Beloki gets to know his new team

@cyclingnews

Although still under contract with ONCE-Eroski through December 31, Joseba Beloki took some time this week to get acquainted with his new teammates at Brioches La Boulangère. Beloki joined the team for a first training session along with his younger brother Gorka, who followed him from ONCE to La Boulangère. The two remained outfitted in ONCE uniforms and rode their Giant team bikes, not wishing to provoke any conflict between sponsors old and new.

"Frankly, I hesitated to make this trip to the first training camp," the elder Beloki told l'Equipe. "I'm still under contract with ONCE through December and I respect my commitments. But, knowing that Manolo Saiz and Jean-René Bernaudeau spoke together and nobody opposed this trip to France, we came."

Beloki took the time to meet with the team's equipment sponsors, discuss bike fit, pedal choices, and explain his requirements on the technical front. "After all, it's the tool of our job, and you can't perform miracles without good equipment," he noted.

The Basque, who along with his brother represents the only foreign incursion into what this year was an entirely French team, was pleased anew with the team's close-knit group. Knowing communication will not be easy, he also vowed to devote himself to learning to speak French.

"I'm going to learn French as quickly as possible," he insisted. "It's a form of respect towards my teammates. But it's also good that the directors managed, for this first meeting, to bring an interpreter. That also shows their intelligence."