Orange-clad team continues to shape its squad for coming years
Basque team Euskaltel-Euskadi has extended the contracts of two of its riders: Amets Txurruka for two more years, and Gorka Verdugo for one. The team is finalising its roster for the coming years, having secured Olympic champion Samuel Sanchez through 2012, as it awaits the verdict on the application for the renewal of its ProTour licence.
Txurruka has been with the team since 2007, having previously spent a year with Barloworld. The best result of his career so far has having been awarded the Prix de la Combativité, the most aggressive rider, at the 2007 Tour de France, where he also finished 22nd overall.
The 27-year-old has not enjoyed his best season to date this year though; he twice broke his collarbone, once in the Vuelta a Pais Vasco, the team’s home race, and then again in the Tour de France.
31-year-old Verdugo has been with the Basque outfit since 2004, spending his entire professional career with the team. While his own personal palmares is short on big results, his contract is being renewed thanks to the hard work he puts in on behalf of the orange-clad team.