By Bart Hazen

Joan Horrach

Joan was born on 27 March 1974. He became pro in 2000 with the Portuguese Milaneza-Maia team. In 2004 he joined the Illes Baleares team. Joan is a good rider in the mountains and can go for the mountains jersey if he wants. But I’ll guess a stage win is his primary priority. In the time trials he is not good enough to do well in the rankings. He can also play an important role in the team for the leaders, Karpets and Unai Osa.

The majority of the victories this 31 year old Spanish rider have been gained in Portugal. He won the GP Jornal de Noticias in 2001, won a stage in the GP Jornal in 2001, won a stage in the Asturias in 2001, in 2002 he won 2 stages in the Volta a Portugal and in 2003 was his last win and that was a stage in the Trofeo Joaquim Agostinho. Joan Horrach is a attacking-type rider, especially in the mountains. We can expect to see him.

Horrach. Photo by Christine Grein.

Vicente Reynes

Vicente Reynes Mimo was born on 30 July 1981. Vicente became pro in 2003 with the Portuguese LA-Pecol team. In 2004 he joined Illes Baleares. He is a rider who can sprint very well and can do great things in races with the middle mountains. So far Vicente has 1 victory and it’s a beautiful one. This year he won a stage in the ProTour race Paris-Nice. Further he has a lot of top 10 ranks in Spanish races. In the Giro we can expect Vicente in the sprints and the middle-heavy stages. Further, he can help the team as much as possible.

Reynes. Photo by Bart Hazen.

Toni Tauler

Toni was born on 11 April 1974. He became pro in 1998 with the Rosmary team. In 1999 he joined Kelme where he rode 5 seasons. In 2004 he switched to Illes Balears.

So far Toni has 1 victory, a stage (time trial) in the Vuelta a Murcia 1999. Further he has a lot of short rankings in stages of the Grand Tours, in the Spanish Championships etc., most of them in the time trial. But just as he can ride a good time trial, Toni can climb too. Therefore he will be the ideal helper for the riders in the team who will go for a good classification. His own ambitions will be riding good time-trials, going in breakaways and help the team.

Website: http://www.tonitauler.com/ 

Toni Tauler. Photo by Christine Grein.

David Navas

David was born on 10 June 1974. He became pro in 1998 with Banesto. He has ridden his whole life so far for the same team (now under the name of the Illes Balears). So far he won a stage in the Volta ao Minho in 2000 and the mountains competition in the Vuelta a Rioja in 2001. As you can see David is a rider for the mountains and will be an excellent helper for the team leaders. Also he can go for his own success in the hilly stages. So far in the 2005 season he hasn't shown any remarkable efforts. So  the question - how it will go with him in the Giro?

Navas at the Tour of Poland 2004. Photo by Christine Grein.

José Luis Carrasco

José Luis Carrasco was born on 27 April 1982. He turned pro in 2005 so that means he is a neo-pro. As a neo-pro he rode very well in the Tirreno-Adriatico, where he won the mountains competition. José Luis is a rider who can do well in the hilly races. It will be his first experience in a Grand Tour so he primair ambition is to learn a lot. Further he can go for own success if possible and will work for the team. It will makes him much stronger.

Carrasco. Courtesy Illes Balears team.

Unai Osa

Unai was born on 12 June 1975. He became pro in 1997 with this team (in that time called Banesto). His success year so far was in 1999 when he gained his only 3 wins in his career. He won the Classique des Alpes, the Tour de L’Avenir and won the young rider competition in the Dauphine Liberé.

In 2001 he had also a good year he won no races but finished on an excellent 3rd position in the final ranking of the Giro. That Giro was won by Gilberto Simoni. Abraham Olano was 2nd.

In 2003 he rode several times in the top 10 in some stages of the Vuelta D’Espana and finished 9th in the final ranking. Last year he was 10th in the Tour de L’Ain. As you can see he is a general classification rider. So far in 2005 it is not going that well. Unai injured his knee and back so he started later than normal in the season. So there are some question marks around him. I’ll guess the Giro will be a good race to prepare the rest of the season. And why not the Vuelta? Normally he is one of the leaders of the team together with Karpets, but we will see how it goes. Unai himself has no illusions for the race.

Unai Osa. Photo by Christine Grein.

Vladimir Karpets

Vladimir was born on 20 September 1980. He became pro in 2001 with the Russian Itera team. In 2003 he joined the Illes Baleares (in 2003 the name was Ibanesto).

So far Karpets won the Vuelta Ciclista a la Rioja in 2004 and won also the young rider competition in the Tour de France. Further, he finished last year in the top of the final ranking of the Volta a Catalunya, Burgos and Castilla y Leon. And finished 13rd in the Tour de France.

So far in this season he was 3rd in the time trial of the Setmana Catalana. As you can see Karpets is a promising rider for the rankings. He has a good time trial and can climb very well. For Karpets the Giro will be the ideal preparation for the Tour de France. In the Giro we can expect him in the time trials and in the mountains. Perhaps if he is in good enough shape he can finish in the top 15 of the final ranking. He will be the team leader of the Illes Balears team together with Unai Osa.

Photo courtesy Illes Balears team.

Sergi Escobar

Sergi was born on 22 September 1974. He turned pro on the road this year - before he rode the most time on the track. On the track he has had the most successes. He was a couples of times Spanish champion in the pursuit, he was also Spanish champion in the points race. He won the World Cup on the track in 2001 and was 2nd in 2003. Last year he got 2 bronze medals on the Olympic Games in Athens, one in the individual pursuit and one in the teams pursuit.

As you can see he is a good rider. And very fast over a distance of 4 km (on the track). This year he became pro with this team and rode a good season. In the Vuelta a Murcia he showed a good effort and was also 2nd in the Classica Almeria. He is a good time trial rider and can do a lot of work for the team. I suppose if he is in good shape he will try to do his best in the time trials and maybe go in some breakaways. Further he have to help Karpets and perhaps Unai Osa. The prologue of 1150 meters have to suit him well but there are other riders too who will win that prologue - for example track-rider Bradley Wiggins (Credit Agricole).

Escobar. Courtesy Illes Balears.

Isaac Galvez

Isaac was born on 20 May 1975 and became a pro in 2000 with the Kelme team. In 2004 he switched to the Balears.

Isaac is a sprinter so we can expect him in the sprints. If he can beat Petacchi, we will see. But we can expect that he will place himself several times in the front positions. 

So far Isaac has 9 victories. He won the Classica Almeria in 2000 as a neo pro. Won a stage in the Volta ao Alentejeo and the Gran Premio dos Mosqueteiros in 2001, the Circuito Palma Mallorca in 2002, the Trofeo Alcudia and the Trofeo Mallorca in 2003, a stage in the Volta a Catalunya and the Setmana Catalana in 2004. This year he has already 1 win, the first stage of the Criterium International, beating Zabel and Förster in a sprint. Further he has a lot of short ranks in the Giro d’Italia of 2002 and 2003. So he knows the Italian roads.

Isaac is in good shape so he will be one of the riders to watch for in the sprint. But then they have to beat one man…I know that you know him…Who could that be? He has already 16 victories in 2005…Of course Alessandro Ale-Jet Petacchi.

Galvez. Courtesy Illes Balears.