Steve
This off www.cyclingnews.com last night. Its long but worth the read.
During the course of the final morning of the Euskal Bizikleta, the word
was that Joseba Beloki had said that he would not be going to compete
the 2004 Tour de France. Ever since his dreadful crash descending in the
2003 Tour, the Basque rider has been plagued by a difficult recovery and
comeback trail.
First of all in the months immediately following the Tour he had to
contend with his injuries and the slow process of rehabilitation. Over
the winter he started to be seen on the bike - but it was not a habitual
or constant occurrence. His second problem came with his attempts to get
back on the bike - his old home ONCE-Eroski had shut its doors and as
Director Manolo Saiz searched for a new sponsor it became increasingly
apparent that their was no space available for Beloki. Saiz effectively
replaced Beloki with Heras in his personal quest to gain a Tour victory.
Then along came Brioches La Boulangère. Beloki signed with them prior to
Christmas 2003. Who exactly Beloki had signed with became an issue this
week when Brioches La Boulangère announced at the start of Stage Two of
the Euskal that it would not continue sponsoring the team next year.
Beloki was clearly not happy, saying that he had signed with the company
until 2005. The team Director, Jean Rene Bernaudeau, contradicted him by
saying that in fact the deal was with him and not the sponsoring company.
Added to all of this, Beloki has been plagued by a recurring allergy
problem, for which according to him, the only reasonable cure is to use
medicines that are prohibited by some national cycling federations. He
has been improving slowly in recent weeks. But when the allergy hits,
the result is a near impossibility to breathe properly.
Earlier in the week a number of Basque pro's still thought Beloki was
one to be counted amongst the Tour aspirants. But the week didn't go as
hoped. In the end, the allergy, the team and sponsor problems saw a late
night summit called between Bernabeu, Beloki and his lawyer, with
negotiations resulting in an agreement that will see Beloki a free agent
at the end of 2004.
The question as to where he will go or who will have him is the hard
one. He was expected, at the conclusion of the Euskal on Sunday, to hold
a press conference atop of the final climb of Arrate. But instead of
proceeding to the top of the narrow Cat. 1 he climbed into a car and
headed home to Vitoria. No press conference, no announcement and no one
really expects Beloki to go to France now - it is just a matter of time
before the official announcement.