I'm starting to realise I'm close to the end of my first season. It's a strange feeling actually, it seemed just last week that I started the season in Tour Down Under. And now we're at the finish of the Vuelta. Samuel had a good race, finishing comfortably in the top 10. Some extra points, but it's not enough yet. While the spanish side of the team was busy in the Vuelta, the team was looking at me for extra points.
Plouay was a disaster, I crashed again. Second time it happened this season. The good news is I was not injured, but so close to the line with a pacing peloton, I wasn't going to come back. Kristoff won, but I think I could've done something if I was still there. Well, Quebec and Montreal are similar races, I can try again there.
GP de Fourmies went better, not a lot of hills, so it was something for the pure sprinters. But I think I did well, even though it was miles behind Greipel and Brouwer that I claimed 7th place.
Finaly it was back in Belgium for the GP Wallonie. Unfortunately I suffered from a severe case of "youthful enthusiasm". When race favourites Gilbert and Henao went early, I decided that I could follow them.
And I made it! I really had great legs that day. Here I was, riding the final of a classic with world champion Philippe Gilbert and Sergio Henao. The gaps never were big, but I did my share of the pacing.
We made it all the way to the early breakaway, I was now at the front of the race. But then Gilbert and Henao accelerated again. I had no answer this time. It was very confronting to see that even with great legs, I still was nowhere near those world class riders. The rest of the early breakaway was out of juice as well, so I was forced to pace, but the following group was closing in fast.
And of course they caught me. All that's left was a sprint for 3rd place, but of course I didn't get far. But somehow I managed to ahng on for 5th on the line. One of my best results this year!
After the race, Gilbert came to me and thanked me for the help in between. He said he was counting on me for the world championships! I just didn't know what to say. In fact, I still don't know..
If anyone were to say that ENECO Tour is not one of the races Euskaltel are most concerned about they would be right.
We do however have Rudy Verboven and he always cares about these Benelux races so that's nice as we really needs some points...
Stage 1: Koksijde - Ardooie
Right from the start we showed the right kind of spirit as Jon Aberasturi went in the first break of the race.
He gets the mountain jersey, which is a nice bonus for the team. Especially as Rudy sprinted to a solid 10th place in the final bunch sprint.
Stage 2: Ardooie - Voorst
Jon really liked his dotted jersey so he went in the break again to show it.
For some reason they have decided to put cobbles on the hills around here so he had to work hard today.
The break lasted to the end, but Jon didn't have th golden legs one could have hoped and is 4th in the sprint while he loses the mountain jersey as well. At least he now leads the young riders class.
Stage 3: Oosterhout - Brouwersdam
A completely flat stage left the team completely inactive. Would have been nice to see Rudy try to sprint, but that's how it goes sometimes.
Stage 5: Sittard-Geelen (ITT)
Not only have they put cobbles on their hills, they have also thrown in a TT just to annoy us.
Nevertheless Jon did great to defend his GC top 10 on the TT.
Stage 6: Riemst - Aywalle
On this hilly stage Landa went into the break, but we didn't really excel tactically as we also worked for Jon's GC in the peloton.
To be honerst that was stupid and we paid dearly in the end losing both the stage and the GC.
Stage 7: Tienen - Geraardsbergen
This time around we had Astarloza in the break.
It was a good effort, but he really didn't enjoy Muur de Geraardsbergen.
Nevertheless he fought hard bringing honour to his orange jersey by hanging on to take a 10th place on the stage. Nothing glorious but every point counts for us at the moment!
This is easily the most important GT of the year for us.
We have sent a strong team with Sánchez, Antón and Ion Izagirre the biggest names.
Stage 1: Vilanova de Arousa - Sanxenxo
Starting off with a TTT is usually not our thing, but we have been practicing and that showed!
A 5th place is a good start.
Finally we showed ourself with MartÃnez breaking away right from the start.
They didn't last to the end, but at least it inspired Ion to sprint to a top 10.
On this stage we tried to launch Spanish champion Lobato for the sprint.
And that went pretty well actually as JJ ended up on 5th place and Ioannis even held on to a point-giving 9th place!
Irailaren - September[img-r]https://hl2mp.tsgk.com/hlstatsimg/flags/es_states/euskadi.png[/img-r]
Last Month on Euskaltel - Euskadi
First we had a week of Tour de France left. Complete crap apart from Oroz getting a highly surprising top 10 in Paris from our first breakaway all Tour…
From there things got better (not that they could much else…) with Igor really putting some life into our home classic around San Sebastian. Sadly he spent the energy a bit early though and in the end it only amounted to an 11th place.
Jon Aberasturi carried the spirit over in Eneco Tour where he was very active the first couple of days giving him a 5th place after the TT and time in both the mountain jersey and the young riders jersey.
Sadly enough we screwed up the tactics instead of letting Rudy wreak havoc on the peloton and the final results were less than dreamt about in spite of a few top 10’s.
And then we finally got to one of the highlights of the season: Vuelta a España.
We outdid ourselves with a 5th place on the team time trial followed up by 4 top 10’s in 2 bunch sprint. Quite some new terrain for us but a welcome change as we have already score more than double the amount of points than we did in the entire Tour de France…
We have also raced a single stage in Poland this month where Cristiano finished 15th in a mountain top finish. Not bad as he was only 40 seconds behind the winner and in same time as number 6. Yet we need everyone to fight for every single point at the moment so still a bit disappointing to see him so passive all day.
Riders not mentioned did not race this month. Full rankings can be found in post #2
Rider of the Month
We’ve had a few good performances this month though no stellar result.
In the end one rider stood out with some exceptional fighting spirit on a day where he had no support thus inspiring the rest of the team to step up and try harder.
Igor Antón
Coming Up
Our main focus is on the Vuelta where we are aiming for a GC top 10 and hopefully a bunch of good stage results along the way.
Apart from that we have to finish Pologne just as we will be racing a bunch of smaller classics hoping to scrape together enough points to stay in the WT.
Something Basque
This time featuring a look behind teh scenes on our team in a Vuelta stage.
Once again Cristiano failed to make any moves but hangs on nicely to the pack proving his talent but scoring no points on any of the two stages where he should aim to get an advantage on his competition.
Another hilly stage where Cristiano needs to pull something out his sleave to live up to our hopes and expectations.
He did the same as on the previous stages: Hanging on to the sub-top riders and finishing inside top 20 but outside top 10.
A big mountain top finish always has some good potential...
MartÃnez was the most visible of our riders having spent most of the day in the break and keeping up a good fighting spirit towards the end and helping Sammy towards the finish after he was passed by the big names.
With several climb today is a hard stage, but since they get smaller towards the finish it's also crucial that we get in the break.
Verdugo made that part of the plan succeed and even though he didn't have the legs to finish it he made the right move and got a good 7th place on the stage behind former breakaway companions.
As mountain stages comes this is one of the big ones...
Ion went in the break and made a great show of it picking up a lot of mountain points and spending a lot of time at the very front with some agressive riding just as we like it.
In the end he fell just short of the stage win but nonetheless it was great to see.
He even inspired Sánchez to try attacking a bit behind. Sadly enough he wasn't strong enough and ended up losing his GC top 10 along the way...
Astarloza took another day in front with the break.
In the end that didn't mean a lot except that he got to pull Samuel over the line helping him consolidate his GC.
As one of the harder classics of this period Varesine was a race where we had some fairly high hopes of doing well with Igor and Cristiano being the likely leaders.
The first time the team was seen was when Aberasturi was unlucky to catch a puncture early on.
When Jon had found his way back up we went to the front of the peloton helping set the pace to reel in the break.
From there we went on to a fairly anonymous race as the pouring rain took the sting out of Igor's legs.
Still he secured us our top 10 goal and Rudy got us a few more points.
The season is almost over for me. Two more classics on the calendar for me and the WC's. Although I won't have a chance in the TT, I'm looking forward to the U23 Road Race. I want to thank the coach of the National Team for selecting me.
Speaking of racing, I recently raced the Tour de Pologne and Tre Valli Varesine. Being the leader of our squad in Poland, it was quite a disappointment. I expected much more from the first and second stage, which featured a few Italian mountains. Every stage I was there, but not good enough. In the end I finished 12th in the GC, which is not bad, but not great either.
Next up was Tre Valli Varesine, where I had a free role behind Igor Anton. As hilly races aren't really my thing, finishing 25th is not too bad.
The autumn classics are going really well for me. After my earlier results, I had a lot of confidence for Paris-Bruxelles. It's too flat for me and there were some big names starting, but a top 10 should've been possible, especially after Ruben dropped me off in a very good position.
I don't have the pure acceleration some others have, but my endurance improved and while the faster men were slowing down already, I kept speeding up on the outside and managed a 4th place! It's an annoying place to finish of course, but if the podium is Hanzen-Greipel-Brouwer, I can't complain. Of course the point difference between 3de and 4th is big, but if we can keep scoring like this, we can definitely stay in the World Tour!
I also went to Canada for some more World Tour action. I had good legs in Quebec, but youthful enthusiasm kicked in again, I tried to attack to drop some riders.
Of course I didn't get away, but it did cause an elite group to get away. In the end, we sprinted for a top 10, but it was not my lucky week, as I finished 11th. Just outside the big points again. Still, a good result in a World Tour race.
Montreal wasn't that good though. I didn't have the legs, yet I tried to follow Gilbert when he went. Stupid, stupid, stupid. I totally blew up 10 kilometres later an finished in the pack.
A few more classics to go, a few more chances to score points. It's going to be close, but I still think we can make it!
Another French late season classif for strong sprinters (meaning Rudy).
This one has a lot weaker peloton though so more likeluness of a good result for us...
Rudy placed himself nicely for the sprint even though he didn't get much help this time.
A 7th place behind names like Greipel and Brouwer while beating guys like Bosn and Eisel isn't too shabby!
By now there’s not really much reason to go in depth with the favourites and such as you should all be familiar with the contenders at this time.
This time we have gone to Amorebeita where we will be racing on the route of Klasika Primavera. A race that is speculated might take a step up in the UCI rating next year…
It features two climbs each climbed three times.
Muniketagane is the longest and steepest of the two while Autzagane makes sure there won't be much of a rest in between the main climbs and it could act as a launch pad for attacks in the finale.
Koldo Fernandez follows Lana’s early attack knowing that he will have trouble following the big names in the finale.
A wave of attacks follows with riders like Camaño, Erviti and Irizar amon the most active while Vlaanderen and Catalunya are pulling the peloton.
Though many insist on trying no one gets a gap of more than a minute in the first 40 km.
Then finally the peloton allows Fernandez (GRS), Erviti (MOV), Irizar (RLT), Lana (NAV) and Bizkarra (EUK) to slip away.
And they are slipping fast as they are up to 5 minutes advantage with 100 km left.
Catalunya, Vlaanderen and Euskaltel-Navarre seem to have them under control keeping them steady at around 5’30’’ until they hit the foot of Muniketagane for the first time.
At the top the break has 3’30 to the peloton where Catalunya are doing most of the work as RodrÃguez is the absolutely biggest favourite today.
Pretty much nothing happens across the first pass of Autzagane.
50 km and 2’21
40 km and 2’34
Next time on the main climb we have the first big name attacking. RodrÃguez is the one.
He quickly bridges the gap to the break while De Clerq and Verboven are pulling the peloton to fast fro anyone else to feel like attacking.
On the downhill Irizar, Fernández and Lana tries to get rid of the Catalonian.
They can’t but kudos to Koldo for even giving it another go the 2nd time they hit Autzagane and gets away only followed by Purito!
Meanwhile further back Igor Antón is setting a pace that not only reels in the rest of the break but also shatters the peloton in pieces.
Names like Gorka Nieve, Gárate, Millar and Veilleux are among those lost behind.
25 km to go. Purito is alone in front with 21 seconds to Koldo Fernández and a further 31 seconds to the main group now counting 32 riders.
Gorka’s cousin Mikel leads the group into the final 20 km 36 second after Purito with Koldo still struggling to stay away.
Vlaanderen reels in RodrÃguez with 16 km to go. 32 riders remain in the battle at this point!
Bakelandts starts the next and probably decisive wave of attacks.
No one seems to be able to make the decisive move to get away, though the Euskaltel riders look a bit worn at the back of the 11-rider front group.
But then right at the summit RodrÃguez squeezes up the pace. López and Bakelandts are pulled along in his slipstream while De Clerq cracks completely cracks leaving a small hole that quickly grows on the descent.
Antón is giving his all in front of the chasing group containing him, Intxausti, De las Campos, Izagirre and Zubeldia.
As Izagirre takes over they almost catch up to the front trio where Purito has been in the lead all the way without even looking back. I wonder if he even knows he’s not alone?
Igor closes the gap going into the final 5 km.
Half a minute behind the front group we have Van Avermaet, Verboven and De Clerq while 51 riders follow another 5 minutes further back.
Current EHST leader Ion Izagirre cracks and falls back to the Flemish group leaving 7 riders in front.
Purito flexes his muscles with a long sprint.
He just is that strong today!
With 1 km left it’s hard to see anyone come past him…
This sprint was all about who had the most left in the tank and no one had enough to go past anyone else in the finale.
Roughly half a minute late Verboven beats his countrymen in the sprint thus proving that the Belgian national coach was right in selecting him for the worlds.
Landa tries to copy Puritos trick with the ling sprint from the peloton.
He is far from the same success and instead we see a surprising 12th place in the 18-year old Gorka Nieve!
A groundbreaking performance to see him win a sprint!!
While it could be argued that the SagastÃn award should go to Purito he generally rode as could be expected from someone as huge a favourite as him. Instead it goes to a rider who really gave it his all and lasted longer than most expected, while cracking completely along the way.
I mean who would have ever predicted Koldo Fernandez cracking a gap with JoaqÃum RodrÃguez in his wheel on a hill?
Because of that, the many initial attacks and his insisting way of spending a lot of time only just ahead of the chasing group despite being doomed in advance the SagastÃn award goes to Koldo Fernández.
As usual when racing in Belgium we have high hopes for Verboven even though it will be hard to beat the likes of current world champion Philippe Gilbert.
Rudy rode a beatiful race
He followed several attacks from Gilbert and Henao, unfortunately once again he couldn't quite kep up and lacked that bit of energy in the sprint leaving him just short of the podium.
Nevertheless a good effort. When he develops to be as strong as his spirit we're in for some big results!
Also apprently Gilbert were really impressed and pushed for the Belgian NT coach to select Rudy for the worlds as well!
Peter Sagan
Samuel Sánchez
Philippe Gilbert
Jure Kocjan
Tarik Chaoufi
Sébastien Minard
BMC Racing Team
Ioannis Tamouridis
Rigoberto Urán
Ricardo Mestre
Moreno Moser
Michał Kwiatkowski
Sky Procycling
Egor Silin
Oreste Ghita
Alexander Kristoff
André Greipel
