Beltrán takes a break

By Monika Prell

Liquigas' Spanish climber Manuel Beltrán will take a break until the Vuelta a España that will begin on September 1 with a prologue in the Galician city of Vigo. The Liquigas rider, who finished 16th in last weekend’s Clásica San Sebastián, justified his decision: "The Tour de France was very hard and I prefer to recover and to train for the next races."

The cyclist from Jaén does not have any special objective for the Vuelta, where he finished sixth in 2003. "I would like to finish amongst the top ten, like in 2006, but it means hard work to stay with the best."

Beltrán, who just renewed his contract with the Italian Liquigas team until 2008, would like to see his compatriots José Luis Carrasco Gámiz and Manuel Ortega riding the Vuelta. Both are riders of Andalucía – Cajasur, a team that received a wildcard from Unipublic, the organisation of the Vuelta a España. "It would be an excellent news that three of the four cyclists of Jaén would be together in the competition," affirmed Beltrán.