Already beset by the ongoing doping cases concerning David Garcia and Vuelta a España runner-up Ezequiel Mosquera plus the news that the team will stop at the end of the year, the riders of the Xacobeo Galicia team face further stress by the non-payment of salaries since August.
According to El Correo Gallego, the riders and workers on the team were last paid three and a half months ago, with that money also coming after a long delay. On that occasion they threatened to go public about the non-payment, but the team’s backer coughed up and thus avoided negative publicity before the Vuelta, its biggest race of the year.
The Galego Cycling Federation is the backer in question, and it has once again come up short. The riders are protected in some way by the UCI’s stipulation that teams must lodge a deposit totalling three month’s salaries, thus covering September, October and November. However if no further payment is made, it means that the riders and staff will not be paid for the final month of the year.
Mosquera’s performance in the Vuelta was the high point of the year, with a stage win at the Bola del Mundo and second overall rewarding the hard work of others. However a shadow was cast over that by the positive test results of he and David Garcia. Both were found to have traces of Hydroxyethyl starch in their systems, which can be a masking agent for the blood-boosting effects of EPO and other such substances.
Garcia has since also returned a positive A sample for EPO, and is awaiting the results of the B analysis. Mosquera is awaiting news of further analyses of his case, with recent Spanish media reports saying he was cleared proven to be inaccurate.
If he is eventually cleared, he will be able to take up his new contract with the Vacansoleil team. However the alternative scenario is that the 34 year old could face a two to four year ban from the sport, thus bringing about his retirement.
Whatever happens to the duo, the other riders and workers on the team are still waiting for what is due to them. The UCI deposit will help, but securing the final two months salaries will be of pressing importance to those concerned.