Ezequiel Mosquera continues his season preparation with the Clásica de Almería on Sunday, after taking three complete rest days. The Spaniard did not start the final stage of the Vuelta al Algarve, due to pain in his Achilles' heel. He would love to race the Giro d'Italia, if the team gets invited.
Mosquera's pain has receded and he is ready to tackle Almería. "I think the complete rest days at the beginning of the week should suffice."
He chose to start his season with Algarve, not the easiest race to pick. "This year, the Vuelta al Algarve was run over a tough route and the weather didn't cooperate, either," Mosquera said after abandoning the race. "The problem was the rain and the cold," Mosquera explained. He also needed to avoid a tendonitis and made some changes to his shoes, which didn't help.
Then came little surprises. "One day I was caught at the back of the peloton right at the start." He had to go in the red more than he wanted to in his first race back after the winter. "Then I started to notice small annoyances. In the final time trial I did not start as a precautionary measure."
The last time Mosquera raced Algarve was in 2004 and things have changed since then. "There was a time when they had phases where they raced relatively calmly. This year was mad. Guys like Contador, Samuel Sánchez or Leipheimer are already at an impressive level."
Mosquera had hoped for a different start to the season. "I wanted to start a little bit calmer, because in a month there are a lot of important races coming up, like Cataluña, the Vuelta a Castilla y León and the Vuelta al País Vasco, among others."
Giro or not to Giro
The Spaniard would love to race in Italy. "I have the dream of doing the Giro d'Italia, but currently it is just an illusion, as we don't know anything about the invitation. If we go, I would like to know well in advance, to mentally prepare myself. This is a serious race that requires some focus."
Without an invitation, he can be more relaxed and once again put his season highlight to September, in the Vuelta a España. Three top five finishes in the last three editions make him a rider to be watched.
The Clásica de Almería is 178km long and contains several ranked climbs. But the last one is still forty kilometers from the finish, so a sprint is a possibility.
The Xacobeo team for Sunday:
Serafín Martínez, Gonzalo Rabuñal, Gustavo Domínguez, Delio Fernández, Vladimir Isaychev, Gustavo Rodríguez, Rodrigo García and Ezequiel Mosquera.