to victory in the now-defunct GP Zurich and the Beijing Olympic medal, the only two races he’s won outside of Spain.

“The key to the race will be the Ghisallo. If you’re over the top in front, you can win,” he said of the Lombardia’s most important climb. “Last year, Riccò and Cunego got away over the top, the year before, Bettini. It’s a beautiful race, which I like a lot and that Italy really comes alive in the days before the race.”

Weeks before he won the Olympic gold medal in the road race in Beijing, Sánchez signed a contract extension to keep him in the Basque orange through the 2010 season.

All that changed when Sánchez struck gold in China and the Spanish Asturian became a hot property, with alleged negotiations with Katyusha and Cervélo (something both teams denied).

Perhaps they were scared off by Sánchez’s reported 900,000-euro buyout clause, so for now, Sánchez will remain the only non-Basque rider on Euskaltel after what appears to be a pay hike.

“I still haven’t signed, but I will continue with Euskaltel,” he said. “There remain some loose ends, but both sides have given in a little and there’s mutual interest. I see myself at Euskaltel, at least as of today.”

In an interview with VeloNews during a quick visit to the Vuelta a España in September, Sánchez said the Olympic gold medal hasn’t changed him much.

“I am still the same person and the same rider I was before I went to Beijing,” he said. “Nothing’s changed except people’s perception of me. There’s suddenly a lot more interest in what I say and what I do, but I will try not to let that change me as a person.”

.... ... .

Egoi's Vuelta Yellow Jersey

Some good news for Euskaltel Euskadi and the Basque cycling fans, Egoi Martinez is the yellow jersey at the Vuelta. Here you have the info via Earth Times:

Egoi Martinez takes over golden jersey; van Avermaet takes stage

Posted : Mon, 08 Sep 2008 16:55:01 GMT

Sabinanigo, Spain - Spain's Egoi Martinez on Monday took over the leaders' golden jersey at the Tour of Spain, giving his Basque Euskatel team a historic first-ever overall Vuelta lead. Although Martinez finished tenth in a sprint finish during Monday's ninth stage behind Belgium's Greg van Avermaet, who rides for the Silence-Lotto team, it was enough to give him the overall lead with 33 hours, 23 minutes 56 seconds.

American Levi Leipheimer is second 11 seconds behind, while Alberto Contador is third a further 21 seconds behind.

Martinez and van Avermaet were part of a group of ten cyclists that managed to get away from the peloton and finished 6.42 minutes ahead of the pack at the end of the 200 kilometre-long stage from Vielha to Sabinanigo.

Martinez, who went into the stage 6:41 minutes behind the leading Leipheimer, managed to make up a further ten seconds in a sprint classification during the stage.

.... ... .

The 2008 Billabong Pro in Mundaka

This article comes to us via Global Surf News:

The Billabong Pro returns to mythic barrels of Mundaka

Billabong Pro Mundaka

ASP World Tour event #9
Mundaka, Basque Country
29 September - 12 October 2008

The Billabong Pro returns to Europe’s mythical Mundaka rivermouth

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 12 August, 2008 : - - - Mundaka has become a reference in worldwide surfing for its mythical rivermouth left-hander located at the opening of the river of Gernika and the North Atlantic Ocean. Since the inaugural event in 1999, surfing legends from all over the world have come over to surf this mythical wave, renowned for its long and hollow waves.

However, the wave of Mundaka is also known for its fickle conditions. This was made evident with the absence of a workable sandbar, reason for the cancellation of the event in 2005. According to the latest studies and the comments of the surfing locals, the barrels of Mundaka are in perfect condition.

This year, Billabong will set up an alternate site on the beach of Sopelana, a place that offers fantastic waves. The site is only a few car-minutes away from the center of Bilbao. The decision to surf either at Mundaka or Sopelana will be taken on a daily basis by the contest director, after assessing the conditions in both sites with the surfers and the ASP officials.

The Billabong Pro Mundaka plays a crucial part in deciding world champions. Being the third last event on the 11 stop tour intense competition ensues as tour leaders jostle for rating points leading into the final two events of the year in Brazil and Hawaii.

Bobby Martinez (USA) will be back to try to make it 3 wins in a row at Mundaka along with prestigious names such as Joel Parkinson (Australia), Taj Burrow (Australia), 07 World Champ Mick Fanning (Australia) and current tour leader Kelly Slater (USA).

Alongside the 45 world´s best surfers, three “Wild Card” surfers have also been invited to compete in the Billabong Pro Mundaka: surfing legend Marc “Occy” Occylupo (Australia ), local charger Hodei Collazo (Basque Country) and rising star Marcos San Segundo (Basque Country).

More information about rankings, surfer profiles and the tour can be found on aspworldtour.com.

The opening of the Billabong Pro Mundaka sees a truly traditional show with dances and music. At the start and end of the competition, surfers and officials will be greeted by the Aurresku, an honorific and traditional dance, and the 2008 winner will be carried by the local surf club members to be thrown in the port.

Winners always accept their trophy wearing a wetsuit and a newly-won Txapela (a traditional large hat)! That is the price to pay to have your name carved in the white stone of the perpetual Billabong Pro trophy. The Billabong Pro Mundaka is supported by Euskaltel, Kustom, Von Zipper, Nixon, Yamaha and Cobra Jetski, as well as the villages of Mundaka and Sopelana with their respective Surf Clubs and the EHSF.

.... ... .

2008's Euskaltel Euskadi

This report comes to us thanks to Podium Cafe:

Back Pocket Previews: Euskaltel-Euskadi

By chris
Posted on Sat Mar 15, 2008 at 01:19:01 AM EDT

Attributes: Like Bweeg, a strong regional identity and sense of purpose, only more so. Well rounded (by Basque cycling standards). Sam-San is one of those guys you'd pay to watch. Old-skool black shorts. Rabid fan support that would make Packer backers blush. An endless supply of skinny climber dudes, nothing to sneeze at in 2008.

Problems: Like Bweeg, limited ambitions equals limited results. Turns out, some of the best riders in the world aren't Basque, which means they can't ride for Euskie. Also, the Basque world encompasses part of France, up to Bayonne. So why no French riders?

Key Rider(s): Sammy Sanchez, I suppose. It'd be nice to come up with a more clever observation here, and the fact is Astarloza, Anton and Koldo Fernandez could all make their mark this year, giving Euskaltel a big boost. But Sanchez has yet to define himself, offering hope in the big classics or grand tours or both. All of this is on the table... but how it turns out is anyone's guess. So as obvious as it seems, Sanchez is still the guy to watch.

Key Moment: July, Pau to Hautacam. Not that all eyes won't be on the Spanish climbers, but Astarloza, Zubeldia and Sanchez will all be candidates to make a big splash that day. And with a pretty short ITT on stage 4, we're talking about taking the maillot jaune.

Passing Thought: For years, Euskaltel were wholly focused on mountain stages of the Tour, and briefly with supporting Iban Mayo for something greater. Mayo's departure last year for Saunier Duval, his last stop en route to doper oblivion, was perhaps the best thing that happened to Euskies in a long while. No more chasing Mayo's silly ambitions, no more laser-like focus on the Tour Pyrenean stages. Sanchez gets a lot of the credit, I would suspect, with his breakout in one-day racing giving the team something else to live for. Personally, I'm wholly rooting for Koldo Fernandez in every big sprint. Anyway, however it came about, it's good to see Euskaltel expanding its boundaries and becoming a team to watch more than one week a year.

.... ... .

Euskaltel Euskadi in Irun

This note comes to us thanks to Cycling News:

News Feature, January 12, 2008

Talde lana – Euskaltel Euskadi presented in Irún

Talde lana – Trabajo de equipo: "Team work" was the motto of the 2008 Euskaltel Euskadi presentation on Thursday night in Irún (Gipuzkoa). Steeped in Basque tradition, the squad celebrated its 15th season in the professional peloton. Cyclingnews' Monika Prell was in Irún for the presentation.

A group of musicians playing Basque music set the tone for the Euskaltel-Euskadi team presentation in Irún, giving a traditional atmosphere to the celebration of the squad's 15th year, ten of which have fallen under the sponsorship of the Euskaltel company. After a stirring video recap of the 2007 season, the 26 cyclists who will take on the upcoming season on the road were presented one by one.

The four main riders are the Asturian star Samuel Sánchez, the experienced Haimar Zubeldia, young Igor Antón and the veteran Mikel Astarloza. Sánchez will focus this year on the Tour de France, choosing to start his season late, meaning he will skip both Paris-Nice and the Vuelta al País Vasco. "This will be a radical change, and I will miss the spring races. In the Tour, I would like to win a stage, as this is one thing that still lacks in my palmarès. Thinking in the podium is still too premature," said Sánchez.

One of the mayor objectives of Zubeldia will also be the Tour de France, but with a different preparation. "The beginning of the season should be very strong up until Paris-Nice, and then will begin the preparation for the Tour." He does not see a rival in Sánchez in his special subject, the Tour de France, but affirmed that "the fact that Samuel will be at my side will give me tranquility, because the responsibility will be shared."

The Basque team has always been known for its climbers, but for 2008 adds a new weapon to its arsenal in three sprinters: veteran Iñaki Isasi, 26 year-old Koldo Fernández de Larrea, who took his first sprint victory in the 2007 Tirreno-Adriatico, and Aitor Galdos, a fast man who should be able to win a race this year. "I hope to find the form I had two years ago when I was able to win races, and I hope to win races so that the team is happy with me. My participation in the Giro d'Italia will depend upon my performance through Tirreno-Adriatico", said the 28 year-old Galdos.

As in past years, the 2008 Euskaltel-Euskadi group has a large contingent of young riders, including Amets Txurruka, who is one of the big hopes for the future. "I want to show a better performance than last year and to win a race, if possible," said Txurruka, who made a name for himself with his presence in several breakaways during the 2007 Tour de France, and won the most aggressive rider prize. "In principle, I will form part of the Tour team, but until July there is still a long way to go."

Jorge Azanza will spend his second professional year as a member of the Basque team. "I hope to show my best this season, being strong in March and April and our home races [Vuelta al País Vasco and Euskal Bizikleta]." For now, the 25 year-old does not have any Grand Tour in his calendar, but said, "if I ride strong I will have the possibility to ride the Tour de France or the Vuelta a España."

Another young rider in his second year is Iván Velasco. The rider from Arrasate will focus on the early season. "I will begin the year strong, then I will have a break before riding the Giro. I feel well in the team, I already had some possibilities last year and I hope to be able to benefit from them this year."

The experienced rider Dioni Galparsoro had a lot of bad luck last year, and struggled with illnesses and bad crashes. For 2008, he hopes things will go more smoothly. "I hope this year I won't have health problems and that I will be able to win a race. I will compete the Giro d'Italia and then perhaps the Vuelta a España." He will be one of the leaders of the team for the Giro d'Italia, and will set out to improve upon his solid performance from 2007 which was dashed when he wrecked and broke his elbow.

After the presentation of the riders, the sport directors and the staff, a short film gave the large audience the opportunity to re-live the greatest moments of the team from past 15 years, including the stage victory of Roberto Laiseka in Luz Ardiden (Tour de France 2001). The first rider who won an official race for the team Euskadi was Agustín Sagasti, in the Vuelta al País Vasco in 1994. He was honoured by the team's General Manager, Miguel Madariaga.

José Alberto Pradera, the former deputy of Bizkaia and one of the founders of the team was proud of what the organisation had become. "I am not surprised by the evolution the team has made up until today. We thought that it had to be like this when we started the project." He reminded the audience that in the beginning, the team has been seen as "craziness." He thanked sponsor Euskaltel, and showed his pride that Euskaltel-Euskadi is seen in the world as a [Basque] 'national team', even not all the team members are Basque.

Madariaga is looking confidently towards the new season. "The team has completed a great season, thanks to the riders and the collaboration with the sponsor Euskaltel. I wish 2008 to be as great as 2007 and I wish the boys a bit more force because I am convinced that the team still does have potential." He is sure that "with the help of the fans we will reach those objectives."

A curious little anecdote passed before the official photo of the team has been taken by the photographers: two riders, Lander Aperribay and Josu Agirre, became dizzy and had to leave the stage, so that they were absent in the last photo. The presentation had a fiery end, as – accompanied again by the Basque musicians, a little firework was ignited in the hall, generating the applause of the public.

The full 2008 team: Josu Agirre, Beñat Albizuri, Igor Antón, Lander Aperribay, Francisco Javier Aramendia, Mikel Astarloza, Jorge Azanza, Jon Bru, Koldo Fernández de Larrea, Aitor Galdos, Dionisio Galparsoro, Aitor Hernández, Markel Irizar, Iñaki Isasi, Andoni Lafuente, Iñigo Landaluze, Antton Luengo, Egoi Martínez, Juanjo Oroz, Alan Pérez, Rubén Pérez, Samuel Sánchez, Amets Txurruka, Iván Velasco, Gorka Verdugo, Haimar Zubeldia.

.... ... .

Samuel Sánchez Delivers

This is great news, Samuel Sánchez takes the all-Basque Euskaltel Euskadi team to the winner's podium the best way possible, with his third stage victory.

Here you have the note published by VeloNews:

Sánchez wins, climbs podium; Menchov secures; Sastre endures
By Andrew Hood, VeloNews European correspondent
Filed: September 22, 2007

Samuel Sánchez delivered his third stage victory of this year's Vuelta a España to secure his Basque Euskaltel-Euskadi team its first-ever podium finish in a grand tour in the team's 14-year history.

Sánchez roared over Saturday's short 20km individual time trial in the suburbs north of Madrid to knock Cadel Evans (Predictor-Lotto) off the podium and give compatriot Carlos Sastre (CSC) a good fright for the second spot on the podium.

Race leader Denis Menchov (Rabobank) didn't risk crashing after a late afternoon squall dampened some portions of the route and stopped the clock for second at 12 seconds back to secure overall victory going into Sunday's finale in Madrid.

"When I heard that I had taken four seconds out of Evans at the first time check, that only gave me more motivation to push even harder," said Sánchez, who started the day nine seconds behind the Aussie. "The goal today was to claim the podium. Winning a third stage is just a bonus."

It all came down to a matter of seconds for the final podium spots.

Sánchez took 19 seconds out of Evans to relegate the Aussie to fourth place by 10 seconds.

A runner-up at the 2007 Tour de France, Evans was poised to become the first rider since 2002 to finish on the podium in two grand tours in one season, but he faltered over the past few days under relentless attacks from both Sastre's Team CSC and Sánchez's Euskaltel-Euskadi.

Evans was just four seconds slower than Sánchez at 7.3km but lost grip on third when he ceded 13 seconds by 15km on the undulating course with a series of rollers and false flats. Sánchez, smelling blood of delivering the stage win-podium double, flew over the final technical sections of the course and Evans stopped the clock in sixth at 19 seconds slower.

"It's a little bit disappointing, that's true. I felt good in the time trial and I honestly don't know where I lost the time. It's the fatigue of the season catching up with me," Evans said. "When you're so close to winning the Tour and so close to finishing on the podium at the Vuelta, of course I'm disappointed. I've been at the top for a long time in this season and I didn't see a lot of those guys (Sánchez or Sastre) ahead of me at Paris-Nice or the Tour."

Sastre, 32, finally ended his bad luck run of fourth place finishes by holding off both Sánchez and Evans in the time trial to hang on to second.

Continues...

Overall
1. Denis Menchov (Rus), Rabobank, 78:21:40
2. Carlos Sastre (Sp), CSC, 3:31
3. Samuel Sánchez (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 3:46
4. Cadel Evans (Aus), Predictor-Lotto, 3:56
5. Ezequiel Mosquera (Sp), Karpin Galicia, 6:34
6. Vladimir Efimkin (Rus), Caisse d'Epargne, 7:07
7. Vladimir Karpets (Rus), Caisse d'Epargne, 8:09
8. Igor Antón (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 8:44
9. Manuel Beltrán (Sp), Liquigas, 9:38
10. Carlos Barredo (Sp), Quick Step-Innergetic, 10:12

Hopefully Sánchez will be taken into account for the strategy for next year's Tour de France so Euskaltel Euskadi can improve what was done a couple of years ago by Iban Mayo and Haimar Zubeldia.

~ ~ ~

Is Mayo Back?

Cycling News has a piece on Iban Mayo's possible comeback as one of the leading contenders in cycling competitions.

Here you have the article:

Tales from the peloton, July 18, 2007

Iban Mayo: Temporary return to form or genuine GC contender?

After several years in Tour wilderness, the Basque GC hope Iban Mayo was regarded by very few as a possible winner of the race. However, he's very much in the mix after two strong days in the Alps. Cyclingnews' Shane Stokes considers Mayo's chances.

As the Tour de France resumed Tuesday morning in Val d'Isère, there was an upsurge of interest in a slender rider from the Saunier Duval-Prodir team. Four years ago, Iban Mayo was seen as one of the most likely challengers to Lance Armstrong's crown but since taking a stage win on Alpe d'Huez and finishing sixth overall, he has done nothing of note in the French race.

That all changed on Sunday. Mayo stunned the peloton when he finished second to Michael Rasmussen on the Tour Alpine stage to Tignes. He attacked in the final kilometres of the climb to leave others such as Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne), Frank Schleck (CSC), Cadel Evans (Predictor - Lotto), Andrey Kashechkin (Astana) in his immediate wake. Alberto Contador, Levi Leipheimer (Discovery Channel), Carlos Sastre (CSC), Oscar Pereiro (Caisse d'Epargne), Andreas Klöden and Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) were even further back, highlighting his strong performance.

It was a surprise for the fans and a huge morale boost for himself. "I'm satisfied with the way in which the stage unfolded," the Basque rider told the media on the Tour's rest day in Tignes. "I was the first to cross the finish line after Rasmussen, who had opened a large gap, and I really enjoyed that moment. Being in the spotlight during the Tour as I had been in the past was one of my greatest ambitions, and my dream has now come true. The original goal was scoring a [stage] win, but once I realised it wouldn't be possible, I chose to reach the highest spot I could."

Mayo's Tour woes started in 2004 and came only a matter of weeks after he dominated the Dauphiné Libéré. He had won the prologue and the stage four time trial to the top of Mont Ventoux, beating Tyler Hamilton, Oscar Sevilla and Lance Armstrong in the general classification there. However his form collapsed in the Tour and he pulled out. In the months after that there were rumours that he had mononucleosis; his next big win did not come until stage 6 of the 2006 Dauphiné, two years after his last success in the same race.

The fervent Euskaltel - Euskadi supporters seized on this and hoped that he would perform well in last year's Tour de France. However, once again, he withdrew. The enigmatic rider returned in August and won the fourth stage and the overall classification in the Vuelta Ciclista a Burgos then, frustratingly, had a relatively anonymous showing in the Vuelta a España.

The rollercoaster ride was hard to understand. At the Spanish Tour, the talk was that Mayo was a complicated person who, perhaps due to the burden of expectation, was unable to apply himself properly and fully realise his talent. When he left the Euskaltel Euskadi team at the end of the season, it was seen by some as a sign that he could no longer accept the pressure of leadership.

However, something is clearly different since his move to Saunier Duval-Prodir. He rode the Giro d'Italia this spring and, despite being several kilos overweight, won the 19th stage to Terme di Comano. It was his first Grand Tour stage victory since the Alpe d'Huez win in 2003.

Mayo was asked on Monday what differences there were as regards the build-up to this year's Tour. "With regard to training, there haven't been many. I just tried to do things right so that I was in good shape when I came here. Perhaps I didn't feel the pressure this time. Taking into account how things had turned out to be in the past few years, I had nothing to lose.

"My victory at the Giro d'Italia boosted my morale, and some days before this Tour, I noticed that I was okay. But you're never sure until you hit the road and face a race like yesterday's. Since the early stages, I've feeling all right. However, it's only when you measure yourself up against the big guns that you can tell whether you're really in good shape or not."

Mayo was also asked about the stage to Tignes, and also if Tuesday's final Alpine stage could be one to eliminate Vinokourov as an overall contender.

"Yesterday's final pass was tough but not useful to make a selection. Besides, we were running into the wind, and this helped balance forces. Perhaps I expected Sastre or Menchov to be part of the leading bunch, but the rest were all there: Moreau, Valverde, Contador. These are the big names."

He then correctly assessed that Astana's leader would be vulnerable on stage nine. "As for Vinokourov, it's quite obvious that he has to be left behind tomorrow, because then there's the time-trial for him to make up for losses. He has shown what a great rider he is, so you can never think his chances are over. We could have ruled him out yesterday, but then each rider minded his own business."

Mayo started the ninth stage in third place overall, 2'39" behind Michael Rasmussen's yellow jersey. He once again rode strongly, climbing well on the Galibier and finishing fifth into Briançon. And while Alejandro Valverde edged ahead of him thanks to a faster finish plus the time bonus achieved there, Linus Gerdemann's collapse means that Mayo remains third overall, 2'39" back.

When he's on top form, he's a stronger time trialist than the Dane. He should therefore take time out of him in the 54 kilometre Albi TT next Saturday and could move closer to taking the maillot jaune. He'll also have the benefit of fanatical Basque support in the Pyrenees. However, he knows only too well the pressure of chasing a top result in the Tour, and says that he will take each day as it comes.

"Will I go for the GC? Well, I'm not obsessed with it. And I'm not saying that to shake the pressure off my shoulders, because I don't really feel like that this year. Quite the contrary: I'm having a great time," he stated. "This Tour is different because there is no clear leader so far. This means that any rider feeling well and confident can make it. So yes, in this sense, I am ambitious.

"The only thing I need is not having any physical problems, because if I'm fine, then I feel fully confident. But experience has taught me what the Tour is like. Anybody can have a bad day in France."

~ ~ ~

Mayo is Clean

Iban Mayo
Originally uploaded by meredithfitz

Good news, Basque rider Iban Mayo has been cleared from the doping scandal.

Now he can go back to getting back into shape, and despite not riding for Euskaltel Euskadi, win a few more medals.

Here you have the note from Yahoo News:

Mayo cleared of doping as UCI probes Petacchi, Piepoli

Thu Jun 14, 3:02 PM ET

Spanish climber Iban Mayo, one of three riders whose urine samples were reported to have shown traces of drugs during the recent Giro d'Italia, has been cleared of doping by the International Cycling Union (UCI) on Thursday.

But cycling's world governing body confirmed that Italian pair Alessandro Petacchi and Leonardo Piepoli were still under investigation.

The Gazzetta dello Sport reported Thursday that the three cyclists returned 'non-negative' tests at the first major Tour of the season, which ran from May 12-June 3.

The paper said sprinter Petacchi and climber Piepoli tested positive for salbutamol, a substance primarily used to treat asthma.

Salbutamol is a banned substance, but riders with asthma may use it to certain levels if they possess a medical certificate.

Mayo was reported to have tested positive for testosterone, the banned male sex hormone which snared Floyd Landis on his way to victory in last year's Tour de France.

But the UCI said in a statement that Mayo, who was tested following his victory on the 19th stage to Terme di Comano, had not breached doping rules.

"The UCI has noted press reports about three purportedly abnormal analysis results linked to the last Giro d'Italia," the UCI said in a statement.

"While regretting the premature publication of this news item, the UCI wishes to clarify the following points.

"No breach of the UCI antidoping rules was committed by the Spanish rider Iban Mayo of the Saunier Duval team.

"A further examination conducted by IRMS has enabled any possibility of testosterone administration to be ruled out.

"This further analysis was requested by the UCI following the notification by the Rome laboratory of a T/E value in excess of the norm laid down in the rules; that finding made further examinations necessary.

"The history of this particular case shows the vital need to await the closure of the relevant investigations before reaching conclusions.

"In the other cases, the analyses requested by the UCI are still in progress."

Petacchi, who won the Milan-San Remo classic in 2005 and four stages at the Tour De France in 2003, rides for Milram while Piepoli rides for Saunier Duval. The Italian sprinter also won five stages on this year's Giro.

According to the Gazzetta, neither team was informed of the positive tests by the UCI.

Saunier team manager Mauro Gianetti was left confused about the fate of his two cyclists.

"I called the UCI and they said to me 'If you haven't heard any news, it's because there isn't any.' This is absurd," he said.

Piepoli reacted to the news prior to the start of the Dauphine Libere's fourth stage in France, saying: "It's true that I take salbutamol to treat my allergy.

"Mauro (Gianetti) asked me how much I had taken. But I don't know how many puffs I took. I take it each time I need it. It depends on the seasons."

The Gazzetta reported that further examination of the three urine samples were being carried out at a laboratory in Rome, and that they may be taken to Barcelona, Spain for more tests.

In his prime as part of the Basque Euskaltel team, the 29-year-old Mayo was one of the few riders capable of challenging the dominance of Lance Armstrong and Jan Ullrich on the Tour de France mountain stages.

He won the stage to Alpe d'Huez in 2003, and won the Dauphine Libere stage race, an important build-up to the Tour, in 2004.

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Gernika's Sapling in Elko

The Tree of Gernika is a strong identity symbols for the Basque people around the world, this is why there is an effort to bring a sapling of the original tree to each corner of the globe were a Basque community is located. This article found at the Elko Daily tells us about the one in that city:

Tree of Gernika sapling takes root in Elko

By JARED DuBACH - Lifestyles Editor
Monday, April 30, 2007 3:02 PM PDT

ELKO — Amid the distinct sound of Basque tongues and the wafting aroma of grilling lamb chops, members of the Elko Basque Club, friends and family gathered Saturday at the Basque Clubhouse to dedicate a recently planted sapling from the Tree of Gernika.

Event coordinator Jess Lopategui said the tree represents hundreds of thousands of years of freedom.

“The government was based on honesty and hard work,” Lopategui said.

Gernika was a major hub for the Basque country. Meetings were held and treaties signed under the vast groves of oak trees that grew around the city. Each new king of Spain would travel to the Basque country to uphold the old treaty, which said the Basques would hold loyalty to the king as long as they were free to govern themselves.

Eventually, the sheltered tree would be the only thing standing after the German Condor Legion bombed Gernika on April 26, 1937.

Lopategui said the club is also working on planting another tree — an aspen to commemorate the importance of Basque shepherds. Aspen trunks with Basque names and icons carved into them are already at the clubhouse, waiting to be arranged with the tree.

After Lopategui’s speech, the crowd was led by Maite Moiola in the song “Gernikako Arbola.” Moiola said she was born in Bermeo, Biscaya, but feels closer to the old country now that the sapling has been planted at the clubhouse.

“I’ve sung this song for a long time,” Moiola said.

Another sapling from the Tree of Gernika was planted in the Elko Peace Park Thursday in memory of the bombing’s 70th anniversary.

Bob Echeverria said the planting of the saplings in Elko is a good thing because the Tree of Gernika is an important part of Basque tradition and culture.

Mayor Mike Franzoia said descendants of the tree have been planted all around the world by Basques in their yards to help keep the Tree of Gernika alive, both philosophically and literally, in the event the main tree dies from disease. Many are in Boise, which is where the saplings at the clubhouse and in the Elko Peace Park originated.

The Basque government recently sent a message to Basques worldwide to promote peace and human rights.

For 90-year-old Mary Etcheberry, the bombing of Gernika had a lasting effect on her life. Etcheberry was teaching in France as a young woman when the bombing occurred. From France, Etcheberry went to Italy and onto the United States in 1940, where she first married Frank Jayo and later Sam Etcheberry.

“This is something nice,” Etcheberry said of the ceremony. “I came here to celebrate this.”

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Gero Arte Roberto

And now, we take a break from politics to give a warm farewell to Basque cyclist Roberto Laiseka, here you have the note from EITB:

Euskaltel-Euskadi

Basque rider Roberto Laiseka gives up cycling

01/09/2007

Euskal-Euskadi Basque rider Roberto Laiseka announced Tuesday he gives up cycling at the age of 37 years old.

In a press conference in the County Council of Bizkaia in Bilbao, Laiseka explained he took the decision to give up as he has not recovered yet from a long knee injury he suffered last Italian Giro.

Laiseka was the only rider in Euskaltel-Euskadi left from those that were in the Basque team when it was born in 1994. He has won stages at Spanish Vuelta and Italian Giro.

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Gil Takes It

Well, the Euskal Bizikleta 2006 has a winner, and it was all the way for Basque rider Koldo Gil.

It was also good to see Euskaltel-Euskadi taking a stage.

Here you have the news report from EITb:

Euskal Bizikleta 5th Stage

Gil crowned overall champion, Herrero wins final stage

David Herrero, rider of Euskaltel-Euskadi, won the fifth and last stage of the Basque Cycling Contest Euskal Bizikleta 2006. Teams departed from the Basque public TV headquarters in Iurreta, in the province of Bizkaia, to finish in Arrasate, in the province of Gipuzkoa, over 157.5km with seven mountain passes on the way.

Saunier Duval's Koldo Gil, who was first in the two previous stages, was second in the final stage at six seconds, becoming the overall champion in the general classification. Herrero himself and Jesús Del Nero (3 Molinos) won the second and third positions in the podium. Peio Arreitunandia (Barloworld) was two seconds late to get the third position in the general classification.

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Gil Still on Top

This one comes to us via the Daily Peloton:

Euskal Bizikleta 2006 - Stage 3

By Fabio
Date: 6/2/2006

Friday's hilly stage three of the Basque contest, from Ispaster to Gatzaga over 190.9 km., had two main protagonists: Koldo Gil (Saunier Duval) and Aaron Villegas (Orbea). The latter went on the attack late in the stage, with about 20k to go, first alongside Aitor Osa (Team Würth), Jon Bru (Kaiku) and José Antonio Pecharroman (Comunidad Valenciana), and later on his own. But stage one winner and GC leader Koldo Gil proved that his legs are up to the challenge: he started his own chase of Villegas on the final ascent to the line, and brought him back with just a few hundred metres left, also thanks to the fact that Villegas' legs had basically gone.

So that, besides tightening his grip on the overall leader's mantle, which was his real target, Koldo Gil might have dropped the Orbea rider and taken line honors too; but in the end the man acted like a true gentleman, slowed down and left Villegas cross the line in first place and clinch a success that - considering the efforts the Orbea rider had sustained today - was more than deserved; It is the most significant victory so far in the short "career" of the team managed by the former professional rider Jon Odriozola Mugarza.

Kudos to Villegas for such courageous move (the second in as many days, as the guy was away for several kms yesterday too), which earned him the win and spot number two on the GC; and to Gentleman Gil, that gave a good display of sportmanship, similar to the one showed by Jens Voigt on Giro d'Italia roads no more than a week ago.

David Herrero of Euskaltel filled the other top three spot of today's stage at 38", with the Italian winner of Thursday's leg, Andrea Tonti of Acqua & Sapone, credited with the same time in spot number four, and Peio Arreitunandia getting Barloworld into today's top five places.

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