Vacansoleil drops Rujano from Giro roster over doping investigation
Dutch squad says it is being cautious, but its Venezuelan climber did not use banned substances
Dutch squad says it is being cautious, but its Venezuelan climber did not use banned substances
Savio closes door on one flagging star after another brings sponsor dollars
Savio livid with Rujano, says Venezuelan's last chance has expired; Friday was reckoning for two GC hopefuls
The race for pink is wide open as the final week begins and the Dolomites loom
Gianni Savio brings his unpredictable Venezuelan climber to turn over the Giro in the mountains
Ballan 'doesn't understand' Pozzato's Flanders tactics; Greipel doubtful for Paris-Roubaix; Boardman to step down from British Cycling; Jose Rujano looks to Giro podium
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.