Pereiro back for Clásica de Los Puertos

By Antonio J. Salmerón

Oscar Pereiro, the winner of the Tour de France if Floyd Landis is found guilty of doping, will return to competition at the Clásica de Los Puertos, which will be disputed on Sunday. The Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears rider is coming back less than a week before the Vuelta a España, where he intends to participate alongside team captain Alejandro Valverde.

The Clásica de Los Puertos consists of 146 kilometres of selective, mountainous terrain. Two ascents of the cat. 3 La Serranilla, the cat. 2 Los Leones and the cat. 1 Navacerrada will suffice to break the peloton, and it will be a good test before the Vuelta. Despite this, the only ProTour team starting is Caisse d'Epargne Illes Balears. Professional Spanish teams Comunidad Valenciana (in its last race), Kaiku, Andalucía Paul Versan and Relax, as well as continental teams Massi, Spiuk, Orbea, Nicolas Mateos, Viña Magna and a Spanish U23 team will take part.