Tour de France prospects looking up
The Basque team of Euskaltel-Euskadi has had a disappointing go of it over the past couple of seasons. 2010 has been a different story for the orange men from northern Spain. Amid questions over future sponsorship, the team has stepped up and returned to the level, which made the team famous as a squad of aggressive all-around threats.
The team has netted eight victories so far plus another 21 podium appearances. The team’s performance at the recently completed Criterium du Dauphine was a vintage Euskaltel showing – they were active in most of the week’s breaks, Egoi Martinez took the mountains prize, and the team took the top spot on the teams classification, four minutes clear of second-placed Astana.
Romain Sicard, current U23 World Champion, enjoyed a breakout performance at the Dauphine with a second place on the stage to Risoul and an 11th place overall, tops out of the team.
The team’s Tour de France contender and Olympic road race champion, Samuel Sanchez, was quiet but solid in 18th overall.
Sanchez is pleased with his progress ahead of the Tour: “I’ve been training very hard to get to the Tour de France in the best condition. This test is helping me to measure my fitness ahead of the Tour de France. I still have three weeks of preparation ahead of me though.”
After the stage to Alpe d’Huez where Sanchez finished a notable 8th place, Sanchez commented: “Today, I thoroughly examined myself, and the result was very positive.”