MADRID, April 9, 2011 – German Andreas Kloeden of RadioShack won the
Tour of the Basque country on Saturday after HTC compatriot Tony Martin took
the sixth and final stage – a 24km individual time-trial at Zalla.

Kloeden, who previously won the event racing for Deutsche Telekom, placed
second on the day as he landed the overall title for the second time after
2000.

The champion, who twice finished runner-up in the Tour de France (2004 and
2006), finished in a total 22hr 12min 11sec, 47sec ahead of US teammate
Christopher Horner with Dutchman Robert Gesink of Rabobank completing the
podium.

Kloeden’s time-trial showing was sufficient to gain him the overall
accolade despite his failure to win any of the stages across the week.

“The time trial went very well,” said Kloeden.

“Johan Bruyneel and Jose Azevedo coached me so well in the following car.
They had the split times of Tony Martin. I started very fast and the climb
went very well for me. I could keep my good pace till the end. Perfect.

“It’s unbelievable really that I’ve won here again after 11 years,” added
the German.

“But it shows what can happen. You need to be strong mentally and have a
nice team. Without the team it’s not possible.”

Martin, taking his fifth season stage win, bagged the final day’s honors
in 32min 16sec with Kloeden 9sec behind and Italian HTC rider Marco Pinotti
third at 24sec.

Spaniard Joaquin Rodriguez, who had led overnight, had a nightmare in the
time-trial to see his hopes evaporate – having suffered a similar experience
in last year’s Tour of Spain.

Rodriguez finally came in 33rd, fully 2min 08sec off the pace as he missed
out even on a top ten finish, coming 11th at 1min 59sec.

“The goal of the week here was to win today, and that’s what I’ve
achieved,” Martin said after his final flourish.

“I had a bit of a break after Paris-Nice and when I started this race I
knew that I wasn’t going to be at 100 percent straight away.”

“But I’ve ended the race in great condition, and this win is the
confirmation.”

Stage:
1. Tony Martin (GER/HTC) 24km in 32min 16sec, 2. Andreas Kloeden
(GER/RadioShack)at 09 sec, 3. Marco Pinotti (ITA/HTC) 24. 4. Jacob Fuglsang
(DEN/Leopard) 29, 5. Andrew Talansky (USA/Garmin) 42, 6. Maxime Monfort
(BEL/Leopard) 48, 7. Robert Gesink (NED/Rabobank) 50, 8. Richie Porte
(AUS/Saxo Bank) 53, 9. Christopher Horner (USA/RadioShack) 55, 10. Vasil
Kiryienka (BLR/Movistar) 1:00.

Overall
1. Andreas Kloeden (GER/Radioshack) 22hr 12min 11sec, 2. Christopher Horner
(USA/Radioshack) at 47sec, 3. Robert Gesink (NED/Rabobank) s.t, 4. Benat
Intxausti (ESP/Movistar) 1:03, 5. Xavier Tondo (ESP/Movistar) s.t, 6. Samuel
Sanchez ESP/Euskaltel) 1:08, 7. David Lopez (ESP/Movistar) 1:28, 8. Alexander
Vinokourov (KAZ/Astana) 1:31, 9. Ryder Hesjedal (CAN/Garmin) 1:49, 10. Vasil
Kiryienka (BLR/Movistar) 1:54.
…
Selected:
12. Andy Schleck (LUX/Leopard) 2:02.