At the end of 2016, disappointment has been the mood with which you could describe the feelings of the average basque cycling fan. They have been disappointed once again by the fall of their heroes. But this time it was even more tragic. The bang was unavoidable, the once fruitful ground of basque cycling has been once again ran over by nothing less than a huge desaster. The volcano which was the doping case of Samuel Sanchez was the trigger and the nail in the coffin at the same time, as it erupted over the basque cycling scene. The project of Euskaltel was done and dusted.
Now Jon Larrinaga had a decision to make. Would he step down as his former companions did, would he merge with the biggest basque approach that was actually working or would he start from (almost) scratch again on a lower level? Quickly he set the logical idea of merging by side, deciding to take responsibilities in his own hand. But that didn't mean he'd completely step down.
There was simply nobody that would pick up his project. But he felt responsible for the riders he contracted. They shouldn't leave the project with empty hands. And he didn't wanna leave the sinking ship like so many others did. He was the captain of what seemed to become a beutiful yacht in the making, but was released too early and appeared to not even be able to swim properly.
Hence what he decided to do was gathering all his tools to repair what seemed to be irrepairable. He shrinked down the yacht, extracted all the working parts, cleared up the rotten parts that were painted in shiny colours, and built a rowing boat on top of his sinking ship. At the end of 2016, when finally the yacht was sunk, captain Larrinaga escaped the deep see in his rowing boat, with a couple of his most loyal sailors.
Option B: Hold on to what you've got. Take it to a low level, but keep it your own independent project. Let the past go and look to rebuild from scratch with local talent and some experienced journeymen.
Ironically, it was the deal that broke him down that would now mean that Larrinaga could continue the project. Eventhough every single of the former sponsors would decide to step down, it was the Kutxabank, who initially wanted to increase the budget of the Euskaltel Team, that still felt committed to support the young project. While the state government and the big Euskaltel decided that Larrinaga was not the man to trust for a project anymore, Kutxabank where willing to fund almost the full budget on their own.
Spoiler
Scepticism still has been pretty high in the Pais Vasco about the sustainability of this project. As a reporter from the local newspaper, the Deia, stated: "Whether Larrinaga is blameless or not, he is tainted by this huge crash - from running a WT team to nothing within a few weeks. If I'd intend to build up a cycling project here I'd rather start over without him."
Larrinaga had a decision to take though, and he decided. In line with media and fan opinions, he looked at several basque cycling veterans for taking part in the project: Zubeldia, Irizar, Garcia, Txurruka. None was willing to commit to such a project. He'd have to take it up all on his own.
The loss of quality was unavoidable though: Nieve, Anton, Intxausti, Lobato, Fraile, Bilbao, de la Parte, Lopez and Sicard gone. Zubeldia, Txurruka, Irizar, Duran, Garcia retired. Even the younger talents like Amezqueta and Lastra left the squad to find their ways at PCT level, against teams like Caja Rural and Willier the perspective was just too bad. Only Aberasturi could resist the financially lucrative offer of japanese team UKYO to stay at home. Hence what was left of the team was a young mixture of veteran CT riders and borderline talents. And even of the young guns Fran Perez and Miguel Fernandez would decline the offers, preferring to move onto Amateur level instead of keeping it up.
Jon Aberasturi
27
Leader
Ricardo GarcÃa
28
Leader
Jon Irisarri
21
Free Role
Óscar PelegrÃ
22
Free Role
Jokin Etxabe
22
Domestique
Jaume Sureda
20
Domestique
Fernando Barceló
20
Domestique
This squad was a solid amateur squad, with at least some potential to be competitive in the CT. Still, some riders would need to be signed, especially if the team would want to compete in U23 races. With the rise of Polartec however, a lot of the best young spanish riders would look elsewhere, and even Murias and Fundacion Euskadi had higher reputation now.
Larrinaga, on his own in planning the team, obviously couldn't pay for any scouts or supportive staff. Hence he'd need to rely on his own abilities to find riders that would A offer a decent level of talent or ability to become solid CT riders and B would commit to such a low reputation project. Should he look past basque borders to find some talents, leaders or experienced riders? Who would you try to approach to bring into the team, that could realistically sign a contract with the project? Remember that you don't have a lot of shots, as the season start is not too far away on the horizon and riders are keen to know about their future as soon as possible...
You decide! You determine the path, we write the story together.Edited by Croatia14 on 29-01-2019 14:49
Ok, Larrinaga it is, I'll throw my support behind him now.
Tempting to say Basque or Bust, but the situation seems to be pretty dire right now. Grab Basque riders if any are still interested. But probably we'll need to look further, any connections to South America maybe, a Venezuelan talent looking to flee the country? But he'll have to fit in and love pintxos.
feel free to throw in some names that would make sense at this point (remember we are still in the past, roughly 2 years ago!) - as what you post here will majorly determine the next episode
My real cycling knowledge is very limited, but here's a Basque talent I picked up with a custom Spanish team in PCM 17: Alex Aranburu. I like the name, also, 25th in the Basque Tour 2018 irl.
Cyril Barthe (French Basque I think) won Portugal Futuro stages in rl 2017 and was in the Euskadi development ranks - but should be available with a full CT contract as he didn't go to Murias until last year. Oscar Rodriguez was a stagiaire in 2016 with Murias but could be snatched - worth a shot? Mikel Bizkarra (as Tamijo said) is at Murias but could be a fantastic leader and mentor if he wants to jump ship. Fernando Barceló - Avenir stage winner - is currently with Contador's amateur team and could want to jump to CT. Christian Rodriguez is at Willier and not Basque so would be hard but is a great talent.
I might be interested in a couple of overseas riders - definitely Sympathetic Spaniards a la Samu (less doping though). Or: Dion Smith as he didn't get to Wanty until late January? Would want to go to PCT/WT soon though.
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant." [ICL] Santos-Euskadi | [PT] Xero Racing
After a long and tiring process, Jon Larrinaga decided to continue the project he was left alone with. 7 riders had confirmed their commitment, still leaving plenty of spaces for new additions. Budget though has been as tight as ever, and the reputation was on a low point. Who would join the project against all odds?
State of the Art:
Jon Aberasturi
27
Leader
Ricardo GarcÃa
28
Leader
Jon Irisarri
21
Free Role
Óscar PelegrÃ
22
Free Role
Jokin Etxabe
22
Domestique
Jaume Sureda
20
Domestique
Fernando Barceló
20
Domestique
First up on the list was LluÃs Guillermo Mas Bonet and Carlos Barbero. The later though had already been contacted last year already, but wouldn't want to join from Caja Rural. With Movistars offer though it was easy to decline our offer. Also Lluis Mas decided to continue his way as loval servant of Caja Rural.
Mikel Bizkarra seemed to be a more realistic target, but he had a decent role last year at Euskadi - Murias. While we'd liked to have him on the team, he felt like he'd have more access to better races as part of the Euskadi-Murias squad.
Next up on our list was Alex Aranburu, riding for Euskadi-Murias as well. And this time we've been more lucky, as he'd decided that he'd commit to a project that would aim on developing him in a leader role. But then luck turned around once more, as Caja Rural scrapped our plans by offering him a contract he couldn't decline.
So far so bad, Larrinaga couldn't find a single addition in the first week of trying to put a team together. But this was not the time to reduce the efforts. Hence Larrinaga went over to broaden the horizon and look over the borders. Eventhough many basque fans wouldn't enjoy foreign riders, it was the way to go to be competitive. Larrinaga did bet on the hope that fans would accept and adapt, especially given the certain circumstances.
Next up on the list was Óscar RodrÃguez. While he had some great performances on national level, he was rewarded at the end of 2016 with a Stagiare at Euskadi-Murias. While we tried to snap him away from those, we couldn't the climbing prospect would sign for our rivals.
Young man Fernando Barceló is a whole different story, as the young man from Murcia, Aragon has only been active in national events. Riding for Polartec meant having a couple of chances on his own: And he used them well on national level, as in podiums on Aitzondo Clasica-Asteasu, Subida a Gorla-Bergara and Clà ssica Xavi Tondo. Put a couple of good national CX outings on top, and we have the profile of a young man we'd like on our roster. As his best offer had been one from the Fundacion Euskadi amateur team, he decided to head elsewhere in the basque country, hoping for his chance at Kutxabank.
Spoiler
Except for WTF are you doing jandal, he is in our team already My little son hasn't followed the story it seems Here is a nice pic of him winning anyway
We then tried to enquire Dion Smith. Although he was nice and friendly, his response was a clear no. Eventhough he recently terminated his contract with One Pro Cycling, he stated that he is looking for other opportunities that could bring him to PCT or PT level.
That brought us back to Mikel Bizkarra. As things twist and turns these days, it occured that due to rising competition on the Murias squad, the captain role of the climber was in doubt. Hence, he said that under certain circumstances he would be willing to sign with us. However, his wage would be higher than any of the other riders, meaning that it would lead to him leaving only few space for other additions.
Spoiler
Jon Aberasturi
27
Leader
Ricardo GarcÃa
28
Leader
Jon Irisarri
21
Free Role
Óscar PelegrÃ
22
Free Role
Cyril Barthe
20
Free Role
Jokin Etxabe
22
Domestique
Jaume Sureda
20
Domestique
Fernando Barceló
20
Domestique
In that sense, Larrinaga worked over the next days to create a list of how many riders could be signed and who'd be available for which costs. We have 5 credits to give, category 1 costs 4 credits, category 2 2 credits and category 3 1 credit. There are the following options:
This is tough, I like them all. On one hand, more riders should equal more scoring chances. A top category choice means only 2 more riders, instead of up to 5. Errazqin looks very exciting, though.
So I'd probably rather go with a combo of Fernandez, Juaristi, Quevedo and Martinez. Climbers and stage racers aren't that useful in the CT afaik, though I hope that's where the team will shine in the future. Puncheurs seem a better choice for now, and might as well add a sprinter, too.
But honestly, I support just about any combo. Another captain would be nice, focussing on climbing right away is cool...
Very tough one here and I'm not too fussed by it. I do like Bizkarra as a way forward for the team and although as Ripley said climbing isn't as influential at CT as it is in the top two divisions he is a great rider for the level (I know this will diverge from real life but a Vuelta top 20 makes for an absolutely amazing buy). I do like a talent focus but a guy like that, with Aberasturi, will hopefully bring in funds, reputation and support. However going for Errazquin or a mix of Cat 2 or 3 talents would be very nice - I would prefer the talents to be Basque or at least Spanish imo.
Sorry I couldn't be of more use but would enjoy a discussion and might be able to form more of an opinion
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant." [ICL] Santos-Euskadi | [PT] Xero Racing
I can't decide between taking either Bizkarra + 1 credit Basque category 3 rider or the Venezuelan trio of Alarcon, Monsalve and Quevedo. The latter might be an interesting option to look at, and probably my preferred option for the moment, with them also possibly bringing in sponsorship from that geography...
A short input to the climbers discussion: of course the team will adjust the calendar in line with the rider dynamics and demography. So with a couple of South Americans the team would ride races over there that f.e. focus a lot on climbing, with a more national approach the team will take up a higher focus on National Events, with many young riders the team would aim for participation in the highest quality U23-prone races,...
Aha, that makes all the diff... doesn't help me at all.
Abhishek's Venezuelan trio is a smart idea, three good riders, and it would give us a mountainous calendar. But only half the riders being Basque, when a lot of interesting local riders are available? Plus only 5 U23 riders, so no U23 races.
So I remain open for everything. If Bizkarra is really that good, the new captain, he'd be a great catch. Errazqin looks like he'll be even better in the future, a guy we definitely want on the team sooner or later, and who knows if we get another chance to pick him up. I still like the 4 riders I picked earlier - while I agree with jandal, talents should ideally be Basque, if we ever want a sprinter on the team we'll probably have to look elsewhere, so I wouldn't mind Martinez for now. Fernandez plus 3 of the 4 Basque talents, keeping the focus very Basque, is also a fine idea. Too much choice, croatia!
It was about time to finalize the squad. Over the last month of 2016 Larrinaga went through all over the basque country and south america to take a look at riders. At the end he had great talks with almost everybody. Options varied from 2-4 riders to sign, at the end he took the budget to sign a couple.
That said, Larrinage decided against signing any guy from South America. Eventhough there surely lays some great scoring potential, for now Team Kutxabank would go the regional way. That also excluded the signing of Jose Martinez, who was riding in Spain before and found his home at Baque-BT. The Venezoelans went on to sign for regional outings, besides Monsalve who'd go on to sign in China for a paycheck that at the end of the day overwhelmed almost our full budget. Could we have made a steal there? Canaveral staid in Spain as well, joining amateur team G-Sport Valenciana. We'll surely keep an eye on him if developing well, eventhough then it may be too late to get him.
It was also clear that none of the spanish riders would sign for the team. There have been good talks with talented Samitier, Lopez-Cozar and Castrillo, but at the end none could outrun the basque focus we want to keep. Hence they'll stay at their top tier amateur teams. Castrillo from Lizarte could've been a major steal though, as they're known to be the inofficial Movistar Development Team, and signing one of their riders could've meant a huge prestige boost for our project, especially thinking of his talent. Same goes for Sergio Samitier, while Lopez-Cozar will at least stay in the Pais Vasco and ride for the Fundacion Euskadi. Another Fan-favourite in Dzmitry Zhyhunou will stay at Lizarte as well.
Now to the basque options. Out of 7 make it 2: And not on the project will be a relevant of the famous Miguel Indurain: Both his son Miguel Jr. and Inigo Elosegui could not impress enough to sign a contract, however they'll stay in touch with the squad. The same goes for young Time Trial specialist Diego Lopez.
Instead, the team decided to select Txomin Juaristi Arrieta for a contract. Of the talents available from the Pais Vasco, 21-year old puncheur Juaristi is one of the more experienced ones. After 3 years at Cafe Baque - Coservas Campo we could convince him to take the challenge at continental level. While he hasn't been the most consistent of scorers on national level, he took a great win at the LXX Antzuola Saria, where he went clear on hilly terrain and took a solo victory. Also a 4th place at the Basque U23 ITT stood out, hence he could prove to be a solid addition.
With that said, it was 3 riders fighting for 1 place. Egoitz Fernandez would've been the rider we would've signed with a higher budget, but that sadly turned out to be impossible. Instead, Egoitz signed a bigger contract in Japan with Team UKYO, where he'll experience a completely new side of cycling. They also tried to take Aberasturi with a much higher offer from us, but our sprint captain decided to rate loyalty over money and stay with our project.
We just needed another leader to take pressure off him. And we found that one in Mikel Bizkarra. It's almost like a cinderella story for our new approach, bringing the 27 year old climber from Mañaria home to Team Kutxabank, leaving Euskadi - Murias for our project that offers him leadership in the climbers races. He'll face plenty of chances to shine, and we're confidetn that he'll stand out for us despite him being just 1.65m tall. Big signing!
That also meant that we had to decided against signing young climber Xuban Errazkin Perez, who instead took the step to Portugal signing with RP Boavista. We may regret that, thinking of how well he did in his recent stagiare outing at Willier Triestina.
However, we managed to build a team with which we could take a confident look into the future:
Excellent! A small team, a local team, a well-rounded team. I'm sure one or more of the riders who moved elsewhere will make the team regret not signing them, but that's life.
After revealing their squad, the management of Team Kutxabank including Larrinaga received some good critics. Bike Basque called the team "a necessary and honest cut to start fresh", while the Deia found "decent basement for a more successful basque team. Even the ever-critical news portal ciclo21 talked about "Larrinaga regaining parts of the face he lost in the Euskaltel farce". Even international websites had some thumbs up for the composition of the Kutxabank Team:
Excellent! A small team, a local team, a well-rounded team. I'm sure one or more of the riders who moved elsewhere will make the team regret not signing them, but that's life.
Those reactions surely helped the team a lot in the process of drawing up a potential race calendar. Of course the squad was invited to all national events, which is a good sign. The management pre-selected a number of races the team could approach.
On top, Larrinaga gathered invitations from all over the world to create an attractive racing calendar. Beneath invitations for every spanish .1 and .HC races the team could also gather invitations from Portugal, France, Eastern Europe, Asia, South Amercia and some of the biggest U23 races.
Now another problem appears: We need to reduce the calendar accordingly to the riders we've got in the team and sponsor ambitions. What we would like to see is input on 2 tasks:
1. Calendar reduction: Which races should we scrap in order to avoid clashes? We can only take a maximum of 2 races at the same time. Also: Keep in mind that travelling and material transport will cost time and money that we woth don't have too much.
Please select the races/types of races you want to see our teams in. Also mention which type of races we may want to skip.
2. Rider planning: If you'd like to do that, now is the chance to claim one rider, individually plan his calendar including form, goals and race plans, ask for specific domestiques,... Your planned races will then be almost guaranteed to be raced by the squad.
Big questions not that easy to answer, but will try to look into it in the weekend.
But just to open a general debate I would suggest that we try to make an all round calendar with something for sprinter, puncher as well as climber.
And also somewhat equal distribution of cat. 1 and cat 2 races + 2 HC (avoiding the dbl. header)
With 9 riders I don't see how we can go to two races at the same time. At first glance, too many races, let's say we take 6 riders per race and we want everybody to race 60 days each, that'd be just 90 race days in total. How is the points scale? Do the NEs bring points? What are the double digit races (1.12.x), haven't seen those before.
Considering the budget, I'd scrap anything outside Europe, heck, I'd suggest staying on the Iberian Peninsula, seem like enough races to choose from. Maybe we could pick the Volta a Portugal U23 to have one race for our young riders where they get to race for their own results. We could pick one of the two 2.HC races and get a suitable captain on form for the race, though the competition is bound to be tough.
a) x.xx.x events are also national events, but they have a higher status than NE events on the spanish calendar
b) races on national level can be raced with less than the mandatory 5 riders
c) there may be the chance of putting a stagiare in later on in this season, so keep that in mind
d) by valuing races outside of the Iberian Peninsula, keep in mind that those could also be a handy idea to get in sponsors - the quantity of races abroad and the performances there could have a massive impact on gathering funds from abroad - if the team wants to go in that direction...
e) there is no points system that really matters for the team - prestige and results matter the most NE and x.xx.x results bring points for the national racing series, while all x.xU races bring points for the U23 calendar; .1 and .2 races bring points for the continental tours - those 3 calendars & rankings do not correlate with each other, so it doesn't help our continental tour status if we do well in amateur races
Would want to go to PCT/WT soon though.
