By Monika Prell
Fifteen of the eighteen cyclists who formed part of Spanish Professional Continental team Xacobeo Galicia in 2008 have prolonged their contract, shaping up the squad's roster for the coming season. The team announced that their most important and most successful riders will stay on, namely Ezequiel Mosquera, David García, Gustavo César Veloso, David Herrero and Carlos Castaño who are expected to reach good results also next season.
Herrero seems to have completely recovered from the crash he suffered in the penultimate stage of the Vuelta al Pais Vasco, and the fast rider should be able to win some races in 2009. Mosquera, who finished fifth in the Vuelta a España and won the Clasica a Alcobendas, has become a very complete rider and should be, beside Castaño, one of the team leaders.
The only addition to the team at the moment is be Marcos García, an U23 rider who rode for the amateur team Supermercados Froiz in 2008. He already competed with Xacobeo Galicia in the Vuelta a Burgos, the Clásica de los Puertos and in the Tour de Poitou Charentes this year. In addition, the team is negotiating with two other riders, so that the squad will consist of eighteen. If Xacobeo can reach an invitation for the Giro d’Italia, they could sign two more riders to have a total roster of twenty men.
Three riders were not able to extend their contracts: David Abal, Jesús Cobelo and Ramón Troncoso.
At the moment, the 2009 team roster is the following: Ezequiel Mosquera, David García, Gustavo César Veloso, David Herrero, Carlos Castaño Gustavo Domínguez, Gonzalo Rabuñal, Juan Francisco Mourón, Serafín Martínez, Delio Fernández, Alejandro Paleo, Eduard Vorganov, Vladimir Isaychev, Iban Mayoz and Alberto Fernández.
