Iker Mintegi wins an El Djazaïr Grand Prix for Euskaltel dominance

He Euskaltel-Euskadi has put the best possible finishing touch on the final day of the Grand Prix El Djazaïr (2.2, Algeria). Paul Hennequin has been the fastest in the third and final stage and Iker Mintegi has been imposed on the final classification. With these two victories, the orange team has six wins this season.

In the last stage held on a circuit in Sidi Abdella, 113.2 kilometers in total, Euskaltel-Euskadi rounded off its performance. Hennequin was the fastest in the mass finish and Mintegi secured first place in the general classification, with Danny van der Tuuk second. The Altsasu cyclist has achieved his first professional victory.

The orange team has dominated the race. Axel van der Tuuk won the first stage on Monday, with Mintegi second; The Navarrese took over from his teammate at the top of the lead in the second on Tuesday; and today Hennequin finished and Mintegi and Van der Tuuk kept the first two positions in the final classification. Nico Alustiza and Jonathan Lastra – second on Saturday in the classic Classique Djamaa El Kbir (1.2) – have also finished in the top ten; Yago Agirre has been the other teammate, under the sports direction of Pablo Urtasun. Euskaltel-Euskadi has been the best team. The same group will compete on Friday in the Classique La Capitale (1.2), the last test in the African country.

“I am very happy with the victory, especially for the entire team. In the first stage we were able to win with Danny and I was second, which allowed us to gain time for the general classification,” highlighted Iker Mintegi. “Today we achieved victory again with Paul, also maintaining my first place, Danny’s second and the places in the top 10 of Alustiza and Lastra. The work of all the teammates and the staff during this lap has been enormous. Now we have a classic left here and we will continue trying,” he continued.

Mintegi (2002) is in his third season on the orange team -renewed last year until 2027- and ran for three years (2021-2023) in the Euskadi Foundation subsidiary. This 2026, he was second in the Primavera Ontur Grand Prix after his teammate Axel van der Tuuk.

With today’s victories, the team has six victories this season: Gran Premio Primavera Ontur (Axel van der Tuuk), a stage of the Dookola Mazowsza (Paul Hennequin), a stage of the Tour of Portugal (Xabier Isasa) and the two stages (Danny van der Tuuk and Paul Henneqin) and the general classification (Iker Mintegi) in the Grand Prix El Djazaïr.

Another group, Xabier Berasategi,