Galician team safe, waiting to secure signatures of Mosquera and director sportif
The Xacobeo-Galicia team's Vuelta a Espana just keeps getting better. The squad's superstar climber, Ezequiel Mosquera, currently sits in 5th overall, 89 seconds behind race leader Igor Anton, but already, it is very clear that Mosquera will play a major role in the remaining 9 stages. When not rampaging in the mountains, the team can be counted on to be a factor in virtually every early break as well. Today's stage to Lleida was no exception - the team put three riders in the break of nine. It was once again a futile exercise, but there's no doubting the motivation behind each pedalstroke from each rider on the team. And for good reason, because before today's announcement that the team would continue for another season, each rider was fighting for his sporting livelihood if the team were to fail.
Now, however, all is well in the Xacobeo-Galicia camp. The long awaited news has arrived: Marca reports that the team will continue through at least 2011 with an option for two more years beyond that.
Two more difficult tasks remain, however: secure the signature of its star rider, Ezequiel Mosquera, and find a new sports director.
Mosquera's signature is arguably the most important of all. Mosquera has previously expressed his concern for his teammates in the event that the team would fold at the end of the season, but with the team's future secured, it would seem likely that he'll return.
After today's finish in the western Catalonian city of Lleida, however, Mosquera was not ready to confirm his signature.
"I am waiting to see what happens to the team, because I owe a lot to it. I do not want to rush, so I have not decided anything. I'll make the decision in due course."
The 34 year old is perhaps a bit more cautious at the moment, because this will likely be the final contract he signs before retiring. Still, the idea of the stalwart on the team going anywhere else is almost scary.
"Surely, my next contract will be the last that I'll sign. For now though, I want to focus on what matters - the race."
For a rider staring at his final years in the peloton and showing better form than he ever has, the call of the ProTour must be very enticing. Surely, there's a major Spanish team with eyes for the great Galician climber. Who could blame Mosquera for wanting a chance to race outside of Spain in one of the other Grand Tours? Nothing has been said on the topic at all, so this is only idle speculation, but if this came true, it would be a bittersweet 2011 for Xacobeo: future secured, but Mosquera gone.