A quiet month in terms of competition, as Barredo finished 4th in Doha and we refused to participate in the Tour of Qatar. Our riders roamed the Spanish slopes, eager to be in shape for March, June and, eventually, for the main event - the Vuelta.
FEBRUARY, 2007
VOLTA A LA COMUNITAT VALENCIANA
Garate: I never settle for 2nd, no. Is... Not my type of ride, see? Pero... Me siento bien [I feel fine] y... Pues... Samuel es un oponente muy fuerzo, no. [Samuel (Sanchez, red.) is a really strong opponent] So far, La Comunitat has been perfect preparación para me.
At the Comunitat Valenciana, Garate fought for victory in a closely contested race alongside Ardennes expert Sanchez Gonzalez. In the end he lost it, claiming 2nd on the stage to Alt del Campello and finishing 2nd overall. Ventoso came in 3rd on the final flat stage to Valencia.
MARCH, 2007
VUELTA CICLISTA A MURCIA - COSTA CALIDA
As in-form Garate was able to steal the stage to Alhama de Murcia from the team sprinters, an early lead was secured. But the ex-national champion found himself in tremendous shape, and reaching mountaneous Murcia on stage 4 the Spaniard proved to be way ahead of his opposition. On the final climb he stole almost 3 minutes on Ukrainian Popovych to claim a comfortable GC win.
Garate: Pues... Cuando [when] we reached the final slope I asked Vladimir (Efimkin, red.) to turn op the heat for a while. Just to take, mmhh, un visto... a look, at the other riders at front. When I saw Klöden and Valverde suffer really hard, I decided to pull away on my own, no. I told Vladimir, and when Popovych tried to follow me, Vladi stuck to his wheel to obtener 3rd and podium.
Ventoso finished 1st twice, eliminating every opposition from sprinters Vicioso and Galdos. With four stage wins out of a possible five - a splendid week in Murcia.
VUELTA A CASTILLA Y LEON
As Garate climbed to the top of his perfomance level, expectations were build up heavily before yet another encounter with the Spanish slopes. Fighting it out with Saunier Duval duo Trentin and Gil, Garate dissapointed no-one. A mighty break-away by Noval and Arroyo almost took it away from him on the first mountain finish. But as he battled himself in front and oversprinted Euskaltel rider Anton, victory was assured once more.
Garate: Vladimir did fantastic on the final slope. I could sit back and time my attack perfectly. Cuando David (Arroyo, red.) aparece mal y pudo ver que soy el más fuerzo... [When David (Arroyo, red.) seems to have a hard time (at the inclimb, red.) and I can see that I'm the strongest...] I launched my final attack - full speed, no. And it worked in the end.
Young sprinter Ventoso lived up to the awaiting expectations and won twice, as he outnumbered the same contenders that saw him triumph at Murcia. We have established a firm lead in the Continental Division, Garate leading the individual contest as well.
Edited by Balaverde on 27-06-2007 14:21
