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STAGE 8: TEAM OF THE DAY: EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI
June 25, 2008
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Euskaltel-Euskadi
Registered Nation: Spain
Bicycles: Orbea
Components: Shimano
Key Riders: Sammual Sanchez, Hamar Zubelidia
Title Sponsors: Euskaltel-Euskadi is a Basque telecommunications company, but is partly funded by the Basque government.
The orange clad Euskaltel-Euskadi team is more famous for their rabid Basque fans than race wins as
when the Tour de France enters the Pyrenees Mountains, the roads are lined with orange clad Euskaltel fans waving the Basque "Ikkurina" flags. Due to the funding from the Basque government every Euskaltel-Euskadi rider must be from the Basque region. This limits their choice of riders, but brings devoted fans and sense of unity within the team.
Formed 1994, Euskaltel-Euskadi has ridden in five Tours de France with two stage wins to date. Its greatest Tour moment came in the form of Iban Mayo's victory on l'Alpe d'Huez in 2003. Along with his defeat of Lance Armstrong in the 2004 Dauphine Libere, this made Mayo a star and put him on the list of tour contenders, but Mayo never was able to fulfill his early promise. 2003 saw Euskaltel-Euskadi rider Hamar Zubeldia finish in the top ten of the Tour de France, and the consistent Zubeldia has had some good Tour finishes. For the 2008 Tour de France, Euskaltel-Euskadi leader will be Samuel Sanchez with strong support from Zubeldia, Astarloza and Anton for the GC.
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