New team recruit has voluntarily not raced despite not being suspended
Ezequiel Mosquera still has not raced since the Vuelta a España, where he finished second to Vincenzo Nibali. Less than two weeks after the race finished, it was announced that he supposedly used a masking agent during the Spanish Grand Tour. Despite still not being officially suspended by the International Cycling Union (UCI), he has voluntarily not raced since then.
It is unlikely that this will change anytime soon, as his Vacansoleil team has reiterated that it won’t let him start currently. The news may be a last ditch effort to save the team’s ProTour license that has come into questioning following Riccardo Riccò’s inexplicable transfusion.
A statement was released by Vacansoleil this evening. “The Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team will wait with a race start for Spaniard Ezequiel Mosquera.” The reason is given that there is still no news on the current UCI investigation of the Vuelta runner-up. “The racer, who signed a contract for 2011 a few weeks before the findings [of the masking agent] is up until now not suspended and never was suspended.” The team says that out of respect of the UCI, Mosquera will not race during the investigation.
The team emphasizes that it’s a decision they made on their own behalf. “Despite that the blue and yellow formation [e.g. Vacansoleil] received the green light from the UCI to let the racer start, the 35-year-old will currently stay off the courses.” The contract started on January 1, 2011, and both team and rider would like to see this resolved. “We can’t do anything but wait for the facts.”
The statement concluded with a reiteration that Mosquera’s UCI points were not factored into the team’s total last November, at its request. “This to endorse an honest sport and not overestimate the value of the team,” it said.
The team stressed a clear message in terms of banned substances. “Vacansoleil-DCM PCT has a zero-tolerance policy in the matters of doping.”
It is worth noting that because of the situation relating to Riccardo Ricco, who was hospitalised earlier this month due to what was apparently a botched blood transfusion, the UCI is reportedly reassessing the ProTeam licence. Vacansoleil will be aware of this, and knows it must tread carefully.
The quiet Mosquera was with the Galicia team since 2007 (then known as Karpin-Galicia). The team folded at the end of the 2010 season, prompting him to sign for Vacansoleil. In his first three Vueltas a España 2007-2009 he finished fifth, fourth and fifth. In 2010 he wanted to step up and win the race, along with finally taking a stage of the Spanish Grand Tour. It wasn’t until the next-to-last day that Mosquera finally celebrated a stage victory, on the Bola del Mundo.
Mosquera needed three quarters of a minute on Nibali to conquer the overall. The Spaniard attacked as soon as the route went uphill for the final mountain of the 2010 Vuelta, but around 20 seconds was all that he could gain. Nibali was suffering on the steep slopes, but in an incredibly exciting race fought back meter after meter. All that Mosquera could manage was win the stage, one second ahead of Nibali. Now Mosquera is battling up a steep road once again, without even being on the road.