Feb 5, 2006
Rujano Pulls a Terrell Owens
Jose Rujano is pulling a Terrell Owens type move on his small Italian team Selle Italia. Rujano wants to renegotiate his contract to get more money and focus his efforts on the Tour de France. Jose Rujano was the bust out revelation of a legendary Giro D’Italia in 2005. The little Venezualan climber looks to be a favorite for the 2006 Giro which features serious climbing in the final week. So much climbing that Alessandro Petacchi was almost going to skip the Giro altogether.
Rujano had a contract with Selle Italia that ran through 2006. In August Quick-Step was calling Rujano with offers. Selle Italia team manager Gianni Savio worked out a deal that would allow Rujano to ride the Giro for Selle Italia and then let Quick-Step become Rujano’s new employer on June 1st. Selle Italia even brought in several veteran Italian riders to help Rujano get through the first week and give him some support on climbing stages. Everything seemed set for Rujano to make a serious bid for the Maglia Rosa.
Now problems are surfacing between Rujano and Savio about money and contracts. It seems that Rujano is not too happy with the contract and would like to renegotiate the five month deal that was reworked to allow him to move to Quick-Step. Rujano, asked to focus his effort to the Tour de France and only use the Giro as preparation for the Tour. Apparently, Rujano would like to focus his energy this year on the less mountains and more time trail intensive Tour de France. He could probably win a few mountainous stages in the Tour, but the Giro gives him a serious chance of winning overall.
So the question now is, did anybody see Drew Rosenhaus in Italy talking to a small Venezualan dude? If so, Jose needs to be filled in on the Terrell Owens story before it is too late.