Euskaltel-Euskadi for the Giro

Euskaltel-Euskadi will travel to Reggio Calabria on May 4 for the Giro d'Italia, which begins there on May 7. It will be the first time that the Basque team has contested the Giro, and team director Gorka Gerrikagoitia has selected Haimar Zubeldia, Aitor Gonzalez, Samuel Sánchez, Joseba Zubeldia, Alberto López de Munain, Unai Etxebarria, Roberto Laiseka, David López and Gorka Verdugo, with Aketza Peña as the reserve rider.

"We have a solid block, riders who are experienced in three week races such as Roberto Laiseka, Alberto López de Munain and Unai Etxebarria," said Gerrikagoitia. "We approaching the race with hope. Haimar Zubeldia is our leader in a Giro with a parcours that has all the elements of a grand tour. We need to recover the Haimar of 2003."

Gerrikagoitia specified that the team "has been formed after analysing the profiles of the stages. There are five high mountain and three medium mountain stages. There we will play our cards. David López, for example, is having a good season. We expect that he will show that in the Giro. Samuel Sánchez, despite the problems that he has had with injuries, is another rider that will be fighting for the stages; he should take advantage of his turn of speed. Aitor [Gonzalez] is the only rider of our team that has won a grand tour; he has enormous class. He is a great time trialist who should not lose sight of the general classification."