Igor Astarloa is one man who can attest to the legendary curse of the Rainbow Jersey. The Spanish Classics expert who would rather ride on Italian teams (sounds like Oscar Friere) has been in the doldrums since his 2003 World Championship victory in Hamilton Ontario. After winning with Saeco Astarloa switched over to French outfit Cofidis for 2004.
That spring all hell broke loose with drug allegations surrounding the team. Several riders were under suspicion and team management decided to suspend the team from competition until they could resolve the situation. Astarloa was not involved in any of the drug issues, but the suspension of team activities happened during his beloved Spring Classics.
Astarloa was freed of his contract and joined Lampre in time for the Giro. In 2005 Astarloa found himself out of a spot as Lampre merged with Saeco to get a slot on the ProTour. The shuffle of riders left Astarloa out in the cold. He eventually signed for Team Barloworld which was a Continental Tour team meaning that invites to his beloved races in Northern Europe were hard to come by. Astarloa’s best result on Barloworld was a win last year in Milano-Torino. Oter top results have been hard to come by.
For 2007 Astarloa finds himself on a ProTour team where he is the main guy for the Spring Classics. Races like Fleche Wallone, Liege-Bastongne-Liege and Amstel Gold will be back on the Igor’s schedule after a few years of be left out without an invite.