José Rujano

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HEILIGENBLUT, Austria (VN) - José Rujano (Androni) seems back at his best in this year's Giro d'Italia after a five-year drought that saw him struggle with form, personal problems and results.

When Alberto Contador lit his climbing after-burners on Mount Etna Sunday afternoon and streaked through the translucent Sicilian air toward his first-ever Giro d’Italia stage win (and a new grand-tour leader’s jersey), observers said the race was over. But Contador’s victory, only three seconds ahead of the enigmatic Venezuelan climber José Rujano and almost a minute ahead of his declared rivals, can be seen as a first salvo in a Giro that features six more mountaintop finishes and a couple of time trials before the checkered flag drops in Milan on May 29.

José Rujano – the pint-sized Venezuelan climber who’s struggled to make an impact since his 2005 third place at the Giro d’Italia – insists he still has it.