Back on the bike for the Scheldeprijs. My main goal was not to fall. I felt the good form in coming for the hilly classics, and I didn't want to crash again. Which is hard in this race, there's always a crash towards the end as the sprinter trains set the speed to over 50km/h and are fighting for a good spot.
The crash came eventualy, but I could avoid it. So here JJ and me had to decide what to do. I heard from the manager he had been training on his sprint, and since I wasn't that good yet, I told him to grab my wheel. It wasn't the best leadout I delivered, but seeing where we were coming from, it was ok. As we passed the bigger teams, I knew I wasn't going to get him all the way to the front, but I think I dropped him around 10th position with 200M to go. The victory was gone, and a few riders were blocking each other, but he managed to get 14th, while I freewheeled to 19th. I scored some points again for the team, quite happy about that!
Next is Roubaix, I just want to get out of there alive. The team isn't strong enough on the cobbles to give me support until the final, so I might try something else. And hope my back holds on the bad cobble sections.
The goal was to survive today. It only took one cobbled section to get my team mates overboard. I was on my own with about 200KM to go.
Not that I had a good day, far from it. But on my own, it was just too hard. IN the second half of the race, it was getting dropped and fighting back. I succeeded quite a few times. But after the third time, I knew I couldn't give the team any points today.
I made it to the finish at 63th. If I let go sooner, I would've end up higher, but yeah. The team bought me to get points on the cobbles, and with Paris-Roubaix over, I can safely say that I failed them. My two result in Kuurne and De Panne aren't enough. I hope I can do a bit better in the Ardennes, cause I got to do something. I really would like to stay in a World Tour team, but since the places will be limited next year, I really have to show myself!
The month kicked off with the Continental Championship Road Races. Tarik hid himself skillfully in the Aufrazian version while Igor did great in the European race even though he probably spent a bit too much energy closing gaps. Still a 7th place is a solid effort from him!
After those we raced the first race in the Basque Country Championship Series. It gave no UCI-points, but it was nice to race against the other Basque riders on home soil. Our Euskadi-team did great with Igor and Ion taking a 1-2.
Sadly we had to get back to reality and the cobbled classics. De Ronde was a disaster for the team with only Rudy Verboven actually finishing. He fought his best though, but was doomed with no support.
Scheldprijs Vlaanderen gave us some much needed hope even though Lobato wasn’t able to get more than a 14th place after a good leadout from Verboven. Still two riders in top 20 on a flat classic isn’t all that bad for us.
The good form only partially carried over to Paris – Roubaix. More riders finished, but once again Rudy was left to fence for himself getting another top 40 without any help from the team after the first cobbles section.
Vuelta al PaÃs Vasco is probably the most important race for us all season and we came there with the strongest possible team with big ambitions.
Sadly a combination of bad tactics and bad luck only gave us two top 10’s and left Samu at 7th in the GC after the queen stage. The boys need to up their game for the final stages!
Riders not mentioned did not race this month. Full rankings can be found in post #2
Rider of the Month
This was far from an impressive month for any of the riders to say the least.
Nevertheless one rider had the spirit needed to take home this award.
Rudy Verboven did a good job scoring points after heling Lobato in the sprint in Scheldeprijs and then followed it up with fighting even harder than we could demand in the two biggest cobbled classics despite having absolutely no support whatsoever from his "team mates".
Sometimes cycling is just as much about the right spirit as it is about big results and this month Rudy was pretty much the only one showing the spirit needed on this team!
Coming Up
First up is the final two stages of Vuelta al PaÃs Vasco, where the team will have to outdo themselves in order for the total evaluation to be sufficient.
After that comes the Ardennes where Igor Antón will be designated captain. The aim before the races are to score points in all three and get at least one top 10.
Also we will be riding Giro del Trentino where de las Campos will be given the designated leader to give him some experience before starting the Giro d'Italia in a free role.
A Glimpse of History
This month we will take a look back at the very start in June 1993.
Former Taxi driver Miguel Madariaga led a group of Basque cycling fans to form the Fundacion Euskadi.
The Idea was to build an all Basque team founded by the fans through the socio movement. More than 3000 people would agree to pay the roughly 60 € a year needed to be a socio and with some backing from the regional government and around 100 local companies they were able to put together a budget of 300.000 €.
The requirements of the riders were that they had to be born in Basque Country or have raced at least three years for Basque amateur or junior teams – along with not demanding too high a salary…
And so on 6th of December 1993 the team was officially formed and blessed at a mass in the Aranzazu sanctuary.
29-year old Juan Carlos González Salvador was the first rider to sign for the team. As a former double Spanish champion and repeated stage winner in the Spanish races he helped race the teams profile quite a bit, though his career was on the way down with no wins in 1993 and only one win in the final two years of his career at Euskadi.
He was joined by several other riders with top level experience, though one name stood out by quite a bit: Pello Ruiz Cabestany. He had already raced 11 seasons for some of the biggest teams around. In that time he had made a name for himself with as many as 29 victories the most impressive being the GC in Vuelta al PaÃs Vasco 1985, three stage wins in Vuelta a España and 1 stage win in Tour de France along with a couple of podiums in the biggest Basque Classic in San Sebatian. A real star to raise the profile of the team and inspire the youngsters.
A common denominator for the experienced pros joining the team would prove to be far past their prime. Fortunately neopros with now well-known names such as Iñigo Cuesta, Roberto Laiseka, AgustÃn Sagasti and Aitor Eizaguirre were ready to step up and take the scene in the years to come.
For several years the team was constantly on the edge of bankruptcy having to even fight to keep the team vehicles from being impounded. Fortunately Euskaltel joined up in 1998 giving some more financial stability as well as the famous orange colour scheme.
As usual we'll finish of with a video. This time a rather long one bringing live footage starting from the teams first victory in 1994:
It was a bit weird, to return to the Cauberg, where I had my bad crash a while ago. It not that I was scared, I just didn't have a good feeling. Pretty much half the peloton crashed, that wasn't helping either. We decided to go for Igor, since he won the GP Indurain recently. Ricardo made it into the break, so things were looknig good. But when the attack came, none of us had a reply. Those dutch hills are very different from those we trained on in Pais Vasco. For me it was a long day of bringing Igor back each time, he just didn't take these short hills well. No point for the team eventually, so we'll have to do better in Fleche Wallonne. Until then!
Time for the first of the Ardennes. We expect the team and Antón in particular to at least score point in these races.
GarcÃa got a spot in the early break according to the plan.
Unfortunately that was the only thing that went as planned as a punction ruined Antóns race completely leaving us with another disappointing result in the end.
With the emabarssement from Amstel in mind everyone was told that they needed to step up for this one.
Sicard went in the early break as planned. It was a big one so they even had a chance to mix in for some good results in the finish.
In the end it was the big names that decided it between them. We never saw any of our guys in the broadcast again, but nevertheless Rudy Verboven managed to get a brilliant 9th place.
Not a lot of Basque riders have good experiences from cobbled races. Today that will change a bit as the Basque Regional Championship Series rides it first race outside Basque country. As earlier announced this kind of races will only give half the points of the domestic races.
The route will see the riders several times over some small cobbled hills in Southern Jutland.
Since Ladagnous haven’t signed up for the race it will be a very open race though Ion Izagirre, Delage and GarcÃa is expected to have an edge on the others.
It will surely bring anothe kind of race than your standard run-of-the-mill cobbles race
*** Favourites ***
I. Izagirre (EUE), Delage (FDJ), GarcÃa (COF)
Back to Belgium then. While Fleche Wallonne at first sight seemed a bit too hard for me, I woke up with great legs. The race wasn't too heavy, the true climbers didn't really show themselves, so I was just sitting in the peloton most of the day, not falling back like I did in other races. This was really well and our director even said I could ride my own race, as Sicard was in the break.
But yes, me on a good day is sitll nowhere near Sagan on a good day. He was going for victory, as the race wouldn't be too hard for him either. A few guys went and joined the big break of the day, so I thougth I wouldn' tget any points today either. But I kept going. I saw Kwiatkowski go on the final Mur de Huy, and I just grabbed his wheel. We were passing so many riders, and I only had one mission: don't lose that wheel.
As we passed more and more riders, I was finaly cracking. The Mur de Huy is for the climbers, not for me. The announcer was shouting about Sagan winning. Too late, Rudy, too late. But then I realised we were in the last turn. The steepest part was over. I just had enough left to accelerate again and hold a decent pace until the finish line. Kwiatkowski was suddenly close again. I was starting to wonder how high I had finished.
Of course this is a great result, 9th in a World Tour classic! It gives me hope for Liege-Bastogne-Liege, can I repeat it there? But I know it's probably a bit too long for me, so we'll probably ride for Igor again. But for now, just let me dream of another good result!
The conditions are not made better by the pouring rain today.
That doesn’t stop Salas of Euskadi Talents attacking early though.
With 150 km to go three riders have established a break, but is kept at around 2 minutes by the chasing peloton. They are Zuazubiskar (Euskadi CT), Guillermois (Aquitaine Talents) and Ruiz (OGE). I wonder why Gorka Nieve have sent his only helper out in the break…
50 km later they have been joined by Morrás (NetApp), Salas (EUS-Talents) and Sesma (Navarre-talents) and the gap have grown to 2’50’’
While the chase is being kept up by RadioShack and the Euskaltel teams several riders have a hard time coping with the cobbles. They all seem allright though and get back up to the peloton quickly.
With 50 km to go Euskaltel – Euskadi is left alone to chase. The break now has 4’27’’ Antón in the role of cobbles-domestique actually starts having some effect on the size of the gap and with 35 km to go the gap is down to 3’30’’
With 30 km to go the peloton is really starting to crack and only 29 riders are lost behind. Among them Velasco, Gorka Nieve and Camaño. Delage is the first of the favourites to move behind with 23 km to go. Euskaltel – Euskadi continue to pull the peloton behind.
Euskaltel-Euskadi can’t seem to reel him in and with 3,5 km to the line Delage has half a minutes gap. Gorka Izagirre squeezes up the speed in the peloton with 1,7 km to go but Delage still has 20 seconds. Gorkas move looks decisive. With 600 m to go Delage is almost caught and Movistar is ready to strike.
The Frenchman has just enough left to take a deserved win!
The Sagasti award goes to Mickaël Delage for being the only rider to insist on avoiding a bunch sprint.
The next race of the series will be raced on the course of Klasika Primavera and may feature a few specially invited riders, who have shown things in PaÃs Vasco.
Shonak: Definitely not Gorka's day. He got caught behind on the first split and just pedalled safely to the finish. Stayed on his bike for the whole race though, which is always a good achievement for a Basque climber riding on cobbles
Thanks. I had really hoped that Ion could/would do more but it looked like Euskaltel - Euskadi were so much favourites that they thought they could just cruise to the finish
Ollfardh: Haha, really? Too late for the cobbles thi year though
Very glad about the performence of the Movistar riders. They did a great job with their 3-4. Now it is time that Intxausti overtakes Anton in the EHST standings...
Liege-Bastogne-Liege was a bit too hard for me, so it was back to working for Igor. Unfortunately he got dropped rather early, so we had to work and bring him back. But he didn't have good legs either, so we had to turn to Ion. By the time I got him to the front, I felt this race was a little too long for me. I finished somewhere in the main group, not anywhere near the points. Ion couldn't keep up with the big guys either, so it was another disappointing monument for the team.
I do have something else to be happy about, I got named rider of the month last month for all my hard work in Belgium. Well, I was pretty much the least useless rider at that point. But at least I have better memories about my Ardennes campaign, as a team goal got achieved in Fleche Wallonne.
So, my first classic season is over, with one good result. As a neopro, I think I can be happy with that, though my cobble results were really bad. Now I'm need of a break after a long classics season, you'll see me again in Kohl, België and Luxembourg!
Liege-Bastogne-Liege was a bit too hard for me, so it was back to working for Igor. Unfortunately he got dropped rather early, so we had to work and bring him back. But he didn't have good legs either, so we had to turn to Ion. By the time I got him to the front, I felt this race was a little too long for me. I finished somewhere in the main group, not anywhere near the points. Ion couldn't keep up with the big guys either, so it was another disappointing monument for the team.
I do have something else to be happy about, I got named rider of the month last month for all my hard work in Belgium. Well, I was pretty much the least useless rider at that point. But at least I have better memories about my Ardennes campaign, as a team goal got achieved in Fleche Wallonne.
So, my first classic season is over, with one good result. As a neopro, I think I can be happy with that, though my cobble results were really bad. Now I'm need of a break after a long classics season, you'll see me again in Kohl, België and Luxembourg!
~ Rudy
You did good in the classics Rudy!
Obviously the results in general were disappointing, but you have shown the right mindset throughout the classics - the reason you were Rider of the Month last month as well.
Riding on Euskaltel is not just about getting big results it's also about fighting and doing the jersey honour. When that can be combined with good results as you did in the most important classic for us it's just brilliant.
You have nothing to be ashamed of - after all this is your first season on this level...
Here I am again in Dunkerque, a very interesting race. And I have to say, my teammates are awesome. They know they let me down in a bit in the classics, so they were eager to make it up here. Look at them chasing the breakawayç
And then, I punctured. The entire peloton and all team cars were passing me. This never happened to me, I was starting to panic. Fotographers came to take pictures. Luckily, this what probably the best picture of me this season, so I just have to share it, even if it was a horrible moment.
But just look at my team mates, all waiting to bring me back.
Fastforward to the sprint. No train for me, so it would be hopping wheels. I was hoping Sky would set up a train, but I was wrong. I should've followed the Lottos. Yet my sprint was decent, and I got 6th. Not bad at all
Dunkerque stage two started with some good news, apparently Ion had won a stage in Trentino! First Criterium International, now this, he's really on fire this season!
Now back to my race, again some cobblers, but nothing too hard, I was expecting another mass sprint. No train for me, so I was forced to go from wheel to wheel again. I avoided a big crash near the finished, then tried to respond to the late attacks
But when the sprint trains took over, I fell back again, just like yesterday. Now I got 7th, after a decent sprint. The stage was not hard enough.
So tomorrow we should have a harder stage, which I welcome. A podium might be possible on a good day, but we'll see how it goes.
Sep Vanmarcke
Ioannis Tamouridis
Juan José Oroz
Stefan Radochla
Jure Kocjan
Tarik Chaoufi
Romain Sicard
Peter Sagan
