In any which way you'd like to analyse the Caisse d'Epargne season, no one could have missed the sudden demise of Isaac Galvez. The worthwhile sprinter, who also had quite a few successes on the track, lost his life at a "company accident" on the Gent track in Belgium. It's sad that this accident prone rider, which he was a bit, died after crashing. Many times he survived death defying crashes, but this time the likeable Galvez never got back on his custom made carbon bike. May he rest in peace.


With that heavy inheritance the riders from the French banking-squad need to charge themselves for another promising season. The selection that manager Echavarri has at his disposal is balanced, quite a few world-class riders among them.
The successes by Valverde in the Ardennes (Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège) made sure that the team had a brilliant spring. The surprising second place by Pereiro almost meant that Echavarri had a Deja-Vu.


That silver medal could still change into gold if Floyd Landis is stripped from his win. That type of "clinical" win probably won't change much, but on paper the team will have a successor to multiple Tour winner Miguel Indurain. And it's not even Valverde, who was meant to take that place. The man from Murcia fell early on in the Tour and lost all chances. He tried to repair the damage by taking a shot in the Vuelta, but the Khazakh supremacy was too great. In the end, Valverde found himself sandwiched between the two Astana leaders, Vinokourov and Kasheckin.


While that Grand Tour (maybe) wasn't won, the 2006 cycling season does leave an "upbeat" feeling in the squad. The team has riders for every type of race, apart from the big names. Garcia Acosta, Reynes, Markov, the Portal brothers and Brard seem the likely names for the "cobble season", but they have a few more that don't detest the spring classics (Spaniards traditionally don't like the Belgian races in the spring). On the contrary.


Markov will, due to Galvez' death, take the place of first sprinter. The Giro is somewhat less attracting as the other two G.T.'s, but especially well suited for Fertonani. Echavarri has a complete spectrum of riders for the uphill. Joaquin Rodriguez, Arroyo, Horrach, Karpets, Aitor Perez, Fran. Perez, Zaballa, Zandio and the new blood of Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana) and Losada (Kaiku) represent the squad in support of the big guns. Other newcomers like David Lopez (Euskaltel) and Rojas (Astana) manage the hills well, apart from being able to finish pretty fast. Especially Rojas likes the northern classics, just like Vladimir Efimkin who was hired last year.


As a matter of fact, many of these so called "helpers" are capable to score as well. Joaquin Rodriguez is a bit like the "light-version" of Valverde, a killer-type finisher with climbers legs. Karpets, Luis Leon Sanchez and the not yet mentioned Gutierrez are very good time triallists. All can be favourites in the smaller stage-races.
So Echavarri has the ultimate cycling mix. Helpers that can win races on their own, but not too "big" to decline helping the team. Talent combined with experience. Caisse d'Epargne has it all. If the team delivers as expected, the French sponsor can count on many victories. Especially when they ride for Isaac Galvez.


New:
David Lopez (Euskaltel), Alberto Losada (Kaiku), Sébastien Portal (Crédit Agricole), José Joaquin Rojas, Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana)


Left the team:
Antonio Colom (Astana), José Luis Carrasco (Andalucia-Paul Versan), José Cayetano Julia, Iker Leonet (unknown), Mikel Pradera (Benfica)