Euskal Bizikleta to go ahead

By Monika Prell

Many Spanish races like the Vuelta a Aragón had to be cancelled this year due to lost sponsors and less interest from television networks, and cancellation also threatened the Basque race Euskal Bizikleta. But now, the race's running is assured, even if the event will only consist of three stages instead of five, from June 8-10.

In an interview with txirrindulari.com, Javier Etxekopar, the press chief of the Euskal Bizikleta, commented: "Thanks to ETB (the Basque television channel), we have enough money to pay for three days. We also had offers for five days, but we did not think that ProTour riders would attend. The Giro d'Italia stops on June 3 and the Dauphiné Libéré starts on June 10. So we had money but no cyclists."

As Etxekopar affirms, 17 teams, each with eight riders, will participate. Amongst those confirmed are Euskaltel-Euskadi, Saunier Duval-Prodir and Caisse d'Epargne. The organisation is reportedly talking to some other ProTour teams like Lampre, Liquigas and Crédit Agricole. Other Spanish teams participating are Relax-GAM, Karpin Galicia, Fuerteventura Canarias and Orbea.

On Friday, June 8, the race will begin from its traditional starting point in Eibar and end in Tolosa. On Saturday, there will be two stages: one from Tolosa to Abadiño in the morning and in the afternoon an individual time trial around Abadiño. On Sunday, the race will start from the ETB building in Iurreta and end with an uphill finish to Subida a Arrate.