Colombian cyclist Mauricio Soler has big plans for the 2009 season,
after what should be dubbed a disastrous 2008 in which he had to
abandon two important races following crashes.
Soler, who turns 26 on January 14th, suddenly conquered the world with a stage win in the 2007 Tour de France. That year he also won the mountains classification, becoming the third Colombian to do so after Lucho Herrera and Santiago Botero.
But in 2008, Soler was a lot less successful. The Barloworld rider first participated in the Giro d’Italia but soon crashed and had to abandon, and then had the same happen in the year’s most prestigious race, the Tour de France.
Barloworld team leader Claudio Corti told press about how hard Soler has been working: “Mauricio is training in Colombia at the moment. He has working very hard there. After his injuries last season he has been training almost all winter long.
The rider’s best result in 2008 was a second place in the overall classification of the Vuelta a Castilla y Leon in Spain.