A Grand Tour victory is Joaquim Rodriguez’ top agenda for 2013
Joaquim Rodriguez of Team Katusha came close of registering the first Grand Tour victory of his career on two occasions this year but fell short by a whisker on both instances.
The cyclist has set a Grand Tour victory as the top priority for the 2013season and has been assured by the team that he will receive full support to pursue his goals for the coming year.
First, it was the Giro d’Italia where he managed to claim the point’s classifications and two stages but fell 16 seconds short of his Canadian opponent, Ryder Hesjedal.
Hesjedal was a least favourite before the race but he made it possible through his hard work and dedication and became the first Canadian cyclist to register a Grand Tour overall victory.
Rodriguez bagged three stages at his second Grand Tour appearance this year, the Vuelta a Espana 2012 and again had to settle for the third overall spot after the final general classifications.
Alberto Contador claimed an overall victory at the race with Alejandro Valverde securing the second position.
Rodriguez fell 1 minute and 37 seconds short and occupied the third position with the Tour de France runner up, Christopher Froome holding the third position.
"Saxo Bank had a perfect tactic, but in order for them to succeed, I had to fail somewhere,” he noted of his Vuelta performance.
“I made mistakes, no doubt about it, and paid for them. I don't know if it was fate but it wasn't my day since the stage start and in the end I paid the consequences".
"It was very hard to see my teammates in the hotel, crying because we had lost it all”.
“It was a big blow but in cycling you have to accept it rapidly and move on to the other objectives that are still left," he continued.
The 33-year-old holds as many as 18 Grand Tour appearances under his belt including six Giro d’Italia, one Tour de France and nine Vuelta a Espana participations to his credit.
The Spaniard currently holds the second overall position at the UCI Elite Men World Tour rankings with a total number of 592 UCI points in his back pocket.
Bradley Wiggins is leading the category with a margin of 9 points on Joaquim and which he can overcome at the Giro di Lombardia and the Tour of Beijing which might heal his Grand Tour contusions.
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