According to tuttobiciweb.com Jose Rujano has signed for Unibet.com. The deal was struck yesterday afternoon at the Malpensa airport terminal. All details are complete for the deal that will see the tiny climber return to the peloton after being dumped by Quick-Step.
Rujano looked to be a breakout climbing star after the 2005 Giro where he almost stole the victory in the final mountain stage. Since then Rujano has suffered from an overinflated ego and sense of entitlement. He had a falling out with Gianni Savio of Selle-iItalia. He was basically a no-show form-wise in the Giro. He dropped out unceremoniously during stage 13 from Alessandria to La Thuile. In the stage Rujano launched a few attacks, but then dropped out of the race only one kilometer from the finish.
Rujano then moved to Quick-Step where he was set to ride the Tour de France. The race did not go so well for Rujano and neither did the rest of the season.
Wladmir “Sugar Ray” Belli is in fourth place 7:35 behind Ivan Basso. Thanks to a breakaway that let the Italian veteran gain back some time on GC and a very good performance on La Thuile, Selle Italia has a new team leader. This is good news for a team that had to deal with the Terrell Owens like problems with Jose Rujano.
The Rujano saga took one more (probably final) odd step in Saturday’s stage to La Thuile. Jose Rujano abruptly retired from the race with only 3km left in the stage to La Thuile. This was after showing some improving form when he attacked the maglia rosa group. Although he was quickly reeled in and dropped by Basso, the Venezualian looked to be getting set for the brutal final week in the Giro. After the long cold descent, Rujano was complaining of not being able to brake and decided to pack it in for the entire race. Selle Italia team boss seemed miffed at the explaination and simply called the whole deal a mystery during the Giro followup show “Processo all Tappa”. Seems as though Savio does not know much more about why Rujano called it a day only 3km before the finish. Whatever problems existed, he could simply coast his way to the finish from 3km away if there was any sort of real problem.
The Selle Italia polemics with Rujano are probably in the past now as the Venezualian climber is looking forward to joining his new team Quick-Step on June 1st. Rujano was not in the same form as last year. However, the tiny climber who “looks like a little kid on a bike” (according to Aurio Bulbarelli of RAI) will be moving on to Belgian team Quick Step where he will see what it means to be a professional bike racer from guy slike Tom Boonen and Paolo Bettini. Unfortuanelty for Rujano he lost some prime chances at winning stages in the Giro as the final week was serving up opportunities that were almost tailor made for the 48kg climber. He can now watch Basso or Piepoli or others soak up the glory that could have been his.
Wladmir Belli is back in the Giro. From the looks of the standings with Simoni and Belli separated by only one place, you would think it was five years ago when Simoni’s fans were all over the Giro course and the two were fighting out for the Giro top spot. Simoni’s tifosi were so annoying that Belli had to slug one that got a little too close. Turns out that man was Simoni’s brother-in-law and the punch was a little too much for the Giro orgs tastes. So Belli was Dq’d.
Now five years later, Belli is back in the Giro riding for Selle Italia. His original job was to use his years of experience in the Giro to help guide Jose Rujano to and overall win. Selle Italia loaded up with veterans to help Rujano get through the Giro in a winning position. Now that Rujano fizzled Belli is in a top spot on GC and in great form. Belli who has stated that he will retire after the Giro was asked by David Cassani on “Processo della Tappa” if he is still going to retire after the race. He replied that it is hard when you are in great form, but now that he is 36 years old he knows that it is time to stop.
(pic from eurosport.com)
The Giro started this weekend and may have ended this weekend too. Ivan Basso put down a Lance Armstrong/Miguel Indurain type of performance on the first real mountin top finish of the Giro. As Carlos Sastre set a tempo reminiscent of Discovery Channel/Postal leadout of the past seven years, Basso simply clicked away as contenders drifted off the back of the group.
The first of the contenders to feel the pain was Danilo DiLuca. “The Killer” did not seem to be on form all this weekend. It was reported that DiLuca was suffering some sort of ailment on Saturday which showed. On Sunday his pace was much better, but he was one of the first top contenders to get launched off the back.
Paolo Savoldelli had a good ride, but probably lost one minute more than he would have liked. He was not going to keep up with the top mountainmen in the Giro this year, which may mean that he does not have much of a chance to repeat his win from last year.
Gilberto Simoni could not get launched by his teamate Leonardo Piepoli. The small Italian climber helped Gibo get to the top of the climb on Sunday as Basso simply rode away with the win. Simoni felt that he set a good pace and was frustrated that he could not muster any more speed. Is he getting old? Not really he placed respectably, he is just not as fast as Basso or Cunego.
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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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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.
Cyclingnews.com
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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