Serrano out of Castilla y León

By Monika Prell

Marcos Serrano, one of the leaders of Karpin-Galicia for the Vuelta a Castilla y León, won't be able to participate due to a bronchitis. According to todociclismo, he will be replaced by Gaizka Lasa. Leading the team will thus be Ezequiel Mosquera, who is in a good competition form - he finished second in the Vuelta a Mallorca amongst other placings.

His sport director, Álvaro Pino, said on Mosquera, "He will be the our leader in this race because he showed an excellent form and a big regularity in the races he rode." His rivals include the likes of Ivan Basso, Alberto Contador (both Discovery Channel), Carlos Sastre (CSC) and Oscar Pereiro (Caisse d'Epargne).

For the initialising time trial on Monday, Pino rated his own Santos González as a favourite. "He's a cyclist who can be good in this time trial, but for winning the entire race he has to be at 100 percent, because for the victory you have to sustain a mountain top finish like the one in Navacerrada in the last stage and for the moment, González still doesn't have his ideal competition form."

The complete team roster for the Vuelta a Castilla y León: Ezequiel Mosquera, Gaizka Lasa, Eduard Vorganov, Gustavo Domínguez, Gonzalo Rabuñal, David Abal, Ramón Troncoso and Santos González.