Ion Izagirre (Bahrain-Merida) says that he feels like a first-year professional as he heads into the 2018 season. Given the year that he has had, it`s easy to understand. `I feel like I`ve just signed my first pro contract, I`m that keen to get started,` the Spaniard tells Cyclingnews. Izagirre`s Tour de France - and season - went up in smoke on the same corner of the opening time trial as the one that put paid to Alejandro Valverde`s year, but with far less publicity than the Movistar rider. The bulk of the TV reports replayed Valverde`s spectacular skid across the Dusseldorf tarmac and crash into the barriers time and again. However, Izagirre`s crash, where he fractured a number of vertebrae in his lower back, ended up being almost eclipsed.ADVERTISEMENT The damage to Izagirre`s career was arguably greater. Valverde, having swept all before him in the spring, was at the Tour to act as `Plan B` for Nairo Quintana. But Izagirre was making his Grand Tour debut for Bahrain-Merida after an impressively consistent series of near-misses. He finished seventh in Paris-Nice, third in Pais Vasco, fifth in Liege-Bastogne-Liege, fifth in Romandie, second on the toughest stage of the Tour de Suisse and third in the Spanish Road Nationals. What was missing was a win of some kind, and Izagirre went into the Tour feeling that his form and status as a protected rider within the Bahrain-Merida line-up would work in his favour. Instead, he ended up in a hospital in Dusseldorf, his season over. Fast forward nearly five months and Izagirre is back on track - finally. He will aim at hitting the ground early and running in 2018, starting in the Tour Down Under with a dense program of racing up to and including - subject to final discussions with the team next week at their training camp and the pinning down of Vincenzo Nibali`s program - the Tour de France.
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