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Ezequiel Mosquera

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Jun 15, 2009
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That he came out of nowhere is true. Sorry, his progress was whether
normal nor in a usual sports age. But if you read all my posts you should also notice, that i liked the points pro Mosquera. I never ripped those posters.

My reason to open the thread was to find out what others think about him. That doesn´t mean that i have to be on the Pro-Mosquera side now, just because Libertine* did his/her? (good) job, Mr. Wise-Guy :p

* I would expect somebody coming from small teams competing at the highest level at a high age, that this rider "destroyed" the lower class competition. The research by Libertine didn´t show that.
 
Comeback:
Pre-1999: Not a pro. Mosquera turned pro very late.
2000-2004: Racing in Portugal. Not too many races that really use big mountains, certainly not those that are big enough for Mosquera's climbing talent to really show or be effective at the top level. All his good results are in mountain stages. Scene is absolutely teeming with dopers. Mosquera is not team leader, sacrifices self for team leaders. Many riders who were hugely successful before racing in Portugal have not been able to dominate the scene, with some such as Isidro Nozal becoming very quiet despite not being all that old and having been superdomestiques or GC contenders before going there (of course we all know why he went there). If a doper - who apparently continued to dope (after the 50% test +ve in 2005 he tested positive for CERA in 2009) - could disappear into the ether in Portuguese cycling, it would be unsurprising that Mosquera was not able to acquire a large palmarès of results at that part of his career, regardless of whether he was doping or not, as the races would not be suited to his strengths.

2005 - racing with Kaiku. First chance to compete against the top level riders. Acquits himself well, with top 10s in 4 stage races of good quality, including very good mountain performances (1st and 2nd in La Rioja, 4th in Burgos and 4th in Arcalis ITT in Catalunya). Not necessarily really sure of his abilities - he's never been a super-confident rider.

2006 - useful results in mountain stages whilst racing with Comunidad Valenciana. Not team leader, spends much time working for others. After late June, number of invites acquired by team decreases dramatically, meaning development - which could have been a logical progression from '05 to '06 (at age 30 = not a great surprise, they always say 28-32 is the peak time for a cyclist) - is hindered.

2007 - with Karpin, finally gets a chance to ride the Vuelta. Good results in two-week stage races suggests useful ability to recover; aside from maybe 3rd to Cerler (hardly a super-taxing climb), none of his mountain performances are out of sync with his 2005 performances - but various factors enable him to hold on and defend his top 5 position as other riders drop.

2008-9: Team leader for first time. Receives support never previously received, enabling him to hit climbs fresher and preserve his GC position better. Is able to focus his season almost entirely on the Vuelta, while other riders in strong GC position have had more taxing seasons. Unable to break onto podium. Also in 2009 suffered injuries both during season (causing him to miss Giro) and during Vuelta.

2010: Calendar changes a little, perhaps making better use of warmup races. Goes all season healthy. Vuelta has relatively weak field including race leader crashing out.
 
1.Nozal became crap before he moved to Portugal.

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)

3. Kaiku was a new team, none of the established ones picked him up

4. Comunidad Valenciana 2006 - wrong time wrong place? How likely that he didn't get *that* kind of help from Fuentes' sister?

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.
 
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.
 
Jun 15, 2009
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FoxxyBrown1111 said:
I like those graphs that "roundabout" gave so much, here´s the one for Mosquera:
graphRiderHistory.asp


Since joining spain teams his performance is up up up, while he´s getting older older older. :rolleyes:

The funny thing is: the same thing happened to Garcia Dapena since joining Xacobeo. He just finished 11th at the Vuelta at age of 33:
graphRiderHistory.asp


To be in spain must be cyclings heaven :rolleyes:

Am i a great forecaster? Sorry, i normally don´t celebrate myself. But i hit the jackpot here.

-------------------------

theswordsman

Quote:
Ezequiel Mosquera, second in the last Tour of Spain, and other Xacobeo Galicia rider tested positive in the last Tour of Spain, according to Cadena Ser advance and confirmed BICICICLISMO.

Mosquera no ha recibido notificación alguna, pero, según han revelado fuentes de toda solvencia a BICICICLISMO, el positivo existe, así como de otro compañero de equipo. Mosquera has not received notice, but sources have revealed all BICICICLISMO solvency, there is positive and another teammate.
Edit: No link for it yet but word is the teammate is David Garcia

-----------------------

And i hit it last year:

07-22-09, 21:07
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FoxxyBrown1111 FoxxyBrown1111 is online now
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You have to wait! It took almost 2 months to get DiLuca and he was targeted. So the logic is: Astana is targeted, some spanish riders are. So i guess Contador (riding the same style as DiLuca at the giro) and some kind of Astarloza, Sanchez Gil will be caught. So we all here really have to hope Epo-Lance does not finish 2nd in CG.

I think the Labors did a very good job since last year. I dont think they can cover up Contador (for example).
 
Jun 15, 2009
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And i wasn´t that bad with Contador either. I never buyed into the stuff the big names are not caught.

As i wrote here:

--------------------------
Old 09-27-10, 16:57
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1+

Agree with (almost) everything. That´s why i watch cycling.

Where i diagree: Big names not caught?! Besides the cover up of Armstrong (by the UCI) and Contador (by spain) we have some riders caught who were at the top of the top: Ulle, Vino, Rasmussen, Basso, DiLuca, Pellizottl, finally Valv (besides the hard work of spain to cover him up). I think that´s a pretty good job if i compare it to other sports.
------------------------------------------

So if someone want´s to sign me. I have time... ;)
 
Jun 15, 2009
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Animal said:
It's like they say about all cons. If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.

But they make it hard on me in the forum. I really had a tough time to make my points clear.
 

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