roundabout said:
1.Nozal became crap before he moved to Portugal.
Yes, but that doesn't account for the large number of riders who didn't necessarily flourish in Portugal but made it out again. Portuguese cycling is a very self-contained little scene.
2. It doesn't seem that Mosquera was a notable talent - turning pro late, returning to Spain during the expansion period (1999 - 6 pro teams in Spain, 2005 -11)
But then, as pointed out before, prior to the expansion period the Portuguese teams were more local to him than the Spanish teams. Plus the Portuguese teams paid better salaries, and there were 8 Portuguese pro teams to 6 Spanish in '99 when he turned pro. And if you look at his results in Portugal you wouldn't necessarily make him top of your shopping list, because his results weren't stellar - but then the races he'd entered hadn't been as well-suited to what we now know is his skill-set. You won't pick up Andy Schleck if the only races you see him in are short Tours that favour the TT specialist, and you won't pick up Cancellara if the only race you see him in is the Circuito Montañes.
3. Kaiku was a new team, none of the established ones picked him up
Hence why they'd pick up a guy riding mostly as a climbing domestique in Portugal, and not already-established stars. Look at the new teams springing up at the moment. Unless you come in with a huge budget you have to fill the team with youngsters and journeymen to build up a base. And he impressed in his showings with them, hence the upgrade the following year.
4. Comunidad Valenciana 2006 - wrong time wrong place? How likely that he didn't get *that* kind of help from Fuentes' sister?
It's certainly possible. But it's definitely a case of being at the wrong time in the wrong place with regards being able to capitalise on the momentum he built up with his good races in 2005. Remember, these mountainous Spanish stage races had always been out of his reach when racing in Portugal; racing on a more established calendar, on a team that were able to get more invites, had enabled him to demonstrate his climbing skills. That's why he got the Comunidad Valenciana contract. The team being hit by Puerto - which mostly dealt with things that happened before he was on the team though it's unlikely that they just stopped abruptly before he appeared on it - meant that those invites dried up and Eze, whose star had been increasing in what would be considered his peak years, was able to fade back into obscurity.
5. Continously keeps improving 2007-2010 (beyond the "peak age"). From featuring on one climb in 2007 to causing problems for people like Evans, Basso, Valverde, Nibali.
Sorry, but i'm not really convinced.
But he hasn't been "continuously improving", though, has he? He's been at roughly the same level. He wasn't a protected rider in 2007, and he featured on more than one climb (9th to Covadonga, 9th to Calar Alto). It was his first GT and he didn't know what he was capable of. Xavier Tondó just had a similar experience upon finishing his first GT (although it's the third he's started). If he went into the Vuelta as Movistar's protected rider, with a strong backup team, and did one place better next year, would you call that "continuous improvement"? I also don't know that Mosquera caused that much trouble for Valverde and Evans last year. He disappeared off the front a few times and gained some time, sure, but he'd lost time in TTs and on the earlier climbs after being injured in the pileup in Liège. Maybe if he'd been more of a GC threat they'd have followed him. This year, he goes from being 4th to the likes of Contador, Leipheimer, Sastre, and Valverde, Sánchez, Evans, Basso, to being 2nd to Nibali and ahead of Velits, Rodríguez, Tondó. Look at the lineups and you realise that the weaker field is the cause of his better performance rather than anything else. If Valverde, Sánchez, Evans or Basso had been at the Vuelta they could probably have finished ahead of Eze again.
There are a number of possibilities. He could have been doping his whole career, but on a relatively low level so he was obscure in the dope-addled Portuguese scene. He could have been clean.
There are viable reasons for him to be clean and viable reasons for him to be dirty. It's a total crapshoot. However, some of the reasons being given for him to be dirty are being repeated ad nauseaum, and are complete hogwash (like that he came from nowhere in 2007 - it's patently not true if you look at his results).
Basically, if you think he's dirty, there are some good arguments to be made in favour of your case - don't cling to the ones that are debunked.