Caja Rural the 'perfect' team for Schultz's Vuelta a Espana debut

A mid-season bout of tonsillitis proved to be a blessing in disguise for Nick Schultz. The Australian was struck down with the illness in June, forcing a change in his race programme that will see the first-year Caja Rural-Seguros RGA rider line out in Nimes for the Vuelta a Espana this coming Saturday.

"I was going to ride the Route du Sud and that was going to shut down the first part of the season," Schultz told Cyclingnews. "Because I got so sick, I called the team and told them I didn't think I could race the Route de Sud, having not ridden in a week at that point and the race starting our days or something after that. They were excellent and basically came back to me and said, 'Take your time to recover and relax. Then start preparing for the Vuelta.'

The 22-year-old rode with the SEG Racing Academy team last year and enjoyed a stagiaire ride with Orica-Scott before inking his deal with Spain's sole Pro-Continental squad. Despite the fact that Schultz is a first year neo-pro Australian on a squad with 16 Spaniards, Schultz has impressed the squad to earn selection.

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"They are already putting faith in me and having guys help me in races like Tour of Norway. In its own right, it's quite a big race and I would never have thought of going for at this point in my career," he said. "It is probably the perfect environment in which to start my first Grand Tour. We are not going in with a GC favourite or big stage-win favourites with a sprinter or something like that. That is irrelevant anyway as it seems like there are three flat days. Our team will have our little internal goals and we'll go in with a guy like Jaime Rosón, and it's fair to say he's one of the up-and-coming Spanish climbers."

With the team backing the likes of Rosón, Schultz isn't feeling any pressure to perform, but does recognise he and his teammates will need to be active in the breakaways.

"The pressure is certainly a lot less than if I was going in with a WorldTour team and knew every day that I would have to ride the front of the peloton or do something like that," he said. "There could be some pressure in going for breakaways for a smaller team like ourselves who want to get TV time. It is really important for the sponsors of the team, but being so young and a first-year pro, the team might be a little bit more lenient with me in that regard. I think I am also going with less pressure as it is a development thing and the team are looking to the future essentially to get a Grand Tour in the legs."

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