It should be said: Euskatel has come to a standstill. The sponsor has been in doubt whether they should continue or not. However, by extending the contract of Samuel Sanchez there seems to be a good guarantee that next year the Basque Country will also be represented by a cycling squad.


It’s no surprise that the sponsor is considering it’s investments, since the team hasn’t made much progress. For 2008 the team signed three new riders. Two of them, Agirre and Aramendia, came from satelite-team Orbea. Egoi Martinez returned to his old team from the now defunct team of Discovery Channel.


You can’t say that the leaving of Aranaga, Etxebarria, Iriondo, Pena, Uribarri or Joseba Zubeldia will make much difference. But the team didn’t invest much in quality to replace them either. Samuel Sanchez, a promising (but inconsistent) Anton are the leaders of the Basque team. The reliability of Zubeldia and Astarloza in the Tour the France is also very welcome. Top ten positions in La Grande Boucle were a great result, but also very anonymous.


Besides them the team has some more talented Basques, but their talents don’t really come out as they wished. Hernandez, Luengo, Oroz and Ruben Perez have reached an age where we should be able to expect more than they have shown so far.


Txurruka, Galdos and Koldo Fernandez are the three exceptions in these pale years. The last mentioned is able to sprint to top five positions in a grand tour, although he hasn’t really got the power to win yet. Power is something that the attacking Txurruka had plenty of in his younger years. The Basque with the cool name was very visible in the last Tour de France, which earned him the most-attacking rider award. This year he should be able to take the next step. In hilly stages he should have the abilities to sprint for victory.


The little confidence of the sponsor has to be repaid. Results are expected, but looking at the potential of the team and the trouble most riders had to compete at the highest level last year, team manager Madariaga and the bosses at his sponsor must be worried. It’s a good thing that the company doesn’t only promote its own name, but also the whole Basque region. This will make him think twice, before they pull the plug on the sponsoring.


In
Josu Agirre, Francisco Javier Aramendia (Orbea-Oreka S.D.A.), Egoi Martinez (Discovery Channel)


Out
Andoni Aranaga (unknown), Unai Etxebarria (retired), Iban Iriondo (unknown), Iban Mayoz (Karpin Galicia), Aketza Pena (unknown), Unai Uribarri (Orbea-Oreka S.D.A.), Joseba Zubeldia (unknown)