Joaquim 'Purito' Rodriguez Discussion thread

[greenedge]

But yet. When Evans does this, he gets tons and tons of critics.

Purito does it. It's fine and dandy

Double standards here are annoying me

Evans recently though has not done this- Galibier 2011.
When JROD goes he goes, Evans can barely get a gap unless if he has super form ( 2010 FW ).
Thx however for sticking up for Evans.

I also think JROD deserves some congratulations in finishing 2nd for the first time in a GT. He can still improve in GT's too.

 

[Parrulo]

purito improving? i think some are forgetting he is already 33 so not exactly young. a shame he wasted so many years working for piti

 

[cineteq]

The crucial thing here is that he had 1st within his grasp, and he didn't even try to take it. If you try and fail, you get respect.

It's kind to sad to see a poster taking cheap shots without even thinking what she/he is saying. This is really embarrassing for the people who appreciate all sorts of styles of racing.

Purito Rodriguez has very limited riding skills. He attacks in the last few kms and gets a gap of few seconds. On the other hand, he's not able to do sustained attacks, although he's able to climb with the best. From experience he knows when he attacks early he has either cracked or ended up losing massive time. He's small/short and does not have a lot of power. His ITT performances used to be dreadful. However, with those shortcomings he was able to get 2nd at only 16'' of the worthy winner Hesjedal.

- Stage 4. Rodriguez and Katusha rode an outstanding TTT and get just 5'' behind the winning team.
- Stage 7. Rodriguez gets 2' + over most of the favorites.
- Stage 8. Rodriguez finishes 3rd with favorites, and adds 8'' bonus.
- Stage 10. Rodriguez wins the stage on a devastating attack. He puts 6 sec. on favorites and adds 20'' bonus.
- Stage 15. Rodriguez attacks and get 2nd. He puts 25'' + to the favorites, including gaining 39'' on Hesjedal.
- Stage 17. Rodriguez wins the stage coming from behind on a bunch sprint against the favorites. He dedicates the victory to Tondo.
- Stage 20. Rodriguez attacks and he's able to gain 13'' on Hesjedal. Previously, in Montirolo he attacked the favorites 3 times and they responded.
- Stage 21. He finishes 47'' behind Hesjedal, yet he shows how much he's improved his TT skills.

Now imagine if he hadn't tried as the poster's suggested and Katusha would have finished middle of the pack as many people expected, say +30"

30 + 2 + 8 + 6 + 20 + 39 +13 = 118 seconds, almost 2 minutes

If you try and you fail, you get respect.

 

[ElChingon]

Say what you will but he's number 1

CQ Points

Rank Prev. Rider Team Date of birth CQ
1. (2) [ESP] RODRIGUEZ OLIVER Joaquin KAT 12/05/1979 2939
2. (8) [SVK] SAGAN Peter LIQ 26/01/1990 2103
3. (1) [BEL] GILBERT Philippe BMC 05/07/1982 1975
4. (12) [GBR] WIGGINS Bradley SKY 28/04/1980 1915
5. (11) [NOR] BOASSON HAGEN Edvald SKY 17/05/1987 1725
6. (7) [ESP] SANCHEZ GONZALEZ Samuel EUS 05/02/1978 1708
7. (9) [GBR] CAVENDISH Mark SKY 21/05/1985 1645
8. (5) [FRA] VOECKLER Thomas EUC 22/06/1979 1550
9. (100) [BEL] BOONEN Tom OPQ 15/10/1980 1530
10. (17) [ITA] CUNEGO Damiano LAM 19/09/1981 1519

And the hated UCI points he's Number 1!

UCI Points

Rank Prev. Rider Nat. + Birthdate Team (Code) Points
1 6 RODRIGUEZ OLIVER Joaquin ESP19790512 KATUSHA TEAM (KAT) 404
2 1 BOONEN Tom BEL19801015 OMEGA PHARMA-QUICKSTEP (OPQ) 366
3 2 NIBALI Vincenzo ITA19841114 LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE (LIQ) 272
4 3 SANCHEZ GONZALEZ Samuel ESP19780205 EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI (EUS) 252
5 4 SAGAN Peter SVK19900126 LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE (LIQ) 229
6 5 WIGGINS Bradley GBR19800428 SKY PROCYCLING (SKY) 224
7 7 GERRANS Simon AUS19800516 ORICA GREENEDGE (OGE) 210
8 68 HESJEDAL Ryder CAN19801209 GARMIN - BARRACUDA (GRM) 197
9 17 CUNEGO Damiano ITA19810919 LAMPRE - ISD (LAM) 184
10 8 FREIRE GOMEZ Oscar ESP19760215 KATUSHA TEAM (KAT) 180

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

The point is not "Haha he was 2nd he sucks". The crucial thing here is that he had 1st within his grasp, and he didn't even try to take it. If you try and fail, you get respect.

I think judgment should be withheld, from all looks of it everyone was pretty wrecked at all the crucial stages. We assume he could have attacked earlier or at least tried (even if he did fail), but I suspect him a better judge of the situation then us forumites. Maybe he was certain if he went earlier he would have cracked badly. The guy is notorious for some bad days.

While I understand the sentiment that he should have at least tried, this sort of racing -calculated- is nothing new to cycling.

Don't agree with the hate the guy is getting.

 

[Ripper]

Don't agree with the hate the guy is getting.

Agreed.

Seriously folks? A Purito depreciation thread? He just had the best result of his career. He fought hard and used his strengths as much as he could to his advantage. For someone with his talents (incredible anaerobic, less capable in the TT), he did an amazing job. I say chapeau to Rodriguez ... I think he honoured the pink jersey fairly well.

And for all the haters, it is easy to say he shoulda coulda. But he was clearly on the rivet on many occasions. Sometimes the legs won't do what you ask of them (and even asking them to "shut up" won't help)

 

[Kwibus]

The point is not "Haha he was 2nd he sucks". The crucial thing here is that he had 1st within his grasp, and he didn't even try to take it. If you try and fail, you get respect.

The problem atm is that almost the entire peloton does the same. They are all afraid to ride for the win and rather finish 4th or even worse 2nd..., because if they try and fail they might drop out of the top10.
Sponsors mad, directeur sportif mad... etc.

Get rid of the UCI World Tour point system please.

 

[roundabout]

Honored? You'd assume it was Hesjedal in pink the way they rode the whole last stage.

 

[hrotha]

The problem atm is that almost the entire peloton does the same. They are all afraid to ride for the win and rather finish 4th or even worse 2nd..., because if they try and fail they might drop out of the top10.
Sponsors mad, directeur sportif mad... etc.

Get rid of the UCI World Tour point system please.

Of course, even De Gendt betrayed this mentality when he said all he had in mind was protecting his 8th place. But most others didn't have it so close right in front of them. This is comparable to the Schlecks happily towing Gilbert to the finish line in LBL. Hey, they both podiumed, so great result, right? Well, for most forumers, it wasn't.

Completely agreed about the WT points. They're a large part of the problem. Give tons of points to the winner, some points to the 2nd and minor points to the 3rd if you want to have a points system, and be done with it. Even better, go back to a CQ-style thing but only for informative purposes and let organizers decide who they want in their race.

(As for what others are saying about everybody being wrecked and Purito not being able to do anything else, frankly I'm tired of explaining why I disagree very strongly with that)

 

[Flamin]

It's kind to sad to see a poster taking cheap shots without even thinking what she/he is saying. This is really embarrassing for the people who appreciate all sorts of styles of racing.

Purito Rodriguez has very limited riding skills. He attacks in the last few kms and gets a gap of few seconds. On the other hand, he's not able to do sustained attacks, although he's able to climb with the best. From experience he knows when he attacks early he has either cracked or ended up losing massive time. He's small/short and does not have a lot of power. His ITT performances used to be dreadful. However, with those shortcomings he was able to get 2nd at only 16'' of the worthy winner Hesjedal.

- Stage 4. Rodriguez and Katusha rode an outstanding TTT and get just 5'' behind the winning team.
- Stage 7. Rodriguez gets 2' + over most of the favorites.
- Stage 8. Rodriguez finishes 3rd with favorites, and adds 8'' bonus.
- Stage 10. Rodriguez wins the stage on a devastating attack. He puts 6 sec. on favorites and adds 20'' bonus.
- Stage 15. Rodriguez attacks and get 2nd. He puts 25'' + to the favorites, including gaining 39'' on Hesjedal.
- Stage 17. Rodriguez wins the stage coming from behind on a bunch sprint against the favorites. He dedicates the victory to Tondo.
- Stage 20. Rodriguez attacks and he's able to gain 13'' on Hesjedal. Previously, in Montirolo he attacked the favorites 3 times and they responded.
- Stage 21. He finishes 47'' behind Hesjedal, yet he shows how much he's improved his TT skills.

you even forgot the stage Ventoso won (?), when he attacked on a speedbump with Moreno leading him out, and a strong attack on stage 14 to cervinia, nearly bridging Hesjedal until Scarponi brought the main group back to his wheel.

but hey, what a coward eh Hesjedal was just stronger, simple as that. A 2nd place was the best purito could get out of it.

 

[roundabout]

If uphill sprints and accelerations are considered attacks then Rodriguez is an attacking rider.

Thing is he never stepped out of his comfort zone even when it became obvious that sprinting away in the last km would not be enough. His "attack" on the Stelvio was the crowning moment of his pathetic riding.

 

[Lanark]

If uphill sprints and accelerations are considered attacks then Rodriguez is an attacking rider.

Thing is he never stepped out of his comfort zone even when it became obvious that sprinting away in the last km would not be enough. His "attack" on the Stelvio was the crowning moment of his pathetic riding.

You can't blame Rodriguez for that. Hesjedal was clearly stronger. It's obvious it was completely impossible for Rodriguez to ride 16 seconds faster in the mountains.

 

[hrotha]

You can't blame Rodriguez for that. Hesjedal was clearly stronger. It's obvious it was completely impossible for Rodriguez to ride 16 seconds faster in the mountains.

That's total malarkey. Hesjedal was clearly the strongest in 2km efforts. We never saw any other kind. Now, Hesjedal might well have been the strongest in 5, 10, 20 or 50km efforts, but they never put him to the test because everybody was perfectly content with what they already had.

(sorry if "total malarkey" sounds harsh, I just really love the word "malarkey")

 

[roundabout]

No, it's not obvious. Hesjedal is not a machine and he can have worse days. I think he was (Ed.rather looked) stronger on Friday than on Saturday for example.

 

[Lanark]

Damn, is my sarcasm really that hard to read?

 

[roundabout]

Oh. Duh.

 

[hrotha]

Oh. OH.
But it's ok because many people are saying exactly that for reals

 

[Zam_Olyas]

Yes, purito was ridiculous and katusha were awful.

 

[maxmartin]

Will he race Tour next year? Rumor is parcourse is very climber friendly.

 

[Red Rick]

Will he race Tour next year? Rumor is parcourse is very climber friendly.

If he keeps improving like the tting won't matter that much anymore

 

[Angliru]

If uphill sprints and accelerations are considered attacks then Rodriguez is an attacking rider.

Thing is he never stepped out of his comfort zone even when it became obvious that sprinting away in the last km would not be enough. His "attack" on the Stelvio was the crowning moment of his pathetic riding.

That's a bit harsh don't you think? He has the most complete performance wise grand tour of his career and you think his riding was "pathetic"?

 

[Afrank]

Gotta say, I am very impressed with how he has improved his time trialing. He's turned himself from a climber who always loses their lead in the TT to a genuine GC contender. Maybe Schleck should go to Katusha.

Will he race Tour next year? Rumor is parcourse is very climber friendly.

Can't see him wanting to go race the tour, the giro and vuelta seem to be his races of choice. And he probably would have a better chance since in the tour he will likely have to contend with Contador, Froome, Schleck, maybe Wiggins, and others.

 

[Froome19]

Can't see him wanting to go race the tour, the giro and vuelta seem to be his races of choice. And he probably would have a better chance since in the tour he will likely have to contend with Contador, Froome, Schleck, maybe Wiggins, and others.

Granted but you also have to look at it from the perspective that next year's Tour may be the only one he will ever have a chance of winning or possibly even podiuming and he has shown he can challenge with the best climbers in the world, with his new found TT damage limitation, he may fancy pitting himself against the best the Tour has to offer. What it may depend on is in fact how he place in this race, as a win may mean he would like to challenge for something bigger... a podium and he may want to win next year etc

 

[cineteq]

Will he race Tour next year? Rumor is parcourse is very climber friendly.

Maybe he will because he's Katusha's best GC rider, but not because he has a chance of being in the podium. Plus in the Tour there are NO TIME BONUSES. I'd rather see him in the Giro/Vuelta again.

 

[Angliru]

Granted but you also have to look at it from the perspective that next year's Tour may be the only one he will ever have a chance of winning or possibly even podiuming and he has shown he can challenge with the best climbers in the world, with his new found TT damage limitation, he may fancy pitting himself against the best the Tour has to offer. What it may depend on is in fact how he place in this race, as a win may mean he would like to challenge for something bigger... a podium and he may want to win next year etc

Then he would be falling into the same trap that befell Sammy Sanchez. Everytime he would have relative success at the Tour or the Vuelta he immediately make the other event his focus. Had he stuck with the Vuelta in consecutive years he may have had a grand tour win under his belt. Not that he hasn't had a successful career but I'm certain he would love to have won the Vuelta. He came especially close in 2009 barely losing to Valverde.

I think Purito is one of the smartest riders in that he's realized that the Giro and Vuelta are more fitting to his talents while others still chase the dream resulting in an anonymous top 10 or even outside the top 10 finish.