Feb 1, 2006
Jose Rujano Troubles
Jose Rujano and Selle Italia team manager Gianni Savio have been having problems lately. Rujano’s scratch from the Tour of Langkawi is a sign of bigger problems between the small Italian team and Venezualan climber.
Since the little climber’s surprising third place finish at the Giro in 2005 things have not gone smoothly for Rujano and Savio. This year especially, has been plagued by various problems (sorry, no details) that have had a negative effect on the results column. The strain may also be a result of Rujano’s split year of riding the first part with Selle Italia and then switching to super team Quick-Step just after the Giro. The end result may be that Rujano may not even ride the Giro and stay out of racing until June 1st when his contract with Quick-Step is set to commence.
The problems are wide spread, partly due to image rights of Rujano, and solutions have not been found.
http://www.bicirace.com/news/2006/20060202.html
That is disappointing since Rujano would do very well in the Giro this year if he had the same form as 2005.