“The past few years have not gone as hoped" - David de la Cruz fears being forced into early retirement as he searches for contract
CyclingThursday, 23 November 2023 at 11:30
With his time at the Astana Qazaqstan Team coming to an end, David de la Cruz is finding it more difficult than he first expected to find a new contract.
“The past few years have not gone as hoped," admits the 34-year-old Spaniard in an open and honest conversation with Marca. "Not for myself, but also not for the team," he continues, referencing Astana Qazaqstan Team's poor general classification results over the recent seasons.
Having ridden in the past for notable teams such as UAE Team Emirates, Team Sky and the Quick-Step set-up, de la Cruz was once seen as a potential Grand Tour winner of the future but sadly that's not quite how things transpired. At his most recent Grand Tour, he abandoned the Vuelta a Espana with gastroenteritis following stage 15.
“I am at my best in a thinned peloton and when I can work for an important classification rider," de la Cruz insists. Time will tell if he gets the chance to prove himself once again in 2024.
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- I counted 16 riders under 24 out of 43 that started. Once was only 16 ! Two of the top riders are Zoe and Schreiber and both under 23 yet that have done 50 min races in the past with the elites so I think it's just bad clock management. Let them race 50 freakin' minutes! One more lap could have made a big dffierence most times in the podium and winner.frieders319-11-2024
- He needs to finish out his contract and then go hit MTB and Cross/Gravel really hard, that's where his heart is.awp18-11-2024
- Pidcock is starting to sound like Froome now.Sweep18-11-2024
- I think this was because there were junior women in the race. If a race has junior women am pretty sure it has to be less than 45 minutes. I believe a rule is coming in for next season that will fine organisers that don't put on a junior women's race a fine equivalent to the prize money. So fingers crossed we should see more longer elite and junior women's races from next season.NorrisHippocampe18-11-2024
- Of course he CAN. Big salary in cycling is not when you win but when they talk about you (and your team / sponsors). For every news about Jonas, MVdP or Wout there are 10 times more(!) news about Pidcock (like everyday for last 2 months?). Since cycling is advertising sport not competitive sport (in terms of from money comes from) Pidcock is winner and GOAT - change my mind. ;-)averagecyclist18-11-2024
- Why do the women CXs keep getting short changed with the length of theor races? They could have easily done another lap to put them at 50 minutes which is their time limit. Yet another CX race where they fail to reach this when they had a chance to. Come on ... the math isn't that hard to figure out lap times and divide into 50 min!frieders318-11-2024
- All pro cyclists are massively underpaid! The amount of riding and physical exertion they put their bodies through is crazy compared to other sports. I can't think of any other sport where you are physically active at a very high level of power output for hours on end each day.Pogboom17-11-2024
- When I was working for Starkist/Heinz my manager quit. So the next week my group was put under another manager. During our first meeting he asked if there was anything we needed to tell him. I said that I would be out the following week on vacation. He said "I don't know if I can let you go on vacation". I replied, "You can't tell if I can go. You can only tell me if I can come back".Sweep17-11-2024
- :-)Sweep17-11-2024
- What a mess there :-)
DareDevil17-11-2024