Giro d’Italia stage winner Jon Izaguirre and his brother Gorka have been confirmed for the Euskaltel team for the upcoming Santos Tour Down Under, with the duo set to line out alongside former race winner Mikel Astarloza in the WorldTour event.
The newly-announced squad for the race will also include the Spaniards Juan Jose Lobato, Jon Aberasturi, Garikoitz Bravo and Juan Jose Oroz.
“The younger riders in Euskaltel-Euskadi will be put through their paces,” said race director Mike Turtur, “but the team also has more experienced team members including 2003 Santos Tour Down Under winner Mikel Astarloza to mentor them through the stages.”
Astarloza is trying to return to his top form after a two year ban for EPO.
Apart from his Giro success, Jon Izaguirre also won the time trial in last year’s Vuelta Asturias.
Meanwhile having fully recovered from the concussion he suffered in the Tour of Britain, Tyler Farrar has been confirmed as making his return to the Garmin-Sharp team in the race.
The Santos Tour Down Under will mark his first race since he crashed on stage one of the Tour of Britain. He has been training hard for the 2013 season and will be keen to clock up a win as soon as possible after an at-times frustrating 2012 season.
The 2013 edition of the race will run from January 22nd to 27th. It will be preceded on January 20th by the People’s Choice Classic.
All of the sport’s UCI ProTeams will take part, with many big names confirmed as entering including world champion Philippe Gilbert and 2010 Tour de France winner Andy Schleck.
Euskaltel team for Santos Tour Down Under:
Gorka Izaguirre, Jon Izaguirre, Jon Aberasturi, Juan Jose Lobato, Garikoitz Bravo, Mikel Astarloza, Juan Jose Oroz (all Spanish).