Basque team Euskaltel-Euskadi has announced its line-up for Paris-Nice, which starts with a prologue in Issy-les-Moulineaux on the outskirts of Paris on Sunday. The team composed of Samuel Sánchez, Mikel Astarloza, Rubén Pérez, Andoni Aranaga, Markel Irizar, Alan Pérez, Gorka Verdugo and Iván Velasco has the objective of putting its leader Sánchez on the final podium in Nice. Sánchez finished an overall fourth last year at the event.
Moreover, sports director Gorka Gerrikagoitia pointed at Astarloza's good form - the former AG2R rider finished tenth in the Vuelta a Valenciana - and expected the rest of his riders to show the team's colours in breakaways, a part from helping Sánchez and Astarloza.
