CHECHU RUBIERA RETIRES AFTER TOUR OF LOMBARDY
The Tour of Lombardy will be the last international race for Spanish rider José Luis “Chechu” Rubiera. After 16 years of professional cycling, the Asturian rider will retire. Rubiera (37) always has been one of the strongholders of his teams. In 2000 he joined Johan Bruyneel's US Postal Service Team. Chechu Rubiera is best known for being Lance Armstrong's mountain lieutenant for five Tour de France victories, but has also achieved individual success with two stage victories in the Giro d’Italia, two top ten finishes in the Giro, as well as the Vuelta and he rode six times the Tour the France. He was also instrumental in the Tour of Spain victory of Alberto Contador in 2008.
“I think it's time now to enjoy my family and spend more time at home”, explained Chechu Rubiera. “I consider myself very lucky to have had the good fortune to do what I liked best during all these years. I enjoyed and did my job to the best of my ability. I felt the love of many fans around me and I was proud to have such support with such a modest record. I hope that all fans will continue to enjoy cycling and that the difficult times we are undergoing now will soon be only be a bad memory. Hasta pronto. We’ll meet on the road. I’ll remain a cyclist all my life.”
“I am proud to have worked with Chechu for ten years”, commented Team Manager Johan Bruyneel. “We could always count on him as a Team Captain. His role was to guide the Team on the road and to share his experience with all young riders of our Team. I cannot count how many hours Chechu raced in the front of the peloton. They don’t make Chechu’s anymore. Also off the bike he was important for the Team. He is the classiest guy I’ve ever met in cycling.”
The last race for Chechu Rubiera will be the Criterium in Oviedo on October 30th.
The Team line-up for the next race:
Giro di Lombardia (Ita), 16/10/10
Riders: Jani Brajkovic, Mathew Busche, Chris Horner, Markel Irizar, Gregory Rast, Ivan Rovny, José Luis Rubiera & Haimar Zubeldia
Directors: Johan Bruyneel & José Azevedo
DOWNLOAD PHOTOS
Photos courtesy of CSE Cycling
