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| José Rujano at the start of the Giro 2012. Next year it will be for Vacansoleil-DCM. |
José Rujano
seems to get yet another chance at the highest level in cycling as four World
Tour teams right now are battling to sign the Venezuelan climber for 2013.
Last year
Rujano said he wanted to extend his contract with Androni Giocattoli, but after
this year’s Giro d’Italia it was clear to everyone that that would never
happen.
After a disappointing
Giro, José Rujano left the race through the back door claiming mononucleosis was
the reason for his abandonment, but according to the team boss Gianni Savio
that wasn’t true. Given the nature of Rujano’s exit and the weak excuse, Savio
publicly said that Rujano didn’t have a future on the team anymore and by the
end of August Rujano’s contract with Androni Giocattoli ran out.
Since then
it’s been very quiet around José Rujano but within the last couple of weeks his
name has been mentioned again and again. Team Saxo Bank - Tinkoff Bank,
Euskaltel-Euskadi & Vacansoleil-DCM are all being named among the four teams
interested in signing José Rujano and according to my South American sources it will be
Vacansoleil-DCM who end up with the Venezuelan rider.
The Dutch
team have a good record of giving riders another chance when others didn’t believe
in them, Johnny Hoogerland as the best example, and even though José Rujano
hasn’t been able to perform without Gianni Savio at his side in the past, he
seems to be given a new chance by Vacansoleil-DCM.
So far Vacansoleil-DCM
have been focusing on rearming their Classic team with riders like Juan Antonio
Flecha and Grega Bole but it would appear that they felt the need to sign
another strong climber as Stefan Denifl and Matteo Carrera are leaving the team.
What do you
think? Will Rujano be able to shine again in the colors of the Dutch team? Leave
your comment below.
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