2011 Euskaltel-Euskadi season
This article describes the team Euskaltel -Euskadi successes and in the 2011 season.
Course of the season
Spring
The 2011 season started for the team at the Tour Down Under, in which the active Basques showed the same. At the Cancer Council Classic, the opening criterion for the Tour Down Under, Gorka Izagirre was the first attacker and thus brought into being the breakaway group of the day, which (one round á 1.7 km ) has been obtained again before the finish first five rounds. At the first stage, he was one of the first attacker again, but was quickly caught up again. Then a group went to Miguel Minguez and Jon Izagirre. As the projection shrank attacked Simon Clarke 30 kilometers from the finish out of this group and Minguez could follow the only, but nine kilometers from the finish and it was requested. In the bunch sprint Inaki Isasi ersprintete eighth. On the sixth and final stage of Isasi showed itself again on the offensive, but was quickly put back. In the overall standings Gorka Izagirre reached by constant driving twelfth grade, was added the sixth rank in the junior rankings.
On February 6, Koldo Fernández ersprintete in a strong field occupied the eighth place at the Trofeo Palma de Mallorca in the Mallorca Challenge, which consists of five individual races. In the third race of the series, the Trofeo Inca, Gorka Izagirre made a good ninth place in the sprint from the first large group. The next day, at the Trofeo Deia, he could top this result yet. He just had to admit defeat José Joaquín Rojas Gil in the sprint and finished second. At the last race, the Trofeo Magaluf - Palmanova to Euskaltel showed active. After some time, a trio Inaki Isasi order was formed. In the hardest climb of the day, another trio Mikel Landa and Gorka Izagirre could close the gap, however, the now six -man lead group was caught quickly. Later in the race, Jon Izagirre and Jonathan Castroviejo attacked, which, however, were obtained ten kilometers from the finish. In the sprint, only a 15.Platz by Rubén Pérez jumped out.
On the first stage of the Tour du Haut -Var, it was again Gorka Izagirre, which makes its good early form of the test. He reached a good sixth place. At the second stage he was 16, which he reached the tenth place in the overall standings.
In the Ruta del Sol Samuel Sánchez celebrated his season debut. At the second stage Romain Sicard went on the offensive and sat from along with four companions. At Puerto de Polopos (14,4 km à 7,3 %), but Javier Ramirez sat out as a soloist and his former companion was requested. At the next stage it tried Pablo Urtasun. However, his task was also unsuccessful. After a solid tour and a seventh place on the third and a second place finish on the fifth stage where he only Oscar Freire was beaten it and barely missed his first win of the season, was Sánchez finished ninth overall in the tour.
On the first stage of Paris -Nice Gorka Izagirre formed together with Damien Gaudin a Ausreißerduo, which at times had over eight minutes ahead. 40 km from the finish, however, were both caught up. In the fifth stage, Samuel Sanchez was able to keep in the end eight riders strong favorite group. As Sprint strongest of the favorites he went as favorite to victory on the last meters, but when he wanted to go past Andreas Klöden he had a technical problem, which he lost pace and therefore had to admit defeat Klöden. This also he missed almost the entire leadership. The next day, an individual time trial was on, with Sanchez lost 1:43 minutes to the stage winner Tony Martin and now was eighth in the overall standings. On the seventh stage he had to again narrowly beaten after he attacked from the group to the favorites. At the finish he missed just five seconds on the outlier Rémy Di Gregorio. In the overall standings, he improved to sixth place. In the leaving group on the last leg showed again Izagirre, which later was to play an important role. On the last climb of the tour Sanchez was the only one from among the Top 10 initiative and attacked. Izagirre dropped back and helped Sanchez on the descent to the former top group from which Thomas Voeckler and Diego Ulissi were plucked to approach. In the sprint for 3rd place from the group showed that the chase had left traces in Sanchez. Julien El Farès snatched third place away by his captain net Taaramäe to protect, with success. In the overall classification succeeded Sanchez only to Jean -Christophe Péraud verbeizugehen, the Estonians Taaramäe failed him at the end of three seconds, which he had made good by the time bonus for third place at the finish of the stage, so he had to settle for fifth place in the overall classification satisfied.
Tirreno- Adriatico When there was a setback equal in the team time trial to kick off. The team finished last. In the second stage, Francisco Javier Aramendia was in the breakaway group, which had up to 7:30 minutes ahead of, among others, by a railroad crossing, because the field had to wait in this two minutes, however, the group at the end had no chance against the heranjagende field. Previously Aramendia had won the two climbs of the day, the reward was the mountain jersey. Daniel Sesma drove a long solo flight which, however, already 30 kilometers from the finish ended the next day. After the fifth stage have to give up his mountain jersey again Aramendia. In the final individual time trial Jonathan Castroviejo showed his qualities and was only 25 seconds behind the Zeifahrweltmeister Fabian Cancellara eighth. In the overall classification he was a Nineteenth best of the team.
After the first stage of the Tour of Catalonia was won by a soloist, the breakaway of Rubén Pérez was on a bad note. The sprinters' teams had learned and left the group never more than six minutes away and brought them already 25 km before the destination. A reward for the work there was still for Pérez, who won the two intermediate sprints and thus put at the top of the sprint standings. On the fourth stage he tried everything to defend this jersey, and had success. After the first sprint was still passed by the closed field and for it I decided this thanks to the preparatory work of his team, he managed also the leap into the breakaway group of the day and won so also the second sprint. The group, however, came not again. In the fifth stage, it took until a group was able to pull away for the first time. In this group there was Miguel Minguez, but the flight was terminated again after a few kilometers. Thus came again the closed box for the first intermediate sprint and Pérez was able to extend his lead by a further victory. In the final sprint, he mixed with also and had to end up just barely Samuel Dumoulin and Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil beaten. With another victory at the first intermediate sprint, which came on the sixth stage already 2.5 kilometers after the start, he secured the jersey final. At the end of the stage he was seventh.
In the early years of classics, the team traveled mostly unremarkable. Salience does Flèche Wallonne only the. At the " Wall of Huy " was Samuel Sanchez of third parties and Igor Anton fifth. Added to this is a tenth place by Sanchez at Liege -Bastogne- Liege. For smaller classics as team could bring in better results, so Sanchez won the Gran Premio Miguel Indurain. When Klasika Primavera was Amets Txurruka seventh and Mikel Nieve eighth in the Gran Premio de Llodio.
In the time of the classics, the focus of the team was mainly on the domestic Basque Country Tour. Right on the first stage, Samuel Sanchez had only beaten Joaquin Rodriguez and finished second. After Egoi Martinez had tried in vain for the third stage, succeeded on the fourth stage at last was the important stage victory. After several times on the last climb and in the following descent tried in vain to the finish, he sat down at the last kilometer to the decisive attack and was able to the stage with two bike lengths ahead decide for themselves. In the overall standings, he was still third, coinciding with Rodriguez and Klöden. In the final individual time trial, he lost but then as 13th 1:17 and thus fell in the standings to sixth rank.
In the Vuelta a Castilla y León, Rubén ReRez once again showed his skills as a sprinter. He was third once, once in fifth and one tenth. Overall, he finished fourth in the points standings. In the mountain-top finish on the third stage Igor Anton was fourth, which he advanced in the overall standings to third place. At only 11.2 km long individual time trial, he achieved a good result for him by finishing sixth with only 20 seconds behind Alberto Contador and so defended his third overall, which he also succeeded on the flat last stage.
The Tour de Romandie started with a bang. Jonathan Castroviejo scored his first victory in a race of the UCI World Tour. He won against established time riders like David Millar and won the prologue. In the mountain-top finish on the first leg, he had to leave again the overall lead, however. Gorka Verdugo remained in the Favorites group and came in the standings to sixth place before. On the next stage, he could even improve a place, but he showed the individual time trial on stage four weaknesses and lost over two minutes. Castroviejo again drove strong and finished ninth. At the end of the tour Verdugo was in 17th Best in the overall standings.
Without real favorites, the team was at the Vuelta a Asturias at the start, yet it was able to achieve some good results. In the sprint to the first stage were Inaki Isasi and Gorka Izagirre Seventh Tenth, on the first part of the two-part second stage was Rubén Pérez, after he had previously tried Juan José Oroz, Sprint and sixth on the fourth stage fourth. In the overall standings Gorka Izagirre was as the 15th Best of the team.