Last year’s Vuelta a España runner up sad but resigned to be missing this year’s race
The Vuelta a España will begin tomorrow, with a team time trial in the Costa Blanca resort city of Benidorm, without last year’s runner up, as Eziquiel Mosquera (Vacansoleil-DCM) still awaits a verdict on his positive test for Hydroxyethyl starch. The Spanish rider returned the positive sample during last year’s race and, although he may not necessarily be suspended, the Dutch team has kept him on the sidelines until his case is resolved.
“I feel a little sad,” said Mosquera to Dutch TV station NOS about missing the Vuelta. “But I’ve already experienced so much over the last 15 months I’m beginning to become a little insensitive to it. I’ve been through so much over the last year, but you need to take everything with a grain of salt, because otherwise you become totally crazy. It should not be obsession.”
Since Hydroxyethyl starch is only a banned substance under World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) regulations if injected, Mosquera will not necessarily be suspended for his positive test. Having sat out the sport for the best part of a year though, the Spanish rider is not optimistic about his chances.
“There remains nothing else for me to think,” he said “I’m still going to be punished; after all this time I’ve had no news of my case, how they can explain that I’m innocent now?
“Because that is the problem,” he added. “Who will, after all that fuss, dare to say: ‘we’re going to declare him innocent’?”
While he’s obviously not happy to have been left in limbo for the entire season, he is not angry at his team. Vacansoleil-DCM has had to tread carefully over the matter, not least because of the strange case of its other big name winter signing Riccardo Riccò, who is alleged to have almost killed himself with a botched blood transfusion.
“The team must be, as a company, extremely politically correct,” he conceded. “I can forgive them. For example, what would I do if I was manager of their team?”
While he sees that the position of Vacansoleil-DCM is unavoidable, Mosquera doubts he will ever pull the Dutch team’s jersey competitively.
“Will I ever go to a race with Vacansoleil?” he asked. “I hope so, and until recently I really thought so. Now, I have my doubts…”