The peloton took on 156.6km from Zarautz to Beasain Spanish national champion solos to victory but it later disqualified for taking the wrong route round a roundabout as yellow stays with Max Schachmann.  Hello and welcome to CyclingNews' live report on stage three of the Itzulia Basque Country 2025 Today's stage goes from Zarautz and finishes in Beasain after 156.3km over very hill terrain There are seven categorised climbs along the route with the final climb being Lazkaomendi (1.4km with an average gradient of 10% max of 18%) topping out with 5km to the finish.  Victor Campenaerts (Visma-Lease a Bike) has abandoned the race.  🇪🇸 #Itzulia2025Following his crash during the second stage of Itzulia Basque Country, Victor Campenaerts will not be starting today’s stage.We wish Victor a speedy recovery. 🍀April 9, 2025 Another rider to leave the race today is yesterday's stage winner it makes sense for the Australian fast man to leave after getting his win.  Half an hour until the race is scheduled to officially start There is a neutralised section for the riders to take first which is due to set off in 20 minutes.  The riders have started the neutralised zone Racing begins as the riders leave Zarautz and head to Beasain Multiple attacks on the front of the peloton.  Attacks keep coming but nothing is sticking just yet.  The riders have started the first climb of the day The Meaga climb is 2.9km with an average gradient of 4.1&.  Seven riders are trying to get a gap on the peloton.  Multiple riders have joined Okamika at the front of the race.. The riders are onto the second climb of the day the 13.9km Andazarrate which has an average gradient of 2.6%.  They try to get a gap but the peloton is still close by.  They're chasing down the two leaders of Kuypers and Armirail.  The peloton is absolutely flying at the moment with the average speed said to be above 50kph after almost 30km of racing.  More attackers on the front of the peloton trying to form a breakaway.  Armirail and Vercher only have around 10" on the chasing peloton.  There's a new counter move by eight riders in the peloton.  Armirail and Vercher are still clear out front.  There's a group of 20 riders between the leading duo and the rest of the peloton as the rapid pace splits the bunch.  The two leaders have 15" on the huge 28 man chasing group and 1'10" on the peloton.  Straight onto the next climb after a brief descent The 4km long Alkiza climb which averages 6.9% in gradient.  Armiral and Vercher are doing an incredible job of staying out front.  Vercher has been caught by the chasing group as Armirail continues solo.  Every single rider aside from Armiral has been caught by the peloton.  Armirail now has just 25" on the peloton.  Armirail still holds his 25" lead over the peloton.  and just a handful ahead of the peloton.  been caught by the bunch with new attackers coming out of the peloton on the valley road.  Several groups dot the road between the leader and the peloton as the race heads onto the highest climb of the day The climb is 9km long and has an average gradient of 6.9%.  Delbove and Juaristi have been caught by the peloton.  Miquel and Díaz join together to form a chase.  Chasing group caught by the peloton.  The French time trial champion is hoovering up mountain points and has a gap of just over a minute on the peloton.  The gap between Armirail and the peloton is now 1'20" The team that has taken control of the peloton is UAE Team Emirates-XRG.  The new pace setting in the bunch sees the time gap drop to just over a minute to Armirail out front.  Could be as simple as a natural break or a mechanical But maybe this is the race done for the local star.  The peloton are now just 30" behind Armirail.  Bilbao is now over a minute down on the leader.  Bilbao is still out of the back of the race.  They are 10" behind Armirail and 12" ahead of the peloton.  Bilbao is a minute off the back of the peloton.  Armirail is at the base of the Mandubia climb which is 5.3km with an average gradient of 5.3%.  Del Toro and Vlasov have been caught by the peloton led by Movistar just 10" behind Armirail.  Ion Izagirre (Cofidis) and Marc Hirschi (Tudor) are in the group including Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) which are over a minute off the back of the peloton.  This is joined by several other riders with Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) Isaac Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Wilco Kelderman (Visma-Lease a Bike) involved as Bruno Armirail (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) finally caught.  Floriann Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) UAE Team Emirates-XRG and Visma-Lease a Bike) are trying to chase down the talened German.  Around 15 riders are just behind Lipowitz with UAE Team Emirates-XRG's McNulty leading as Max Schachmann (Soudal-QuickStep) is trying to get back to the front as he is out of the back.  Lipowitz reeled back in by this favourites group and the pace drops McNulty comes back to the front to try and keep the pace high.  The Irishman looks to be struggling.  They have about 5" on the next group.  The race is in absolute bits on the Mandubia climb McNulty and Tejada are two extremely strong riders and they have around 10" on the chasers.  Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe and Movistar are sharing the work in the peloton with Finn Fisher-Black (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) leading the bunch The yellow jersey of Max Schachmann (Soudal-QuickStep) has made it back to the peloton again.  McNulty and Tejada have been joined by four others.. This is extremely dangerous with Finn Fisher-Black (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) leading the chase.  Aleksandr Vlasov just gave his all for Red Bull-Bora-Hangrohe leader and now the German is on his own but he has closed the gap superbly.  Lipowitz manages to drag the leaders back.  McNulty has continued the extremely high pace for Almeida who sits on his wheel Yellow jersey of Max Schachmann (Soudal-QuickStep) has managed to drag himself into this favourites group.  A classic Soler move as the pace eases slightly in the peloton More counter moves coming across the gap.  They are rapidly closing in on Soler out front with 53km to go.  Soler is joined by Berthet and Molard.  The pace in the peloton has completely gone Soler is just 28" down in the GC with Berthet at 1'16" and Molard at 1'32" Guillaume Martin (Groupama-FDJ) tries to get clear of the bunch but he is markd out by multiple riders including Del Toro and Lipowitz.  The leading trio have over a minute on the peloton which is struggling to get organised.  Cofidis now take up the chase in the peloton for Alex Aranburu.  The rider for Cofidis who was riding has now had to pull off the front after emptying the tank Bahrain Victorious now move to the front along with Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe and Soudal-QuickStep UAE Team Emirates-XRG trying to disrupt the chase.  The gap goes out to 1'12" between the leaders and the peloton Potentially key bonus seconds for Soler.  It is 2.2km with an average gradient of 12.1% and a max kick of 20% A minute betwen the leaders and the chasing peloton.  Movistar hit the front of the peloton with Visma-Lease a Bike The pace is very high and the gap drops to 50".  Attila Valter (Visma-Lease a Bike) comes to the front with Axel Zingle on his wheel That is a superb ride by the rapid French puncheur.  Molard has been dropped by Berthet and Soler up front.  Almeida come to the front of the peloton with Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious) and Lipowitz right with the Portuguese star.  Schachmann is right at the back of the group but is starting to lose touch as the pace continues to be relentless.  Berthet drops Soler at the front of the race.  Buitrago and Lipowitz lead the bunch and are almost blocking any new riders coming through as they set a tempo they are comfortable with.  Schachmann looks to have found his legs and has moved up in the main peloton.  Three very fast riders still in the peloton are Alex Aranburu (Cofidis) Axel Zingle (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Axel Laurance (Ineos Grenadiers).  Berthet goes over the top of the Gainza climb Soler about 15" after him with Molard not too far off the back of his wheel.  The pace has suddenly changed in the peloton as Buitrago has significantly upped the pace leaving about 12 riders in the bunch Bruno Armirail (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) will wear the mountains jersey tomorrow.  About 10 riders are coming back to the peloton including yellow jersey Soler and Molard are dragged back into the bunch with Berthet now holding over a minute on the Movistar led bunch.  Just 29 riders left in the peloton with Berthet looking very strong out front with 1'07" on the chasing pack.  The yellow jersey launches on a move with Isaac Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Nelson Oliveira (Movistar) but now multiple other riders have joined the group.  João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) is not in the yellow jersey group UAE Team Emirates-XRG look to be in trouble as they only have Del Toro in the Schachmann group.  Almeida now realises that he is in trouble and could be seeing his race disappear up the road He is pushing hard to bridge along with Cofidis who are working for Aranburu.  Lipowitz is now joint leader in the GC with Schachmann and Almeida but the latter is missing from the main group.  Del Toro has sat up and joined the Almeida group and is working hard and is closing the gap between the Schachmann group and his.  Berthet still has 49" on the Schachmann group with a 1'15" gap on the Almeida group with 17km to go.  Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) and Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor) are some of the riders who have rejoined the Almeida group.  Berthet is still clear by 22" over the Schachmann/Lipowitz group The leader has 44" on the Almeida group.  the Lazkaomendi climb which is 1.4km with an average gradient of 10% with a max kick of 18%.  Both McNulty and Del Toro have done all they can for Almeida in the chasing group with 20" between the Schachmann group and the Almeida group.  Vlasov leads the chasing group onto the ascent just 11" behind Berthet The Almeida group are about to make contact as they start climbing.  Tejada dropped by the German duo as they catch and pass Berthet.  spearing through the crowd of exhausted riders is the Spanish national champion He is flying here but six other riders can follow for now.  The rider with number one on his back uses one of the small kickers to launch and catch the riders by surprise and Alex Aranburu (Cofidis) flies across the gap to Almeida using his stunning descending skills but the rest of the group are coming back to them.  Almeida gets the corner wrong and Aranburu comes through and now has a gap on the rest.  Almeida is caught by the chasers as Aranburu is riding away after picking the correct side of the roundabout.  500 metres to go and the Spanish national champion is riding to the line to a likely victory for Cofidis.  Alex Aranburu of Cofidis wins stage three of the Itzulia Basque Country 2025.  Max Schachmann (Soudal-QuickStep) takes third on the day and takes four bonus seconds to keep hold of the yellow jersey and extends his advantage in the overall standings.  Make sure to have a read of our post race report as the Basque local storms to victory and a resurgent Max Schachmann keeps hold of yellow.. >>> Itzulia Basque Country: Alex Aranburu slips away on late attack to win hilly stage 3  Tomorrow's stage is very similar to today with the day starting at today's finish town of Beasain before heading 169.6km to Markina-Xemein via seven categorised climbs Romain Grégoire of Groupama-FDJ is the new stage winner after Alex Aranburu (Cofidis) was disqualified for allegedly taking the wrong route to the line.  Aranburu went the wrong way around the final roundabout which allowed him a greater advantage than he may have otherwise had.  So it is 22-year-old Romain Grégoire of Groupama-FDJ who is celebrating now and heartbreak for the Spanish national champion This may be appealed by Cofidis as it didn't appear to be clear that it was the wrong way round Make sure you stay connected here on CyclingNews as all the updates from this race and others from today come in.  Romain Grégoire of Groupama-FDJ celebrates at podium as stage 3 winner The breakaway trio on the climb to Lazkaomendi Max Schachmann of Soudal-QuickStep rides on a climb in the leader's jersey It's been an up and down day for Alex Aranburu (Cofidis) After crossing the line solo to win stage 3 of the Itzulia he celebrated his accomplishment but before he could get to the podium ceremony he learned that France's Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ) was declared the winner of stage 3 with the jury deeming Aranburu went the incorrect way around a roundabout Television footage released after the disqualification showed Aranburu clearly going off course at a point around 800 metres from the line where the race route was not fully barriered the jury decided to return the stage victory to Aranburu because the signage on the course pointed him in the direction he went we made the decision to disqualify rider number 51 for 'Deviation from the race route constituting an advantage,' as the images appeared to show that the rider had taken the roundabout in a way that was deviating from the signposted route after receiving and reviewing additional evidence it became clear that all available information indicated that the roundabout in question was to be taken in the manner chosen by the Cofidis rider "In accordance with Article 1.2.064 of the UCI regulations which states that 'Riders shall study the course in advance' the rider correctly followed the indicated path." there was a signage error at the roundabout in question and the Commissaires' Panel overturned their initial relegation and restored the faultless Aranburu who attacked in the closing kilometres of the hilly 157-kilometre stage to win solo in Beasain Grégoire was returned to second place on the stage having led the peloton across the finish line three seconds behind the Spaniard Race leader Max Schachmann (Soudal-QuickStep) snatched valuable bonus seconds by finishing close behind Grégoire.  "I saw that he attacked with about a kilometre to go João Almeida [UAE Team Emirates] was closing the gap then we didn't see him after that," Grégoire told Eurosport later "I was just focussed on the rider ahead of me I don't know if there was any race signage Gregoire's bemusement at taking the win was visible in his muted celebrations on the winner's podium I don't really have the sensation of having won," Grégoire said a little later "[But] I think the commissaires have done their job If the end of the stage was mired in controversy two riders failed to begin what proved to be a non-stop day of race action on Wednesday's hilly trek: both the previous day's winner and points classification leader Caleb Ewen (Ineos Grenadiers) as well as Visma-Lease a Bike all-rounder Victor Campenaerts After a blisteringly-fast start for the stage with over 3,000 metres of vertical climbing Bruno Armirail (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) managed to go clear on the second of the day's classified ascents the French National Time Trial Champion had opened up a gap of over a minute and despite some powerful counterattacks by riders like Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) Armirail maintained that narrow advantage deep into the race's second hour and a seemingly never-ending series of heavily wooded hills Armirail's lone effort eventually petered out at the stage's halfway point at the foot of the last category 2 climb of the Mandubia and some initial skirmishing between the GC favourites began for the first time in the 2025 race Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Aleksandr Vlasov (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) tested the waters early on the climb and three kilometres from the top a more concerted effort went clear with João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and Ilan Van Wilder (Soudal-QuickStep) it was hard to conceive such a major overall bid truly going the distance the chasing was so intense to bring that attack back in the pursuit reduced the front group down to just 30 riders obviously under instructions to keep the pressure on promptly opted to fire Marc Soler up the road and the Catalan was joined by Rudy Molard (Groupama-FDJ) and Clement Berthet (Decathlon-AG2R) as the trio headed onto a series of flatter valley roads.  But on the short but painfully steep Gainza climb that followed first Molard and then Soler cracked as the pace slowed to 10 kph or less between two massive lines of cheering fans leaving Berthet as the only rider ahead of a much-reduced peloton Schachmann intelligently tried to get the chase going and gain time on his rivals with an attack at 25km to go and although around a dozen riders followed in his wake it split an already fragile mini-bunch almost completely.  with slopes rising up to a jaw-dropping 24% Berthet's crumbling advantage stood at a scant 16 seconds only for Harold Tejada (XDS-Astana) to open up the chase but Lipowitz's driving acceleration that followed caused plenty of gaps to open particularly when Schachmann then opted for another drive of his own Suddenly Almeida burst out of the pack with 4.5km to go and flying down the descent with a pack of 10 riders further back.  allowing Aranburu to gain more time as he went on the right side of a roundabout But his daring move to victory ended in disaster when the commissaires first decided that his shortcutting the route on that right side as the course signage pointed to the left side  initially giving Grégoire a very unexpected win Results powered by FirstCycling Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name. Why? For decades, terrorist attacks by the Basque separatist group ETA meant no one wanted to build here. Now with a cease-fire that’s held for two years, the region is casting off its reputation for terrorism and garnering one for something else: Economic growth unseen in the rest of Spain. “With the threat of terrorism, this was not a very attractive place for people to come,” said Jose Luis Curbelo, general manager of the Basque Institute for Competitiveness. “So housing was an activity to house people, rather than to speculate. The real estate sector here was a normal activity. It was not totally overgrown like in the rest of the country.” That’s helped the Basque Country bounce back from recession quicker than the rest of Spain, which now lies at the heart of Europe’s debt crisis. Spain is struggling to erase bloated budget deficits and avoid an international bailout that could destabilize the entire Eurozone. Because jobs weren’t clustered in one industry gone bust, the Basque unemployment rate is less than half that of the nation’s 25%. Spain’s economy is forecast to shrink by nearly 2% next year, but the Basque Country hopes to register growth in 2013. And though its 2.2 million residents make up only 4.5% of Spain’s population, they contribute nearly 10% of its exports. Take the railway manufacturer CAF, a nearly 100-year-old company headquartered in this Basque-speaking mountain village near Spain’s north coast. More than three-quarters of CAF’s sales are abroad, unfettered by Spain’s economic crisis, and the company has posted operating profits of 10% or more for the last five years. It makes train cars for Amtrak, the Washington metro and light rail systems in Sacramento, Houston and Pittsburgh, plus projects in Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Hong Kong and Mexico, among others. It may be lucky happenstance that CAF’s business was diversified abroad when Spain’s debt crisis hit. But its geography, and its history, didn’t hurt. The Basque Country is rich in natural resources, particularly coal and iron ore, that at one point in the 19th century made it one of the world’s largest steel producers. And for centuries, it was easier for Basque traders to sail directly north to Britain than to travel by horseback over nearly 9,000-foot mountains that separate the region from the Spanish capital, Madrid. “They had mines there. There was steel, and there was coal. And they were very close to England,” said Fernando Fernandez, an economist at Madrid’s IE Business School. “So they were exposed to the Industrial Revolution, with all that entails, much earlier than other regions of Spain — much earlier.” At CAF’s Beasain headquarters, factory workers in jumpsuits file through a stone archway each morning, lunch pails in hand, in a scene reminiscent of the hilly industrial north of England in the 1950s, before much of the industry there moved abroad. In the Basque Country, it has stayed. That can be attributed in part to a vocational education system that was largely tossed out in the rest of Spain, because some associated it with the administration of Francisco Franco, the dictator who ruled Spain for nearly 40 years until his death in 1975. The Basque Country kept the system, and has flourished under it. “You had a company, a factory, and nearby the factory was a school — a vocational school — to train workers. And that was from the 19th century on,” Curbelo said. “Vocational education is something that has always been highly valued by the [Basque] population, by the society. And the companies had always relied on the workers they were training nearby.” In the 1980s, as Spain’s wealth grew, “there was this crazy idea that to be modern, you need to have a university degree, and there was like a negative perception if you didn’t have one,” Curbelo said. “But in the Basque Country, probably because the blue-collar workers had good salaries and living standards, there was no negative attribute to not having a university degree.” A majority of Spaniards go to university, which is heavily subsidized by the state. But the jobless rate for young graduates tops 52%. Companies such as CAF reap the benefits of Basque vocational training, which includes apprenticeships similar to those in Germany, Europe’s largest and strongest economy. The German unemployment rate is just above 5%. “In the Basque Country in general, it’s not very difficult to find a person with the profile you need for a particular job. I would say that almost all the time, you can find somebody ready to come into the company and start working the next day,” said Aitor Galarza, CAF’s director of quality and strategic planning. “It doesn’t happen that easily with our factories in the south of Spain.” Galarza has another theory about the Basque Country’s productivity: The region gets more than 200 days of rain a year. “So when you’re working at your factory, you never think of going to the beach in the afternoon, or just having fun,” he said, laughing. “That also moves your mind to the work you are doing.” Politics World & Nation California Subscribe for unlimited accessSite Map The cafeteria at Bay Haven School of Basics Plus was transformed into "El Restaurante Bay Haven," where students in kindergarten through fifth grade put their Spanish language skills to use The experience was brought to the students as part of a grant given by donor Elizabeth Howe through the Education Foundation of Sarasota County creating ambience and allowing the children to pretend as if they had crossed borders Bright banners made by the students draped from the ceiling above the banquet tables decorated with harmonizing table coverings Tissue paper floral arrangements created by the students added vibrancy to the tabletops "I think it's really cool," fifth-grader Jessica Smith said as she held her tray of tacos with a side of fresh strawberries She ordered her entrée by talking to one of several Spanish-speaking parent volunteers greeted the students as they entered the lunchroom Beasain said she was delighted that the event served as an opportunity for the students to use their language skills The application builds more of an understanding of why they are learning the language Third-grader Jeanni Castro thought about her meal order as she waited in line with friends She had trouble choosing between two items as she browsed the menu which represented the colors of the Spanish flag Spanish teacher Jaime Vieira was proud to see the children so motivated and excited to use the skills learned in class They have also been on their best behavior for a competition to have a real Mexican restaurant experience Many of the children have been perfecting their Spanish and practicing proper manners for the chance to win a trip to Mi Pueblo The month-long contest will award the class that shows the best behavior in the hallways classroom and lunchroom with the field trip Giving Partner program launches free online tool Local foundations joined together to power The Giving Partner a free online tool to share community knowledge about charitable organizations in Southwest Florida helping donors and citizens make decisions about their philanthropic efforts The Giving Partner is set to publicly launch with a 36-hour Giving Challenge More than $501,000 will be available to match online donations The Community Foundation of Sarasota County Gulf Coast Community Foundation and Manatee Community Foundation with support from The Patterson Foundation are collaborating on The Giving Partner initiative and the 36-hour challenge for a more efficient way to share knowledge about area needs and to showcase the good of the charitable sector "We expect to infuse more than $1 million in funding to our local nonprofit community," Roxie Jerde president and CEO of the Community Foundation of Sarasota County we want to showcase The Giving Partner as the community's go-to source for valuable information about our local nonprofits' programs and impact - More than 100 local nonprofits have developed completed profiles in The Giving Partner and will be able to access the money - Matching funds will be based on individual donations to nonprofits the number of unique donations nonprofits receive that are $25 or more and other criteria - The Giving Challenge will take place from 6 a.m March 28 online at www.thegivingpartner.org A "leader board" will showcase minute-by-minute totals of donations each nonprofit receives in addition to the total amount each nonprofit raises "The Giving Partner not only connects donors and funders to nonprofits they care about it also provides information for effective and informed community philanthropy," Debra Jacobs president and CEO of The Patterson Foundation president and CEO of Gulf Coast Community Foundation said the foundations try to leverage technology wherever they can to strengthen philanthropy Visit The Giving Partner on Facebook at www.facebook.com/thegivingpartner Roosevelts the topic of Vassar Club lunch talk Professor Emeritus Glen Johnson will talk to the Vassar Alumni Club of Sarasota about Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt's relationship to Vassar College The lunchtime event will be Friday at The Glenridge of Palmer Ranch Vassar College was founded in 1861 as a liberal arts women's college for high-achieving women who were denied access to the Ivy League colleges The student body of 2,500 has a 9-1 student-teacher ratio Undergraduates have the opportunity to assist in serious research collaborating with faculty members Johnson retired in 2004 after nearly 40 years in the political science department at Vassar College He taught courses on international politics international law and international human rights he was the founding director of the International Studies Program and twice served as acting president while President Frances Fergusson was on sabbatical Johnson graduated from Georgetown College in 1958 and received his Ph.D retired or visiting faculty and staff and their guests are welcome to attend the program Home Instruction for Parents of Pre-school Youngsters HIPPY is a YMCA program for low-income parents Education Outreach Services' program director for Operation Graduation at 365-0056 or email JWilliams@TheSarasotaY.org a project of the Center for Faith and Freedom recently awarded a cost-sharing grant to the Taylor Emmons Scholarship Fund The fund provides opportunities for socio-economically diverse students to experience an independent college preparatory education at The Out-of-Door Academy's Upper School in Lakewood Ranch an accomplished student and baseball player at The Out-of-Door Academy died in a Coral Gables traffic accident at age 19 "We are pleased to be able to offer nonprofit organizations like the Taylor Emmons Scholarship Fund the opportunity to work with us in producing a high-end media presentation," Stuart J "I understand that we are in challenging economic times and we know from many years of experience that a video presentation is an indispensable tool for marketing and development efforts." a nonprofit organization that has served communities across the nation since 1989 with its multi-media and production capabilities is currently accepting grant applications for its 2012 projects visit www.faithandfreedom.org or call Patty Dodson at 487-4061 All Faiths Food Bank sets food giveaway dates The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services contracts with All Faiths Food Bank to distribute free U.S eligible Sarasota County residents will receive nine to 12 free commodities at these sites: to noon March 13 at Friendship Baptist Church to noon March 27 at Newtown Estates Community Center Eligibility for the emergency food program is determined by household size and income Those receiving food stamps are automatically eligible All recipients must sign a self-declaration of need The Middle East faces the pressing challenge of meeting the needs of its growing population while maintaining a healthy balance of its water ecosystems where innovative solutions are a must to make every water drop count Ingeteam Water brings a focus on pumping solutions and optimizing water cycle management Known for its captivating landscapes and vibrant cultural heritage the Middle East holds great historical significance it has also become an innovation hub in many fields The one we will examine in this article can be summed up in one word: Water its increasing 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exceptional durability and requires little maintenance which translates into substantial economic savings Of all the challenges faced by the Middle East perhaps the most pressing is meeting the needs of its growing population while maintaining a healthy balance of its vulnerable water ecosystems Climate change effects are noticeable as they have brought on severe droughts and exacerbated water scarcity creating a breeding ground for transboundary conflicts although known for its significant energy reserves is confronted with the complex relationship between energy production and water management intertwined with the increased water demands have driven a strong focus on energy efficiency in the water sector intending to reduce the energy footprint of water management in the Middle East they significantly vary across the different countries Some have achieved modern water facilities while others still struggle to upgrade and maintain aging systems they face deteriorating equipment leading to considerable water losses innovative solutions are a must to make every water drop count Ingeteam Water brings a focus on pumping solutions and optimizing water management throughout the entire cycle With a product portfolio of Indar submersible pumps and motors as well as control systems we cater to both conventional and non-conventional applications from deep groundwater intake to desalination as well as wastewater management and water reuse High levels of product customization to every project and context some of our pumps are designed to operate at water temperatures higher than 70 degrees Celsius submersible pumping solutions are a really interesting option our Indar centrifugal multistage pumps are compact and allow optimizing coupling-related efficiency losses compared with other technologies the most precise control of water flows is possible which translates into significant energy savings in the long run this argument becomes valuable for sustainable management of water resources in the region Our solution of choice for wastewater treatment is our BF pump a centrifugal volute pump typically coupled to an air-filled motor submersible sets require little maintenance which also translates into substantial economic savings they are maintenance-free and can be relied on for years this makes the submersible technology the best choice for exceptional durability in some of the arid regions of the Middle East water scarcity imposes resilient and reliable infrastructure to sustain the lives of their population Ingeteam’s submersible solutions are designed to withstand harsh environments such as extreme air and water temperatures that can be found in these areas our volute and axial pumps can also withstand significant solids content It is also important to mention that Ingeteam Water answers to high-quality standards and every single one of our motors and pumps is tested in our state-of-the-art facilities in Beasain Our 30 m deep test bench is a testimony to the company’s investment in excellence It allows us to test even our biggest products with parameters of up to 21.600 m3/h Ingeteam has been active in the Middle East for years on many inspiring and challenging applications Many projects are a testimony to our teams’ expertise and years of experience dozens of Indar UGP centrifugal pumps are elevating water from the depths of the aquifers effectively reclaiming acres of desertic lands creating life out of dryness by use of the latest agricultural practices The entire design of the pumps was adapted to the wells’ diameters Their water-filled motor is environmentally friendly making any risks of oil contamination impossible they are all equipped with a bidirectional bearing that makes non-return valves unnecessary hence eliminating any operational difficulties and maintenance needs that they can bring numerous Indar pumps are contributing to pumping seawater in Saudi Arabia our equipment’s electrical and material design has been carefully thought out to operate most optimally In installations where the water level is too low to ensure the required suction conditions The pump suction located at the bottom of the set allows for maximizing its submergence It also optimizes pumping and allows for an efficient use of the available water as well as a wide range of materials of construction make BF pumps a very versatile product that contributes to reducing the strain on water supplies in the Middle East as investments in water systems are expected to increase they will enable the region to enhance its water supply capacity and significantly improve access to fresh water for its growing population strong attention to water conservation and demand strategies will continue the promotion of water optimization initiatives This is where Ingeteam’s expertise in pumping solutions stands out With a deep understanding of the Middle East water challenges and a proven track record in innovative solutions we are committed to continue being the right partner in meeting the region’s needs Be one of the first to try our new activity feed Photos courtesy of Foto Alzuri/The Ehunmilak Ultratrail a new ultra trail race in northern Spain’s Basque Country—the Ehunmilak (pronounced Ee-oon-mee-yak Basque for “100 Mile”)—demands more climbing than Colorado’s Hardrock 100 one of the most challenging mountain 100-milers in the world according to runners who have completed both the Ehunmilak and France’s grueling Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc (UTMB) what makes the Ehunmilak so difficult is that its climbs and descents have virtually no quad-saving switchbacks In both the 2010 inaugural event and the 2011 race Last year’s winners and new course-record holders Javi Dominguez of the Basque city Vitoria crossed the line in 24:49 and 28:00 respectively soccer in an arena with a bull (for real) or ultrarunning hundreds of locals taking a vino tinto (red wine) or a coffee and cheer from the barricades as runners charge through Azpeitia—one of five small cities on the course—much like the Running of the Bulls “Oupa!” and “Animo!” (“Go!”) Daylight brings cathedral bells and cowbells white chapels and giant crosses on green slopes first-place finisher Imanol Aleson of Azkoitia in the Basque Country recalls persevering through the whiteout with another runner “We were incapable of saying a word because of the cold … We were frozen.” Last year cowpies and sharp six-inch vertical limestone fins after tweaking an ankle when my foot got lodged between two limestone fins a veteran ultra trail runner who also attempted the Ehunmilak I have fond memories of the experience: the pre-race pasta dinner in a 15th-century mill with wine on tap; a silent spectator holding the reins of a thick-necked white Andalusian horse; the full moon from up high lighting the surrounding peaks like volcanic islands in an ocean of white mist that veiled the valleys below It is a first-class event manned by 1500 volunteers with a deep appreciation for the mental and physical rigor it takes to go the distance someone will fire a popgun over your head and shower you with confetti Important Race Details.To qualify for the Ehunmilak Pacers and crews are not allowed and runners can access only two drop bags during the race Coinciding with the Ehunmilak is the 50-mile Goierriko 2 Haundiak (G2h) Both races are qualifiers for UTMB and attract some of Europe’s top runners Nearly every competitor uses trekking poles and the race requires that runners carry a backpack full of safety equipment: cell phone Officials randomly search your mochilla at aid stations to ensure you are carrying these items and may request a drug test after the race televised event supported by major sponsors and offers 1000 euros each to the first-place male and female (www.ehunmilak.com) Fly to Bilbao (80 kilometers from Beasain) There is no direct transportation to the race start: rent a car or take a bus Buses leave hourly from the airport for San Sebastian (70 minutes); take another bus from San Sebastian to Beasain (less than an hour) Best pick is Hotel Igartza (www.igartzahotela.com) hostels and hotels in the Goierri region (www.goierriturismo.com/en/portada) Tour the modern-art Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao (www.guggenheim.org/bilbao) or the Old Town; take a paseo through hip San Sebastian listen to jazz during the July festival (www.heinekenjazzaldia.com) or rent a board and surf Zurriola Beach; catch a stage of the Tour de France cycling race in the Pyrenees or watch it in a Basque bar while sipping txakoli Hike the coast-to-coast GR11 Trail of Gipuzkoa From the beech-fir forests of Irati to the Penas de Haya mountains this is a scenic and challenging tour (www.spain.info) Hike or run the steepest mountains in Spain skip the cable car and climb 3500 feet in nine miles for a rewarding view 13 miles round trip; the trail is carved in sheer cliffs and follows the Rio Cares Train cars are built at the CAF factory in Beasain One of the Basque region's most successful companies metro system and light rails in Sacramento most of the news out of Basque country was horrible this region in northern Spain has been infamous as home to the ETA separatist group which killed more than 800 people while fighting for Basque independence from Madrid the separatist group declared a final cease-fire and the attacks have stopped Now the country is becoming known for something else: its booming economy The Basque region has a long and rich industrial tradition Machines meld molten steel into train cars at one of the region's most successful companies which makes trains for Amtrak; the Washington D.C. metro system; and light rails in Sacramento While the rest of Spain's economy is forecast to shrink nearly 2 percent next year Companies like this keep the Basque unemployment rate down around 12 percent — less than half of what it is in the rest of Spain "We are disconnected from the Spanish economy Basque country has a unique tax system with fiscal autonomy from Madrid CAF exports 77 percent of the trains it makes People here make up about 4.5 percent of Spain's population but they contribute nearly 10 percent of Spanish exports A Rich Industrial History Economist Fernando Fernandez at Madrid's IE Business School says the Basque region is rich in natural resources it was easier for Basque traders to sail north to England rather than ride horses over the nearly 10,000-foot mountains that separate the Basque country from the Spanish capital So they were exposed to the industrial revolution much earlier than other regions of Spain — much earlier," Fernandez says the region also has a vocational education system more like Germany's than Spain's and nearby the factory was a school — a vocational school — to train workers And the companies had always relied on the workers they were training nearby," says Jose Luis Curbelo who manages the Basque Institute for Competitiveness is just as prestigious as going to university that means there's a large pool of qualified workers you can find somebody to come into the company and to start working the next day It doesn't happen that easily with our factories in the south of Spain," he says vocational training was phased out in part because it was associated with the dictatorship of Francisco Franco Spaniards started going to university instead But unemployment among young grads is around 50 percent now The rest of Spain is also littered with empty buildings left over from the housing crash The violence meant no one wanted to build here So the real estate sector here was a normal activity It was not totally overgrown like in the rest of the country," he says Galarza has another theory about Basque productivity: The region gets more than 200 days of rain a year you never think of going to the beach in the afternoon or just having fun That also moves your mind to the work you are doing," he says the train home to Madrid winds through soggy valleys dotted with smokestacks and factories before emerging onto Spain's central plateau where empty houses start appearing once again Become an NPR sponsor Following the mass sprint excitement of stage 2 in the streets of Lodosa the organizers of Itzulia Basque Country 2025 invited the professional cycling peloton to a challenge in mountainous terrain hoping the climbers and general classification favorites would shine and create a spectacular experience for cycling fans along the roads and around the world Stage 3 would be contested on a 156.3-kilometer route from Zarautz to Beasain The stage profile was of a mountainous nature and included five Category 3 climbs and two Category 2 climbs The Gainza climb was located after 120 kilometers of racing and featured sections of up to twenty percent The Lazkaomendi climb was be located shortly before the stage finish and included explosive sections of up to eighteen percent Maximillian Schachmann remained general classification leader in Itzulia Basque Country 2025 (Tour of the Basque Country) before stage 3 Joao Almeida was in second place for UAE Team Emirates while Florian Lipowitz was third for Team Red Bull – Bora - Hansgrohe.  Multiple attack efforts were launched in the first part of the race take a while before a durable breakaway would be formed Matteo Vercher (Team TotalEnergies) and Bruno Armirail (Decathlon-AG2R-La Mondiale) attacked with approximately 130 kilometers remaining Bruno Armirail proved stronger than Vercher and showed great bravery by launching a solo attack and setting out on a grand adventure in the Basque mountains.  When less than one hundred kilometers remained of the stage Bruno Armirail had an advantage of approximately one minute over the closest competitors additional attacks had been launched from the main peloton and small attack groups had formed before the Santa Ageda climb (Category Two) While Frenchman Armirail pressed on solo in front the chase groups behind him were reeled in by the main peloton where the general classification-focused teams had increased the pace on the Category 2 climb Three strong riders attacked from the main peloton with about 75 kilometers left of the stage The trio featured Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates) Aleksandr Vlasov (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) not take long before the breakaway optimists were reeled in by the peloton The category Two Mandubia climb was next on the menu for sole frontman Armirail But the peloton was closing in on him and he would likely be caught on the climb The speed in the peloton was so intense that many riders had been dropped at this point in the stage It was au revoir for Armirail 73 kilometers from the finish line Riders from Team Cofidis and UAE Team Emirates were first to pass by the Frenchman With the speed and action having intensified in the reduced front peloton group EF Education-EasyPost team leader Ben Healy was also dropped Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe riders were leading the peloton while Harold Tejada and Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) had formed a ten second gap and were ahead of the peloton 65 kilometers remained and the riders were on the fast descent from the Category Two mountain and Rudy Molard (Groupama-FDJ) later tried their luck and had fought their way to a one-minute lead with fifty kilometers left to race before the finish line in Beasain Soler and Berthet were still one minute ahead of the peloton when forty kilometers remained The speed was fast on the narrow mountain roads of the Basque country Attila Valter was leading the main peloton for Team Visma-Lease a Bike on the Gainza climb Molard got dropped from the breakaway trio Berthet was now solo in front on the Gainza climb which featured gradients of up to twenty percent Sixteen riders remained part of the reduced peloton which was chasing the three riders in front Race leader Maximillian Schachmann (Soudal-QuickStep) tried his luck in the flat section with approximately twenty-five kilometers remaining He was looking good in the yellow race leader jersey Twenty kilometers remained of stage 3 and Berthet led the stage with a 35 second advantage over an eleven-man chase group a twenty-four-man peloton group was chasing Ten kilometers remained and the riders were approaching the Lazkaomendi climb (Category 3) which featured gradients of up to seventeen percent Frontman Berthet would likely be in trouble on the climb as the GC favorites would be eager to use the opportunity to their own advantage hoping to advance in the rankings and perhaps even take a stage victory Tejada attacked from the chase group when the riders entered the Lazkaomendi climb Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and Maximilian Schachmann (Soudal-QuickStep) responded and the trio caught frontman Berthet.  A new seven-man front group had been formed on the climb A fast and dangerous descent awaited the riders while battling for a stage victory and advancement in the general classification Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) attacked on the descent Alex Aranburu accelerated and caught Almeida Almeida almost crashed in a roundabout and Aranburu continued solo But the chasing riders were just a few meters behind Spanish National Champion Alex Aranburu crossed the finish line solo as winner of stage 3 for Team Cofidis Romain Gregoire (Groupama-FDJ) was the next rider across the finish line three seconds later while Maximilian Schachmann completed the stage podium for Soudal-QuickStep Schachmann remains general classification leader for Soudal-QuickStep while Enric Mas is tenth before tomorrow’s stage 4 of Itzulia Basque Country 2025 which will be a 169.5-kilometer stage in mountain territory on the roads between Beasain and Markina-Xemein Stay tuned to Roadcycling.com for complete coverage from Tour of the Basque Country 2025 and the rest of the professional cycling season road bike shopcycling manager game All rights reserved. © 2024 Roadcycling.com® - part of Seven Sparkles Intl The peloton tackles the mountainous 169.6km race from Beasain to Markina-Xemein Hello and welcome to stage four of Itzulia Basque Country After yesterday’s barnstormer of a stage today’s parcours throws up another cocktail of relentless climbing that should treat us to yet more action-packed racing there will be a grand total of seven categorised climbs The main difference to yesterday is that the climbs generally aren’t quite as hard with all of the first six being designated categorised three status - but also that the hardest This may deter riders from attacking early in quite such as gung ho a manner as yesterday But the parcours is there for any teams or riders who do want a chaotic stage We might get a decent idea of how calm or chaotic this stage will be based on how many riders try to get into the day’s break The battle to do so will commence soon - the riders are poised and making their way through the neutralised zone as we speak We’re down three riders overnight: Mathieu Burgaudeau (TotalEnergies) Robbe Dhondt (Picnic PostNL) and Anders Foldager (Jayco AlUla) have all pulled out The classification leaders today are Max Schachmann in yellow Bruno Armirail in polka-dots and Romain Grégoire as the best young rider Fifteen riders have formed a group at the front of the race and have a small lead Not enough of a lead though - they've been brought back There were blue skies at the start in Beasain today the weather smiling kindly on the riders for a race that is often affected by rain Diego Uriarte of Equipo Kern Pharma leads the race currently having attacked out of the bunch on his own as he’s reeled back in by the bunch.  Good news for fans of aggressive racing - Julain Alaphilippe has attacked There’s never a dull moment when he gets into the breakaway Alaphilippe has gone clear with compatriot Simon Guglielmi (Arkéa - B&B Hotels) and they have a lead over the peloton of about 15 seconds Alaphilippe’s gone clear of Guglielmi and now leads the race alone uncategorised uphill section to try and build a gap Juri Hollmann (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Mauro Schmid (Jayco-AlUla) have jumped out of the peloton and are chasing after Alaphilippe The peloton all strung out as riders try to form a break Guglielmi, Schmid and Hollmann have all come together to form a leading quartet Those for riders have a lead of 15 seconds as they descend back down the uncategorised climb Whereas the other three riders in this break are over ten minutes down on GC Julian Alaphilippe may still be considered a pertinent threat at 1-55 His presence may spell the break’s doom if the GC teams deem him enough of a danger Their lead is going up rather than down for now It’s just risen to over 20 seconds.  Alaphilippe and Guglielmi going clear of the peloton together earlier before they were joined by Schmid and Hollmann The riders have begun the first of the day's seven ascents it's long and shallow rather than short and steep Three riders have attacked out of the peloton and are trying to bridge up to the leaders - Andrea Bagioli but behind the peloton is bearing down on them mere seconds away Almost an hour of racing done and we have no break We're still waiting for a new break to form as the riders near the top of the climb Here's Alaphilippe out alone in front earlier Don't be surprised if we see him attacking again later on today current King of the Mountains Bruno Armirail had some competition from Marc Soler who defeated him at the line to take maximum points Dani Martínez took the sole remaining point A new break might be forming on the descent of the climb Five riders have a gap of a few seconds.  it is not to be - the group has been brought back Ben Healy and Mauro Schmid are the latest riders to attack Thibault Guernalec has jumped out of the bunch in an attempt to join this one too José Manuel Díaz joins Guernalec in the chase But now Díaz and Guernalec have been caught by the peloton It’s looking promising for the leading trio of Healy Schmid and Simmons - their lead has grown to over 40 seconds They’re a strong group of riders and the peloton will have to ride hard to bring them back The Frenchman was promoted to first upon Alex Aranburu’s initial relegation only to be demoted back to second after the organisers went back on the decision More riders have attacked out the peloton and are catching up to the leaders Among them are representatives of some of the top GC teams - Marc Soler for UAE Team Emirates Finn Fisher-Black for Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Alex Baudin are the other 2 riders with those 3 There are about 20 seconds between the leading trio and the chasing five who are only just 10 seconds ahead of the peloton this time up the Alto de Muniketagane (2.9km at 7%) The five chasers have caught the three leaders Healy led over the climb to take the 3 KOM points None of those riders were in the mix for the polka-dot jersey so the standings remain as they were Their lead over the peloton is over a minute At 3-00 he's also the highest among them on GC Almost immediately after finishing the previous climb the road tilted uphill again for Bizkaiko Begiratokia The order of the top was the same as last time: Healy That means Healy is now up to fifth on the KOM standings he seems to be targetting polka-dots now instead.  They're now appraching the top of the day's fourth climb This time Soler takes the points at the top meaning he's closing in on Armirail's lead on the KOM rankings as they descend for a little while following that flurry of climbs Txomin Juaristi and Ander Okamika have attacked in an unlikely bid to join the leaders They're representing two of the wildcard teams who failed to make the break Euskaltel - Euskadi and Burgos Burpellet BH respectively The rest hasn't lasted for long - they're now climbing Lekoitzegane the steepest effort so far at 7.6% for 3.3km Juaristi and Okamika have managed to join the leading break That gives much-wanted representation for both Euskaltel - Euskadi and Burgos Burpellet BH which is partly how those two chasers were able to join the break Their lead over the peloton has been allowed to grow to 1-40 and Soler again was the first man over - which means he is the new virtual King of the Mountains Soudal-QuickStep are the team leading the chase in the peloton Significantly they’re the only team in the top 6 of GC who don’t have a rider in the break - Florian Lipowit’s Red Bull have Finn Fisher-Black João Almeida’s UAE Team Emirates have Marc Soler Matthias Skjelmose’s Lidl-Trek have Quinn Simmons and Wilco Kelderman’s Visma-Lease a Bike have Sepp Kuss with the next cimb not coming for about another 10km and some riders in the peloton are taking comfort breaks Bahrain-Victorious are pace-setting in the peloton but must have something in mind for Santiago Buitrago and/or to leap up from his current standing of 13th on GC at 1-36 The final climb looks very well-suited to a light-weight puncheur like Buitrago He must hope to fly away from the field on its super-steep slopes being led by Schachmann's Soudal-QuickStep's team.  as the riders start the penultimate climb of the day - the 3.5km The increase in pace in the peloton has been felt by the break Soler leads the break of the top of the climb Now Bahrain-Victorious lead the peloton over the top After the riders have finished this short descent they will take on a long flat section before the final climb How well the break can maintain and/or build their current lead of about 1-20 over this stretch will be crucial in determining whether they are able to survive today to contest for the stage win the gap’s neither coming down nor coming up There are some very strong climbers in the break but this is such a hard final climb that you sense they may need more of a head start going into it The DS of EF is on race radio telling his two riders in the break The peloton are back to within 1-20 of them The break pass over an intermediate sprint point They clearly believe in Buitrago today - the Colombian is under pressure to perform.  Splits are appearing as they attack each other discussing matters before this all-important final climb and he faces a real challenge to keep hold of the yellow jersey The break’s lead has stopped coming down The break might be working together better again The lead’s dipped to beneath under a minute.  The pace is really up in the peloton now as they approach the foot of the climb They’re only about 7km away from it now The riders in the break are out of the saddle as they begin the uphill valley road before the start of the official climb The gap is such that the riders in the break with GC contenders in the peloton aren't even going to be of much use for their leaders - they're not going to be able to give them much of a pull having already been brought back this close they've attacked again to try and stay out for just a little longer.  all of the breakaway riders have been caught A Bahrain-Victorious rider takes over at the front Buitrago is second in line behind his teammate but inched away from the rest of the field on these super-steep slopes Florian Lipowitz is about to bridge up to Buitrago Lipowitz drags back the rest of the peloton Schachmann is beginning to drop back further down the group Clément Champoussin is the Astana rider Several riders have joined the three chasers Oscar Onley and Enric Mas are two of the riders who have joined the chasers There are about 10 riders in this chase group and they've just reached the top of the climb 25 seconds after Almeida Aranburu has taken off on this descent - he's trying to repeat yesterday's trick Schachmann is not in the main chase group - he stands to lose the yellow jersey Schachmann is coming back to the chase group and about to rejoin but will need to catch Almeida if he wants to keep the jersey Almeida is only 4 seconds behind him on GC Del Toro and Martin have also made it back with Schachmann Still 25 seconds for Almeida over the chase group There are about 15 riders in this chase group including all the other riders in the top 6 on GC This is playing to Almeida in the long-term with him standing to gain lots of time in the GC race as well as the stage The chasers are attacking each other rather than chasing Almeida Del Toro leads the sprint for second in the chase group Schachmann sprinted for third to claim a time bonus meaning he'll end the day second overall behind Almeida 13 riders reached the line in the chase group together who was distanced at some point - a big disappointment for Bahrain-Victorious after all the work they did throughout the day Aside from Almeida leapfrogging both Schachmann and Lipowitz Almeida therefore takes control of the race but is sure to come under a lot of pressure He still has four riders within 1-00 of him Almeida also has a record of letting slip strong positions in recent months He led Volta a la Comunitat before handing over the jersey to Buitrago and looked poised to potentially win Volta ao Algarve only for Jonas Vingegaard to leapfrog him on the final stage The Portuguese rider will be desperate to seal what would be a first stage race title since 2021 In what was an all-round great day for UAE Team Emirates Del Toro also won the sprint to give them a one-two while Marc Soler also took the lead in the KOM classification as Almeida takes over from Schachmann at the top of the points classification Just as Alemdia wore the green jersey on loan from him today tomorrow will see Schachmann wear green as Almeida wears yellow Thanks for joining us today. You can read our report of all that happened today here and be sure to return tomorrow for what will be another climb-filled penultimate stage of the race A general view of the peloton during stage 4 at the Itzulia Basque Country 2025 The breakaway on stage 4 at the Itzulia Basque Country 2025 The chase-group sprint behind stage winner João Almeida UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammate Isaac del Toro takes second from chase-group sprint Maximilian Schachmann finishes third and loses leader's jersey to Almeida The UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider had miscalculated late on in the previous day's racing making a mistake in his line which arguably cost him the stage victory But there were no such errors of calculation Thursday's ascent of the ultra-steep Cat.1 Izua when Almeida blasted clear some 13 kilometres from the line technical drop down to the finish in Markina-Xemein Almeida now has two tough days to stay on top of the overall he is well positioned to try to follow on from his teammate Juan Ayuso as the outright winner of Itzulia Pais Vasco I didn't feel like I had the best legs today but perhaps everybody was feeling like that after such a tough stage on Wednesday," Almeida already the winner of a summit finish in Paris-Nice this March even though I was quite a way back at the start because I didn't feel I had very much to give and I'm very pleased as to how the team raced with one early attack briefly including 2024 Itzulia mountains winner Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike) failed to work out and for more than an hour no breaks managed to stick another move involving Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) on the relentless series of Cat.3 climbs proved more successful.  It helped that Simmons was later joined by teammate Andrea Baglioli (Lidl-Trek) and six other riders: Ben Healy and Alex Baudin (Both EF Education-EasyPost) Finn Fisher-Black (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) and Leo Bisiaux (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) Txomin Juaristi (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and Ander Okamika (Burgos-Burpellet-BH) bridged across and made it up to 11 in the break of the day reduced the gap to 1:28 for the move ahead even while taking maximum points at the top allowed Soler to move into the lead of the mountains classification. Cofidis and Bahrain Victorious set a ferocious pace in the pack on the flatter valley roads that followed their advantage was definitely diminishing 35 seconds with 20 kilometres to go was far small a margin for the 11 ahead to have any chance of staying away and shortly afterwards they were all but reeled in with a still very large peloton riding at full tilt as the road began to rise gently even before the official start of the decisive Izua ascent.  Okamika and Schmid did their best to stay clear and Simmons himself quickly switched from breakaway to domestique mode leading the bunch onto the foot of a short but very punishing climb The peloton shrank to just 40 riders in the agonisingly steep As the road narrowed to the width of a car at most and wound its way up the side of a cliff at gradients averaging around 18% Colombian climber Santiago Buitrago was the first to open fire But GC contender Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) was shadowing him closely Almeida then opted to put in a trademark driving acceleration slowly forcing a gap around first around the fourth wheel in the line of riders following him then going clear 2.2 kilometres from the top.  Race leader Schachmann was already lagging behind his main idea was to maintain a steady pace rather than risk going into the red But there was no sign of Almeida doing that either as the UAE leader easily conquered the steeper part of the ascent at the head of the race The,n as the incline eased close to the top Almeida could push himself even harder and open up his margin even further Almeida managed to carve out an impressively healthy advantage of around 33 seconds at the summit after pushing on through a line of cheering Alex Aranburu (Cofidis) and  Enric Mas (Movistar) showed any sign of giving up the pursuit as they led a powerful chase group on the ultra-fast particularly when skilled descenders like Schachmann and teammate Ilan van Wilder managed to regain contact and further boosted its firepower touching speeds of up to 80kph on a thankfully very dry descent and maintaining his margin easily as he shot downwards and past the outlying houses of the finish town.  after negotiating a couple of technical corners without any of the errors of the previous day's finish the 26-year-old finally had his second WorldTour stage victory of the season in the bag - and the GC and points leads in his power as well Almeida has a 30-second advantage overall with two days remaining and in a race often decided by margins of less than a minute that could well be sufficient for the Portuguese rider to claim his first week-long stage race since the Tour de Pologne back in 2021.  Friday's rolling leg from Orduña to Gernika-Lumo is likely to end with a breakaway victory for non-GC contenders including a repeat ascent of the ultra-difficult Izua will surely see his rivals put Almeida to the test again Results powered by FirstCycling Alasdair FotheringhamSocial Links NavigationAlasdair Fotheringham has been reporting on cycling since 1991 He has covered every Tour de France since 1992 bar one as well as numerous other bike races of all shapes and sizes ranging from the Olympic Games in 2008 to the now sadly defunct Subida a Urkiola hill climb in Spain he has also written for The Independent,  The Guardian,  ProCycling you will then be prompted to enter your display name Kaden Hopkins believes he is finally on the right path after a highly encouraging performance in the latest round of the Spanish Cup Series Having endured a difficult outings in his previous two races the 87th Santa Cruz Cycling Classic and in the previous round of the Spanish Cup in Vigo Hopkins gave a determined ride over the challenging 121-kilometre road racecourse to cross the line in 2hr 54min 37sec for 75th position The 21-year-old looked to have been on course for a stronger finishing position having broken away early and challenged the more established teams only to fall away on the fourth excruciating climb to ultimately finish a little over 6½ minutes adrift of race winner Igor Arrieta Lizarraga and been the first on Equipo Essax to do so Hopkins finally feels his fortunes are turning since relocating to Spain to sign a one-year deal with the team the elite under-23 outfit of the illustrious Spanish Sax Cycling Club “I finally feel I’m on the right path so hopefully thing will keep getting better,” Hopkins told The Royal Gazette “I tried to get in the early breakaway following the move that had three or four riders of the Lizarte and Euskadi teams “In one of the breaks I looked back and I was alone I tried a similar move as in the Dominican Republic [victory in Stage 3 of the Vuelta Independencia in February] where I went alone “I was away for about 15 kilometres before I was caught I was strong during the first three climbs but the fourth was 20 per cent gradients for the first 300 metres and I could not follow the guys at the front “I ended up in a group of about 20 guys and when we arrived at the last climb the group exploded and I went away with the first give or six guys “In the end I finished a little over six minutes down but I felt very good throughout the day and I was able to be in the front until I was dropped.” You must be Registered or to post comment or to vote Which of the Throne Speech promises is the Government best equipped to deliver on View Results HIS ROYAL Highness the Prince of Wales officially opened CAF’s factory at the Celtic Business Park near Newport The factory opened its doors in September 2018 and is the result of a £30 million investment by the Spanish manufacturer with grant support from the Welsh Government’s Inward Investment Programme St Modwen is the landowner and developer for the Celtic Business Park site while Bowmer & Kirkland was principal contractor for construction of the factory Initially CAF has built Civity DMUs at Newport The South Wales site has assembled 19x2-car Class 195s for Northern plus the driving vehicles for 3x3-car units which were a later addition to the order; the last vehicles for Northern were nearing completion at the time of the official opening The main focus at present is on Class 196 DMUs for West Midlands Trains with Newport building 60 of the 80 vehicles on order (11x4-car and 8x2-car sets) the first 20 carriages coming from CAF’s Beasain factory in Spain The first train from Newport is due to be delivered to WMT in the spring with a broad pattern of a pair of four-car sets followed by a two-car The WMT build will be completed by the end of the year After that will be all 77 trains in a 180-vehicle order for the Wales and Borders franchise Newport will build 51x2-car and 26x3-car Class 197s and the first bodyshell was due to be delivered to Newport in March with production ramping up next year CAF says Newport could build a range of trains from light rail to high-speed including the setup of further production lines and options for additional land within the Celtic Business Park if needed For more on the Newport factory see the feature in our March issue Subscribe to Key Modern Railways now to access the wealth of information on offer completely ad free Subscribe now Key Publishing Ltd is a company registered in England and Wales with Company Number 2713662 Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) sealed the overall victory at the Vuelta Asturias with a 7km solo to the win on the final stage in Oviedo who finished second on stage 1 and took over the lead on the challenging second stage rounded out his dominance of the four-day race with a solo ride on the hilly 136km finale He held off Matteo Vercher (TotalEnergies) by three seconds to take his team's 33rd and 34th wins of the season while Alexis Guerin (Anicolor-Tien 21) finished third at 16 seconds down Txomin Guaristi (Euskaltel-Euskadi) took fourth with the same time as Guerin to jump up into second on the final general classification Guerin leapt up to third overall at 4:15 down while previous podium sitters Hugo de la Calle (Burgos-Burpellet-BH) and Samuel Fernández (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) dropped down to fourth and fifth overall Results powered by FirstCycling This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page 43,000+ global companies doing business in the region 102,000+ key contacts related to companies and projects news and interviews about your 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CHARGE Download our media pack in either English or Spanish After initially being stripped of the Tour of the Basque Country third stage victory Cofidis rider Alex Aranburu was eventually ruled to have won fairly on Wednesday The Basque native crossed the line first but Romain Gregoire was named the winner after Aramburu was disqualified for going the wrong way around a roundabout organisers later said he was allowed to go the way he chose and admitted there was a mistake with signposting "After receiving and reviewing additional evidence.. it became clear that all available information indicated that the roundabout in question was to be taken in the manner chosen by the Cofidis rider," said organisers in a statement on social media "The rider correctly followed the indicated path.. the rider's advantage continued to increase after exiting the roundabout and all the way to the finish line "The race organiser was also consulted and confirmed that there had been a signage error at the roundabout in question the Commissaires' Panel has decided to overturn its initial decision and the rider's passage over the finish line is confirmed as valid." Pues a tomar por culo, Alex Aranburu descalificado por tomar la rotonda por donde no era, pero joder no me jodas, si iba a ganar igualmente, que injusto, ánimo Alex, que mala ostia. pic.twitter.com/y9esArLP5l Max Schachmann maintained the yellow jersey as he came in third behind Gregoire Soudal-Quick Step rider Schachmann increased his advantage at the top of the general classification over Red Bull's Florian Lipowitz and Team UAE's Joao Almeida completed the hilly 156.6 kilometre run from Zarautz to Beasain in just over three hours and 45 minutes After Almeida almost crashed at a roundabout Aranburu ripped past him and went solo in the final stages The Basque was then disqualified for having gone the wrong way around the roundabout someone (Aranburu) crossed the line first," Gregoire told Eurosport before Aranburu's win was restored Stage four on Thursday takes riders 169.6 kilometres from Beasain to Markina-Xemein ReportDomingo’s match (VIII)This Sunday 10th May 2020 marks 22 years since Málaga CF claimed the Segunda División B Group IV league title. We look back at the Malaguistas’ final matches in the bronze division of Spanish football in the 97/98 season. Copy linkThe final leg of the league who hadn’t suffered defeat since matchday 21 had moved 13 points away from RC Recreativo de Huelva. The arrival of Ismael Díaz to the dugout in matchday 14 had led to the turnaround sole leader of the competition had 42 points to Málaga CF’s 32 after Málaga CF defeated Sevilla FC 'B' (2-0) Polideportivo Almería and Málaga CF played one another on league matchday 37 The match was officiated by Lizondo Cortés from Valencia The Polideportivo Almería starting-11 under the orders of Antonio Montero 'Nene' Luis Martín (Roberto García '59) Melgarejo (Recalde '74) and Peragón (Francisco '65) The Malaguista line-up had several substitute players as the team had already mathematically qualified – two weeks before – for the promotion play-offs to the Second Division so it was necessary to preserve certain players in case of possible injuries or sanctions The match was marked by Poli’s need to score to have options to achieve mathematical salvation on the penultimate matchday Peragón stood out as he provoked various goal opportunities that his teammates didn’t make the most of both teams seemed happy to settle for a draw taking into account Recreativo de Huelva’s defeat (1-0 against Motril CF) Málaga CF had 70 points to Huelva’s 66 so MCF had mathematically won the Segunda División 'B' Group IV league title Málaga CF defeated Isla Cristina by 3-2 ending the league with 73 points and with a 17-match undefeated streak the draw for the Second Division promotion league was carried out by the RFEF Málaga CF was in Group A along with Terrassa FC (2nd in Group III) SD Beasain (3rd in Group II) and Talavera CF (4th in Group I) The debut match couldn’t have started better who had turned the result around following the 1-0 from Raúl Borrero La Rosaleda was almost full to capacity for this match that started off well for the Malaguistas with a goal from the penalty spot for Guede a Morilla goal sealed the 1-1 final result Málaga CF visited Castilla La Mancha to face Talavera CF again leaving the Blue and Whites with 10 men for the remainder of play Guede put Málaga in the lead in minute 34 but Talavera went in front thanks to goals from Fran and Quini Promotion was going to be an uphill struggle A straightforward match for Málaga CF which ended in a 4-0 victory (with goals from Sandro Talavera and Terrassa were tied on 7 points with the team from the Basque Country out of the fight for promotion On the fifth matchday Málaga was up against Terrassa FC in Cataluña This was the first time Málaga played an official match on an artificial pitch and were surpassed throughout by Terrassa who went on to win 3-0 This complicated Málaga CF’s Second Division promotion hopes the sixth and final match was held in the promotion league Málaga CF had to beat Terrassa FC by three goals and hope that Talavera CF didn’t defeat Beasain scored the 1-0; in 36’ Méndez (who had left Málaga CF in the winter transfer window) equalised for the rival Luis Merino scored the 2-1 following a corner one no sooner had the second half got underway The Malaguista fans were watching what happened in Beasain even singing a ‘ghost goal’ for the team from Guipúzcoa it was only a matter of minutes for the referee to declare the end of play The Blue and White fans then invaded the pitch at La Rosaleda to celebrate a promotion that seven days earlier had seemed impossible The objective had been achieved and the city of Málaga again had a team in the silver division after seven years For the future of Málaga CF, the 1997/98 season was key finally abandoning semi-professional football and moving away from Segunda División 'B' The team achieved promotion in the first Second Division play-offs they had taken part in The two previous seasons they came so close yet so far at the end of the regular league competition The first complete CAF Class 196 has arrived in the UK for testing and commissioning at Tyseley Four-car diesel multiple unit 196101 was built by CAF in its Beasain factory in northern Spain It had been tested at the Velim test track in the Czech Republic before being moved to the UK The Class 196s were ordered by West Midlands Trains to boost capacity on various routes Twelve two-car (196001-196012) and 14 four-car (196101-196114) sets are on order with 20 of the 80 vehicles to be built in Spain and the rest assembled at CAF’s Newport factory (RAIL 900) They are from the same CIVITY platform as the Northern Class 195s and Transport for Wales Class 197 DMUs A second four-car Class 196 (196102) has also been tested at Velim while the first two-car set (196001) is complete at Beasain A third four-car set (196103) has been built in Spain while 196104 is due to be the first to leave Newport RAIL is Britain's market leading modern railway magazine First unit ventured out onto the South Wales Metro on April 15 EMR shows off first of 44 units that will be refurbished over the next two-three years Arterio fleet has been beset by delays with only five out of 90 in service The first complete four-car Class 331 electric multiple unit for Northern has been unveiled in Zaragoza The EMU is undergoing various tests at the CAF factory where it was built before it is moved to Velim in the Czech Republic for further tests The first CAF-built train for Northern is expected in the UK in May with the first train in traffic from December That is planned to be Class 195 diesel multiple unit Northern’s plan is to introduce the trains initially between the North West and Manchester Airport A three-car Class 195 DMU is complete at Irun CAF explained that all EMUs will be built in Zaragoza Bogies for both fleets will be manufactured in CAF’s Beasain factory CAF is building 98 trains for Northern in a £490 million deal financed by Eversholt Rail This involves 25 two-car and 30 three-car Class 195 DMUs and 31 three-car and 12 four-car Class 331 EMUs They will enable the operator to remove Pacers from traffic and internally cascade other fleets User group outlines improvements it wants which include ticketing and timetabling Caledonian Sleeper unveiled images of the first bodyshells for the MK 5 carriages which are being built by Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF) in Beasain replacing the existing Mk 2 and Mk 3 fleets Scottish Transport Minister Humza Yousaf MSP described the Mk 5s as “breathtaking” he said they offered a “glimpse of what innovative and never-before-seen upgrades to services rail passengers can expect” In our third and final Mystery Shopper piece covering ScotRail we head out on the InterCity network to see if older trains still offer quality. Strathclyde Partnership for Transport Chief Executive makes plea for better planning The first five CAF-built Mk 5s for Caledonian Sleeper arrived at Polmadie on January 16 the coaches have been tested at the Velim test track in the Czech Republic CS has confirmed that Mk 5s will enter traffic from October initially on the London Euston-Edinburgh Waverley/Glasgow Central ‘Lowlander’ trains said: “We believe the new Caledonian Sleeper trains will truly set a new standard in overnight travel and we have worked closely with Transport Scotland on their development since taking over the franchise in 2015 “The Sleeper is known throughout the UK as a great way to travel and it is our intention to improve on every aspect of that journey while offering great value of money for our guests It is particularly exciting to welcome the first carriages to Scotland as it highlights just how close we are to the debut of the new trains on our Lowlander route this October.” The carriages delivered are seated cars 15001/002 club car 15101 and standard Sleeper cars 15301/302 15201-15214 (Sleeper cars for Persons with Reduced Mobility Technical Specification for Interoperability) and 15301-15340 (standard Sleeper cars)