Joaquim Rodriguez unavailable for the Criterium du Dauphine, 2012
The second place finisher at the Giro d’Italia 2012, Joaquim Rodriguez has noted that he will not be available for the next World Tour race of the season, the Criterium du Dauphine.
The cyclist will miss the French event scheduled from June 3-10 mainly because of the fatigue and the tiredness of the Giro d’ Italia.
The cyclist is enjoying a terrific season and has already filled his bag with numerous victories in the first half of the year.
He finished first during the la Fleche Wallone and bagged a second overall victory at the Tour of the Basque Country along with a six place finish at the Tirreno-Adriatico.
The Spaniard also bagged stages at the Tour of the Basque Country and the Tirreno-Adriatico which boosted his confidence for the first Grand Tour race of the season, the Giro d’Italia.
Joaquim succeeded during the tenth and the seventeenth stage of the Italian race and also claimed the top overall position after the final point’s classifications.
The 33-year-old was looking good for an overall victory at the race but fell short of his young competitor, Ryder Hesjedal.
Hesjedal became the first Canadian to bag an overall victory at any of the Grand Tour races of the season.
He restricted Joaquim Rodriguez Oliver with an impressive lead of 16 seconds and became a significant part of Canadian Cycling.
Thomas De Gendt of Team Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling, Michele Scarponi of Team Lampre-ISD and Ivan Basso of Team Liquigas-Cannondale occupied the next three spots.
While commenting on his plans about the Criterium du Dauphine, Joaquim noted, “After the physical stress and the pressure to which I have been subjected in the Giro”.
“it is best to recover well enough to cope with the second half of the season with renewed vigor”.
The cyclist is now eying the Vuelta a España as the next big goal of the season and noted that he needs to regain his strengths in order to ensure his peak form for the second Grand Tour race of the season.
He briefed,” “Now I need to rest and enjoy some time with my family.”
Criterium du Dauphine is scheduled from June 3-10 and winner of the race will be awarded with a 100 UCI points.
The second and the third position holders will receive 80 and 70 points respectively.
Tags: