José Joaquín Rojas (Caisse d'Epargne) with a mixed season in 2008 (Image credit: Antonio J. Salmerón)
José Joaquín Rojas of Spanish team Caisse d'Epargne didn't have too many wins in 2008, but was happy with the consistency that earned him an eighth place in the ProTour ranking. Rojas is now impatiently awaiting next season, where he wants to start out the same way he did this year, but then keep going.
The 23-year-old was happy with his accomplishments, but admitted that he had a lack of victories. "Things didn't go like I wanted, especially at the end of the season, but I have more than 30 top ten finishes, which is very positive. Thanks to the consistency I was able to get in the top ten in the ProTour ranking."
The season started out very well for Rojas, who finished third in the Tour down Under, then won the Trofeo Pollença, part of the Mallorca Challenge. He later crashed in another race of the race series on the Spanish island. "The crash in Mallorca interrupted my season and also not making the Vuelta team affected me a lot. At one moment, I lost the confidence in myself, although in the end I recovered and managed to battle for the lead in the Tour de Pologne."
Rojas will use the off-season to practice some other sports. "Especially less cycling," he smiled. "In the ten days I am stopping I will play tennis, pelota [a Basque racket game resembling squash - ed.], football, mountain biking, swimming, horseback riding... The latest was yesterday, when I ran for 35 minutes with my cousin [José] Cayetano [ex professional at Kelme and Iles Baleares - ed.] It had been more than four years since I last ran and I was tremendously stiff afterwards."
Rojas is now anxiously awaiting the next season. "I think I have learned from my mistakes of this year to demonstrate what I am really worth."
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