All things considered, Basque cycling isn't in a bad state. Mikel Landa is poised to become the standard bearer for Spanish Cycling after a year of tremendous form and equal drama. Mikel Nieve and Pelle Bilbao have shown themselves as some of the most reliable luxury doms while many others, such as the brothers Gorka and Ion, continue good form and the likes of Igor Anton and Omar Fraile figuring as rogueish stage hunters. And yet, many yearn back to that orange paragon of Basque cycling: the Euskadi WT team.

Five years after the demise of this fan-favourite, several small teams stand poised to claim their share of that cult status. The most direct link to the old team might be Fundacion Euskadi, who have Mikel Landa himself as official ambassador. Yet it's another team, the commercially sponsored Euskadi-Murias that's staking the highest claim, by announcing a leap to pro-continental level with a guaranteed wild card for La Vuelta. With their green jerseys they might not be reminiscent of the carrot-orange squad that more recent fans, like me, have learned to adore, but the original Euskaltel raced in green-blue-ish jerseys for years. Now, even on continental level the team did not exactly stand out in terms of sportive success. In this blog I hope to analyse whether they'll stand a better chance with their transfers in 2018.

The team during the 2017 Tour du Limousin, with Aitor Gonzales (staying in 2018) wearing the KOM for a day

Murias-Euskadi in 2017

The number of victories for the plucky team unfortunately is down to zero. Their best finish in a GC or stage was third, in the general classification of the GP Beiras e Serra da Estrella, a three-day Portuguese UCI 2.1 race. The team's only podium spot was Beñat Txoperena, who is staying with the team for next year. 

The team's top performers -using PCS points as a metric- are Mikel Bizkarra and Garikoitz Bravo. This last one is also responsible for perhaps their most visible performance: a hard fought 9th place during the opening stage of the 2.hc Vuelta a Burgos, among a packed field of world tour squads including winner Mikel Landa's Team Sky.  Both Bravo and Bizkarra are staying in 2018. Garokoitz Bravo, at 28, is also the team's oldest rider, but that's going to change.

Garikoitz Bravo in the run in to the finish of stage 1 of the 2017 Vuelta a Burgos

Who is leaving the team?
Two riders are going into retirement, while three others are leaving for other shores. Adrian Gonzáles leaves for rival team Burgos-BH who are stepping up to PCT status as well, while former stagiair Rodriguez and Eneko Lizarralde do not have a new squad yet. This means that five riders will not ride for the team in 2018, with ten new signings more than making up for the loss. Interesting detail: most of these five, including the two going into retirement, are among the younger riders of this quite young squad.

Murias-Euskadi have signed one rider from the old Euskaltel WT squad

Who is joining the team?
There's been a slew of new signings, but only one of them comes from the old Euskaltel world tour team, Jon Aberasturi. Nevertheless, the 28 year old still has a way to grow, delivering rather decent results in the past two years for continental team UKYO. In Hainan he was able to outsprint Jakub Mareczko before the latter went on a legendary 5 day winning streak. Aberasturi is a sprinter who can surive a few hills, a recipe we'll see for more off among the new signings. According to their website, the team doesn't see Aberasturi as part of the train, but rather as someone who can sprint to bring the team victories.

Two of the new signings come from Caja Rural, formerly the only Spanish PCT squad. The Basques manage to nick Eduard Prades and Hector Saez. Saez is a young time trialist annex domestique, but Prades might fulfill a bigger role. Like Aberasturi, he can sprint ánd punch. Although taking his best results in sprints, he can match the likes of Alexis Vuillermoz on sharp uphill finishes. It's his versatility that could have made him a dangerous client for the recent Tour of Turkey. I know nothing of his personality, but his combination of versatility and experience would make him a valuable road captain for this squad.

Eduard Prades taking a win for Caja Rural

When Euskadi-Murias announced its rise to pro-continental level, twitter user Fernando Lopez and I immediatly pointed at two names we expected the team to sign. (Truth be said, we also pointed at a lot of other names, hoping for example that Pelle Bilbao would resign his comfortable WT position to ride for the homeland, but I digress.) The names we expected were Mikel Aristi and Enrique Sanz. Aristi is a young rider from Fundacion Euskadi stock, with a descent sprint who can handle a long ride. Enrique Sanz is famous as the nephew of Movistar-manager Unzue's nephew. He spent four years in his uncle's employment before slowly falling down the ranks. This last year, he's been performing surprisingly well in (non-UCI) races in the UK circuit for team Raleigh-GAC. He's likely to become the team's main sprint cannon.

Not the whole team is from Spanish/Basque stock. Cyril Barthe, who was a stagiair last season and turns pro with the team this year, is from French Basque Country. He won two sprint stages in the recent Volta a Portugal do Futuro, a youth race in Portugal. The other is a Frenchman too, and is points-wise the biggest fish joining the shoal: Julien Loubet rode the 2017 season for Equipe Armee de Terre, and managed to win this year's Tour de Finistere in a month in wich his team was on an absolute roll. He seems to be a classics type, able to withstand suffering and endure. He rode for the world tour squad of AG2R in the past, and although he's the oldest rider of the squad at 32, he'll be gunning for more victories.



Conclusion
All in all, the team has grown in strength enormously. Contrary to national stereotypes, the new squad seems rather light on the climbers, and the reinforcements show a real focus on sprints. I suspect that this is partly out of frustration after a season without wins. Perhaps the younger talents brought in or staying over from 2017 show more affinity for the high mountains. Fernando Barceló is one example who might shine in the climbs if properly develloped, but any classification or mountain goals are definitely plans for the long term rather than the short. Throughout the season they'll try to mix into the sprints in the smaller fields, with Loubet hoping to repeat his 2017 season in classic-like rides such as the Tro Bro Leon Euskadi-Murias' season highlight will be the Vuelta d'Espagna, for which they have gotten a guaranteed wildcard. If the sprinter's field would be the same as it was last year, the team might be able to play a role in the sprints there with Sanz. With the World Championships being particularly unsuitable for sprinters though, it's not unlikely that some top sprinters will focus on the Vuelta instead, in which case Euskadi would not be able to match. I think the team knows this, and it's notable that the team in their releases does not assign their fast men to 'lead-out' or "sprinter'' status, so the team will probably race the Vuelta like you would expect from wildcard teams: by animating the breakaway. Loubet, Prades, and Aberasturi they've got great riders who can finish off a successful break, if they can survive the higher mountains.

I wish the team much luck, and they'll need it, but it will be great to see the Basque flag represented on the higher levels again. We'll have to see after this winter. Aupa!