Jose Rujano nearly stole the Giro last year in the epic stage to Sestriere which tackled some brutal climbs. I still remember seeing the look of exhaustion on Gilberto Simoni’s face as he could simply no hold on the the tiny climbers wheel on the “big ring” climb to Sestrierre. Rujano was not far off from displacing Paolo Salvodelli for the Maglia Rosa, but ended the day 45 seconds back in third place.
With an epic performance in one of the toughest Giro stages, one could only imagine how well Rujano would perform in the Giro 2006 which is loaded with climbs in the final week.
Rujano signed a contract for 2006 with super team Quick-Step, but with a clause that allowed him to stay at the smaller Selle Italia team through the Giro. As a result of being able to keep the young climber on board for one more Giro, Gianni Savio stocked up his team with reinforcements. Italian verterans Wladimir Belli, Sergio Barbero, Alessandro Bertolini and Gabriele Missaglia had the experience to help guide Rujano through the tough first few weeks and provide enough support for the tiny Venezualian in the mountains. So what more could Rujano ask for?
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Rujano who?…. The new discovery of the Selle Italia team Jose Serpa is making Gianni Savio quickly forget the Jose Rujano troubles as he takes another victory in Langkawi. Serpa took another solo victory in the Genting mountains today. Serpa is showing he is an all-round talent winning in the mountains and on flat terrain. He certainly has a nose for the finish line too.
Selle Italia teammate Gabriele Missaglia lost one minute to leader David George of South Africa.
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Ordine d’arrivo
1 Serpa,José in 3h01′00″
2 Elias Galindo,Jose a 1′18″
3 Iannetti,Massimo a 1′33″
4 Bellotti,Francesco a 1′38″
5 Pedraza,Walter
6 Grajales,Cesar a 1′39″
7 George,David a 1′41″
8 Raisin,Saul a 2′08″
9 Le Mevel,Christophe a 2′14″
10 Le Boulanger,Yohann a 2′27″
Classifica generale
1 George,David – South Africa in 16h10′33″
2 Missaglia,Gabriele – Selle Italia Diquigiovanni a 1′57″
3 Bellotti,Francesco – Credit Agricole a 2′19″
4 Pedraza,Walter – Selle Italia Diquigiovanni
5 Grajales,Cesar – Navigators Insurance a 2′20″
6 Sharman,Robin – Recyling.Co.Uk a 4′20″
7 Elias Galindo,Jose – Relax-Gam a 4′40″
8 Serpa,José – Selle Italia Diquigiovanni a 4′44″
9 Lefevre,Laurent – Bouygues Telecom a 4′54″
10 Poilvet,Benoit – Credit Agricole a 5′42″
The last two days at Langkawi brought out two interesting victories. First, the young American phenom Saul Rainsin got a great victory after his breakaway succeeded. Saul is still very young and he will take on more of a leadership role in the Tour for Credit Agricole. Hmm, an American leading a french team in the Tour… makes me feel like the 1980s all over again.
Gianni Savio is probably not too upset about the Rujano channeling Terrell Owens saga. This man leads the Selle Italia team with a small budget, but lots of talent. Seems as though Savio has a savy eye for new up-and-coming riders from South America. So, could this year’s version of Jose Rujano be Jose Serpa?
The neo-pro from Selle Italia Diquigiovanni is quite possibly the last rider to be registered as a professional in 2006; after all, direttore sportivo Gianni Savio only signed him right at the end of last month following his three stage wins and second overall at the Vuelta al Tachira. — cyclingnews
Savio signed Serpa at the end of the Tour of Tachira. There he placed second overall and won a stage. Savio describes his new signing as a complete rider. So, maybe Savio isn’t too concerned about the Rujano situation and already has a replacement lined up.
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.
Gianni Savio has been signing more Italians lately and that may be due to a change in sponsorships. Sprinter Angelo Furlan formerly of Liquigas, Italian Santo Anza and Columbian Fredy “so fast he only needs one d” Gonzalez were signed to the squad to join such veterans as Vlad “Casius” Belli. They round out the squad to 20 riders which will be 19 after the Giro when Jose Rujano joins Quick-Step.
Gone is the main sponsorship of Columbia as Selle Italia takes primary sponsor position. New sponsor Serramenti Diquigiovanni a leader in PVC pipes and such.
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