Rujano faces Colombians looking for payback

Jose Rujano (Image credit: Vuelta Pilsen a Colombia)

Venezuelan cycling star José Rujano begins his build-up to what he insists will be a victory challenge at the Giro d’Italia by taking on many of Latin America’s best riders in the Vuelta al Táchira, which starts tomorrow (Wednesday).

The 2.2-rated, 12-stage race pits Rujano and his Gobernación del Zulia team against three teams from neighbouring Colombian that are eager to avenge the drubbing that Rujano handed them in their home tour last June. Rujano won that race by a five-and-a-half minute margin, claiming four stages and the mountains prize in what was certainly among his best performances since he finished third overall in the 2005 Giro.

Rujano admitted last week that he will be easing his way into the season at the Táchira race, but added that he was still hoping to win it. He also declared himself “the third best climber in the world behind Alberto Contador and Joaquím Rodríguez”, and he will need all of those climbing skills if he is to regain the title he won in 2004 and 2005 when he was with Gianni Savio’s Selle Italia team.

His chances won’t have been helped by the loss of veteran Colombian Hernán Buenahora from his Zulia team. Buenahora, the 2007 Táchira winner, received a late offer from the Néctar team in his home country and won’t now be starting the Táchira tour. That leaves Rujano and key lieutenant Manuel “Gato” Medina to deal with some considerable Colombian talent, including Freddy Montaña, runner-up in last year’s Tour of Colombia, and Gregorio Ladino, who topped the 2009 UCI America Tour rankings.

Rujano will also have to keep a close watch on defending champion Ronald González, who leads the Gobierno del Táchira team, one of three from the event’s home region. Not surprisingly given Venezuela’s position at the top end of the Andean chain, the race will be decided in the mountains, which will offer further clues as to whether Rujano is likely to be contender at the Giro prior to him joining the ISD-Neri team in Europe.

Peter Cossins has written about professional cycling since 1993 and is a contributing editor to Procycling. He is the author of The Monuments: The Grit and the Glory of Cycling's Greatest One-Day Races (Bloomsbury, March 2014) and has translated Christophe Bassons' autobiography, A Clean Break (Bloomsbury, July 2014).

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