Professional Cycling For the Fans - Euskaltel - all show no go

who gave them a pro tour license and why?

selle-italia columbia should've taken their spot in the tour...

Agreed.

Just because they fell apart didn't mean they didn't deserve to be there. They sure did bring a crowd of fans too. Didn't you notice all of the obnoxious Construction Zone Orange on the sides of the mountains?

who gave them a pro tour license and why?

selle-italia columbia should've taken their spot in the tour...


Just because a team doesn't do well in tour de france doesn't mean that it's a bad team. Just wait for the Vuelta and see them go nuts.

Lots of other teams didn't do much either. Look at AG2R, Lampre... who didn't win a stage. Even those who won 2 stages like Quick Step with Boonen had a pretty lousy tour because they were pretty much invisible in other stages.

I agree with plin.
Euskatel seemed to focus on the Vuelta (home crowd and publicity) rather than on the Giro or LeTour. Although I am disappointed, they have given excitement to other grand tours - just not this year. Besides, I would *severely* miss intoxicated basque orange clad supporters on summits of long climbs ;)
Stay tuned for the Vuelta and judge for yourself.

I was more surprised by CSC strong showing comparable or better than T-Mobile. Look for CSC to either win or be on the podium LeTour Y2006.

hadn't they had a pretty decent season up to the tour?

hadn't they had a pretty decent season up to the tour?

Welllll...they've had a terrible year until Landaluze won the Dauphine, followed quickly by Aitor Gonzalez winning the Tour de Suisse.

On another note, the have the most stylish rain jackets in the peloton. Great color, with a little peplum thing going on...oh and nice bikes too. ;)

who gave them a pro tour license
No one gave them a license, they paid a lot for it. But they did underperform, which is unfortunate. I am used to seeing many stages heralded by the orange wave.

Unfortunately, their budding young stars seemed to have faded.

Unfortunately, their budding young stars seemed to have faded.

And if they had not faded they would probably be signing with different teams this year anyway that would fork over some big bucks on contracts.

well they did have wins at Dauphiné Libéré and tour de suisse.. that's not peanuts... but they did suck pretty bad at the tour de france though... but that is uncharateristic of previous year's where they have a been an animating force in big races including the tour, so that should answer your question as too why they were given a license.

Well, they did bring home the Lanterne Rouge this year!

They were garbage in the '04 Tour, not just this year, but yes before then for several years they were one of the few teams to really mix it up in the mountains.

IMO it's not right to say they've focused more on the Vuelta recently; their best rider (Mayo) has aimed solely for the Tour the past two years and been completely and totally ineffectual. And their other riders haven't stepped up at all when the leader failed.

Didn't Euskaltel lose a rider before last year's Tour because of a high hematocrit reading, and then their doctor was suspended (and I believe ultimately replaced) after David Millar's doping confession implicated him as an EPO supplier? Hmmmm, kinda makes you wonder....

And let's not forget Alberto Lopez de Munain, who had that terrible crash in the Giro in May.

Orange always rules, no matter where it finishes. ;)