Joaquim Rodriguez commented on missing out his first Grand Tour victory
Joaquim Rodriguez rode brilliantly during the first Grand Tour race of the 2012 season, the Giro d’Italia.
The cyclist came close to achieve an overall victory at the race but could not match the likes of in-form Ryder Hesjedal of Team Garmin-Barracuda.
Joaquim bagged the 10th and the 17th stages of the race and also succeeded during the points classifications of the event.
He fell 16 seconds short of the race leader Ryder Hesjedal and had to settle for the second position.
Thomas De Gendt of Team Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team, Michele Scarponi of Team Lampre-ISD and Ivan Basso of Team Liquigas-Cannondale achieved the third, the fourth and the fifth positions in the respective order.
Joaquim was happy with his second place finish and credited his Sports Director for showing faith in him.
"My directeur sportif Valerio Piva supported me greatly during the time trial," he cited.
"The time checks he gave me were a question of seconds, so I took all the risks until the last corner as I knew that Hesjedal also had to take risks".
"Anything could happen. I had the illusion that I could win until the last moment. I learned from my masseur that I had lost. That makes it even harder".
"I'll try to do something there as well, cycling is my passion, I love talking cycling. If one day I can't go on my bike".
The 33-year-old started his professional pursuit with Team ONCE-Eroski in 2001 and stayed with the team by the end of 2003.
He also represented Team Saunier Duval-Prodir (2004-05), Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears (2006-09) and finally penned a deal with Team Katusha for the 2010 season.
Rodriguez holds as many as 13 World Tour appearances under his belt including six Giro, one Tour de France and six Vuelta a Espana participations to his credit.
The cyclist’s second place finish during the most recent edition of the Giro d’Italia is his best performance so far.
Joaquim will now be seen in action at the Criterium du Dauphine scheduled from June 3-10.
Winner of the race will be awarded with a 100 UCI points, the second and the third position holders will receive a 80 and 70 points respectively.
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