Manolo Saiz, Liberty Seguros’ teamboss, has a hard time. Failing to make any lasting impression in the 2005 Tour de France he needs to get his riders up to par in the Vuelta. Their home race is very important and top climber Heras is just the man to get their much needed victory.


In the meantime he’s done a good, but expensive, deal in hyjacking Alexandre Vinokourov from T-Mobile just before French Crédit Agricole could lay their hands on the Kazakh rider. So suddenly things were looking up for Manolo!
Then the news comes that Vuelta Victor Heras has taken more than just vitamines, food and drink. Saiz loses a valuable rider and on top of that, his strategy for the next few years is messed up. Vinokourov will lead their team in the Tour de France, but Saiz never intended ‘Vino’ to lead elsewhere. He might have to change his plans now, with Heras (suspended and fired) not being able to ride his home race.


The change in plans comes in the form of Spanish talent Alberto Contador. He will now have to lead the squad in the Vuelta and probably support another still young rider, Scarponi, in the Giro. But Liberty Seguros has many more good cyclists in their ranks. Supporting in many stageraces will be Sanchez Gil, Caruso and oldtimer Serrano. All will try to get victories of their own as well, since the team has shown great adaptability during races. Jaksche might also be teamleader in the Giro, as he will be starting off his season in the Paris Nice race, so a perfect build up to the Italian three week race.


In the classics this team has quite a few possibilities too. The Osa brothers (Illes Balears) will add to their quest in winning a few up north, but also down south, due to their fast finishing and attacking style. They do have Carlos Barredo especially for the northern classics and David Extebarria is good on the hilly surfaces as well. They both have a fast finish to their name, which will come in handy in the smaller stageraces. Aided by Davis, if it comes to a sprintfinish, they’ve got the perfect team.


They’ve lost some riders as well, former Vuelta winner Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano will be with Euskaltel, but won’t be cycling anymore. Their biggest loss is probably Koldo Gil (Saunier Duval), who is showing to have a promising career in cycling but wouldn’t stay with Liberty. Apart from Vinokourov, his friend and helper Kashechkin came over from Crédit Agricole together with another Kazakh, Yakovlev (T-Mobile). Kashechkin showed to be very promising in the 2005 Tour de France, a real mountaingoat! The Dauphiné Libéré or the Tour of Switserland will be the ideal preparation for this trio.


Liberty Seguros doesn’t seem to have it’s focus on the sprinting side. They’ve always wanted to win both Tour de France and Vuelta a España and see winning these races as their main objective. Nevertheless Angel Viscioso is one of those guys that can win stages just because he’s a fast finisher when on form. On top of that he’s able to do a pretty good time trial, which makes him very interesting indeed. They do have one other sprinter worth mentioning (again). Allan Davis is fast and also able to make a quick break from the pack. In a leading group he’s dead accurate, a real winner. Being in his mid twenties, he’s sure to improve upon his ability to win races in the sprint, but has a lot of competition from the other teams’ sprinters.


Additions to the team:
Alexandre Vinokourov, Sergey Yakovlev, Andrey Kashechkin, Aitor Osa, Unai Osa, Michael Schär, Carlos Abellán Ossenbach, José Antonio Redondo Ramos, José Joaquín Rojas Gil, Eladio Sanchez Prado


Left the team:
René Andrle, Koldo Gil, Jan Hruska, Jesús Hernández, Igor González de Galdeano, Roberto Heras