The first team gathering this year marks 20 years with Euskaltel - Euskadi. A great achievement - especially considering the hard times for the team in recent years.
A year ago I promised to bring Euskaltel - Euskadi back to it's roots with at least 90% Basque's. Already this year that number is 93% thanks to the goodwill of other managers allowing us to bring many old friends home.
I believe we have the strongest and most versatile team in many years and while we are still not the strongst team on the WT - far from it - we are stronger than last year and determined to reestablish ourselves as a natural part of cycling on the very highest level.
Also we introduced the Euskal Herria Segida Txalpelketan last year, which at first saw all the Basque riders competing against each other and later after getting very popular invited riders from other regions fighting for independence. This year we are expanding even further to include nations, who have gained their independece within the last 100 years. More details about that further down.
~ Alaon EtxeberdeaEdited by Atlantius on 04-08-2015 07:35
The team was founded back in 1994 as a way of giving young Basque riders a team to ride on aiming to be a stepping stone for them to bigger teams.
To get on the team a rider had to be either born in País Vasco or having ridden there on amateur/youth level at least three years.
The first few years it was Basque riders from other teams but with the emergence of Roberto Laiseka the team grew in capabilities and importance. And since then there has been no looking back.
The last couple of years the team has been threatened by new UCI rules and has been forced to include other nationalities ultimately threatening the teams right to exist.
Last season was in many years a transition year where a sub-optimal squad were to rediscover the old spirit. The team survived against all odds and can now look towards the future.
(1994-1995)
(1994-2006)
With a win on stage 5 of Vuelta al País Vasco 1994 Sagasti got the team it's first ever win. Sadly his career was cut short by a terrible accident in '95.
Laiseka was a crucual rider for the team for many years. He both gave the team it's first Vuelta and Tour stage wins and the first Vuelta GC top 10.
(2000-2006)
(1998-2008, 2014)
Iban was one of the biggest talents ever on the team taking a Dauphine stage and a Vuelta 11th already in his 2nd season. In 2003 he came 6th in the Tour while winning on Alpe d'Huez with his 2nd place in País Basque and the win in Dauphiné the following year he was named one of the few hopes of becoming a real challenger for Armstrong. Sadly the rest of his career was ruined by crashes and a vulnerable mind.
With several strong performances including a 5 GT top 10's with his Tour de France 5th places in 2003 and 2007 as the highlights Haimar looked like the future of stage racing and was a big part of giving the team spirit to go for more than stage wins.
(2000-2013)
(2004-2014)
Olympic Champion, 3 GT-podiums, a Tour de France Mountain Jersey winner of Vuelta al País Vasco and several podiums in Lombardia and Flèche Wallonne is just the highlights of his palmares. In short a key rider on the team for more than a decade and the man behind many of our proudest moments.
Antón was on the road for greatness with increasingly good results in both classics and stage races up to 2010 where he won two stages on the first half of the Vuelta looking comfrotable in the GC lead as well. Until he crashed hard that is.
My name is Rudy Verboven, and I'll be joining the team this year. I'm a Flemish rider, and I love the classics. My favourite races are on the cobbled hills in Belgium. I grew up with cyclists such as Johan Museeuw, Frank Vandenbroucke, and more recently Tom Boonen and Philippe Gilbert, to look up to. My parents bought me a racing bike for my 16th birthday, and I loved cycling like nothing else.
Of course I was amazed that a ProTour team immediatly picked me up, and the terms they offered me were incredibly generous, so I didn't need to think about it much. "Just tell me where to sign already!", I remember saying. I'm proud to be part of this team, and will do my best
Now why Euskaltel, you might ask. They have a history of punishing underperforming riders by sending them to Roubaix or other cobbled classics. I'll get little or no support here. I'm aware of that. But it doesn't matter, it means I can go my own chances, while it wouldn't be the same in other teams. But what matters most is the project. The manager has convinced me this is the right team, not just for me, but for any cyclist.
And the fans, well the fans are incredible. I remember them waving their flags on tv, the orange sea the riders had to go through on the mountain stages. This is more than just a cycling team, and I hope I can be a part of this project. Who knows, maybe they'll even come cheer for me on the Koppenberg!
I hope to announce my schedule later on. I'm hoping to ride a lot of classics, and maybe a few stage races too. I know the team doesn't have a history in cobbled races, but I hope I do get a few preparation races, and then we'll see where I end in the big races!
My name is Cristiano de las Campos. I was born in the city of Pamplona, but my parents moved when my father got a better job in Donostia. Tired of the city life, they decided to move to small town that is Ergoien. I have lived there for 18 years now and I love it here.
Last season was not a great year for me, but I got top 10's on several stages and a top 10 GC finish in the Tour de Suisse. This year I hope to do better, but above all I want to win a mountain stage.
Edited by mvhoogdalem on 20-02-2015 21:14
While we wait for the season to get going we will take some closer looks at our new team compared to what we had at the start of last season. This is the first installment.
The Cobbles Squad
The cobbles have always been our least preffered terrain, but with the signing of our young Flemish talent Verboven last year we started taking it a bit serious
2013 Cobbles Squad
Cbl
Sta
Fla
Hi
Verboven, Rudy
75
71
73
75
Tamouridis, Ioannis
67
68
70
67
Oroz, Juan José
66
70
68
71
Kocjan, Jure
65
70
70
70
Aberasturi, Jon
63
66
68
66
Radochla, Stefan
61
66
70
63
Schulze, André
60
67
71
64
Chaoufi Tarik
58
66
67
66
Average
64,4
68,0
69,6
67,8
2014 Cobbles Squad
Cbl
Sta
Fla
Hi
Verboven, Rudy
77
72
74
78
Florencio, Xavier
73
73
72
72
García, Egoitz
71
69
72
69
Erviti, Imanoel
70
69
71
66
Irizar, Markel
68
70
73
66
Fernandez, Koldo
66
67
73
67
Aberasturi, Jon
63
66
68
66
Bilbao, Pello
57
68
68
71
Average
68,1
69,3
71,4
69,4
Improvements
Cbl
Sta
Fla
Hi
Improvement, Leader
2
1
1
3
Improvement, Avg, Top 3
4,3
1,7
2,3
2,0
Improvement, Avg, All
3,8
1,3
1,8
1,6
As last year the same 8 riders will ride together in most of the cobbles season, which makes the teams easily comparable.
While you should still not expect to see us calling the shots in the cobbles-classics we feel we have strengthened the team significantly in this aspect - and that even while sticking to our philosophy.
Verboven have grown quite a lot stronger the last year and will this year have as many as 4 riders stronger on cobbles than his best helper last season.
Of course in this team there will always be one or two riders that would have preffered not to ride cobbles, but that is unavoidable and in general we're very happy with the team we have put together for the cobbles this year.
Hopefully the increased depth will prove worthwhile by actually beign abl to support Rudy after the first cobbled section of the race and perhaps even through a surprising break in one of the smaller classics.
Another historically weak area for the team and a line-up that is rarely seen in full. Nevertheless an area where we improved a lot during last year.
2013 Sprint Team
Spr
Acc
Fl
Lobato, Juan José
75
75
73
Verboven, Rudy
75
73
73
Tamouridis, Ioannis
72
73
70
Kocjan, Jure
72
73
70
Pérez, Rubén
72
73
70
Schulze, André
72
72
71
Urtasun, Pablo
72
73
72
Aberasturi, Jon
71
72
68
Average
72,6
73,0
70,9
2014 Sprint Squad
Spr
Acc
Fl
Verboven, Rudy
75
74
74
Sanz, Enrique
74
73
72
Fernández, Koldo
73
73
73
García, Egoitz
73
73
72
Pérez, Rubén
72
73
70
Aberasturi, Jon
72
72
68
Castroviejo
69
74
73
Florencio, Xavier
69
73
72
Average
72,1
73,1
71,8
Changes
Spr
Acc
Fl
Change, leader
0
-1
1
Change, Avg Top 3
0,0
-0,3
1,0
Change, Avg All
-0,5
0,1
0,9
Though we obviously were weakened in this area when Lobato left during the transfer season we are in fact only slightly weakened compared to the start of the season.
Out top sprinter is of similar level, while 2nd sprinter is slightly worse. To some extent that should be compensated by the fact that we have better leadout-men for them as well as stronger riders for the flat to help them start the sprint in a decent position.
All-in-all close to status quo and we're confident that Koldo will be able to teach a lot to Sanz and thus help him grow a lot as a sprinter this year.
About Anton;
He crashed in the red jersey in 2010,not 2008
He won at mythical Zoncolan at Giro 2011 and won the stage to Bilbao when the Vuelta returned to Basque Country in Vuelta 2011.And he got a Vuelta top 10 in 2012.
The user formerly known as 'The Schleck Fan' Gracias Alberto.
The Schleck Fan wrote:
About Anton;
He crashed in the red jersey in 2010,not 2008
He won at mythical Zoncolan at Giro 2011 and won the stage to Bilbao when the Vuelta returned to Basque Country in Vuelta 2011.And he got a Vuelta top 10 in 2012.
True. He did crash out in 2008 as well though.
While he have ahd good days afterwards I doubt anyone in their right mind will say Antón have found the level of his pre-crash 2010 Vuelta since then...
I would be the first to defend him if I thought he deserved better climbing stats than he has in this DB
Another traditionally weak point for the team, though we last year got a surprising 10th at the TTT World Championships.
The 2013 TTT-Train
TT
Prl
Hi
Izagirre, Ion
74
73
75
Sánchez, Samuel
73
72
76
Verdugo, Gorka
70
72
73
Tamouridis, Iannis
70
70
67
Astarloza, Mikel
69
67
73
Antón, Igor
68
69
77
De las Campos, Cristiano
68
67
72
Martínez, Egoi
68
67
73
Average
70,0
69,6
73,3
The 2014 TTT-Train
TT
Prl
Hi
Castroviejo, Jonathan
77
76
73
Izagirre, Ion
76
74
79
Intxausti, Beñat
75
72
77
Irizar, Markel
72
74
66
Zubeldia, Haimar
72
71
73
Astarloza, Mikel
69
67
73
Antón, Igor
68
69
77
De las Campos, Cristiano
68
67
74
Average
72,1
71,3
74,0
Changes
TT
Prl
Hi
Change, leader
3
3
-2
Change, Avg Top 3
3,7
1,7
1,7
Change, Avg All
2,1
1,6
0,8
There's not much arguing against that we have a significantly strenghtened TTT roster this year as well as some stronger individual TT'ers with Castroviejo obviously standing out.
With this roster we coud actually do something in the coming year...
La Tropical Amissa Bongo
Tour Down Under
Tour of Oman
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
Clásica de Almería
Strade Bianche
Amstel Gold Race
Tour of Turkey
Tour de Romandie
Tour of California
Bayern Rundfahrt
Tour de Luxebourg
Euskaltel is probably the team I like the most, so good luck with your season 
