Purito - Joaquim Rodriguez thread

[xanadu]

Sniff sniff, is that fish i smell.

Lets see if i get this right. One of the best cyclists in the world has made a last minute decision to ride the greatest bike race in the world as a warm up for a lesser race albeit his home tour later in the year.

There are of course other, easier races to prepare for the vuelta. In fact a majority of recent winners have quite deliberately avoided the TDF. Whatever is Purito up to it looks a crazy decision.

Unless his form is far better than we might have imagined.

 

[MBotero]

Strange decision to ride TDF,as a preparation for the Vuelta i was hoping he will finally get his deserved GT win at Vuelta,but now i doubt it.Maybe is forced by management to do the TDF,cause his teammates suck.

 

[Afrank]

It's never appropriate for any rider to crash. Jrod has shown that he can ride two gt's back to back and perform pretty well. Last year he did this and was competitive in both of them. This year if he keeps his word and only goes for stages and doesn't push himself at the Tour, then he should be more than fine come the Vuelta.

For this reason, I don't think it's too bad an idea for him to ride the Tour. As long as he uses it purely to get in shape and doesn't go too deep, I think it should set him up well for the Vuelta.

 

[therealtimshady]

I'm Glad he's doing the tour

 

[hfer07]

I'm Glad he's doing the tour

Perhaps it will be good for the spectacle, but If he goes for a higher spot in the GC, he's then throwing away all "realistic & promising" chances to win La Vuelta

seems to me it was more a team decision rather than a personal choice....

 

[ILovecycling]

The man in my avatar to become only 4th cyclist in history of cycling to achieve Giro-Vuelta double - mainly because of this stupid Katusha decesion.

 

[Arredondo]

Bravo Purito! The man showed guts today. All or nothing for a stage win.

Now prepare for the Worlds, but more important, a 3rd Lombardia in a row

What do you think, does he have a chance of repeating succes?

 

[Piz Buin]

Bravo Purito! The man showed guts today. All or nothing for a stage win.

Now prepare for the Worlds, but more important, a 3rd Lombardia in a row

What do you think, does he have a chance of repeating succes?

I hope so. He'd really deserve it.



Quite risky to attack with 9k to go today. Great ride!

 

[Arredondo]

I hope so. He'd really deserve it.

Quite risky to attack with 9k to go today. Great ride!

I really hope he can finish a decent 2nd half of the season with a big win.

But the new route is not ideal to him. Curious to see if he's got strong enough of an attack on the Alta Bergamo climb to get a gap.

Definitely the small rest period will do him well, just like last year. He showed today he definitely doesn't get worser along the Vuelta.

 

[roundabout]

Brave move today, but then again, it was not particularly risky.

GdL will be difficult. Villa Vergano is a more difficult climb.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naX2g2yqvgg#t=2317

Wonder if the cobbles are still there?

 

[Flamin]

4-year Vuelta stage win-streak coming to an end but a great ride today.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Bravo Purito! The man showed guts today. All or nothing for a stage win.

snipped..

It was a TV attack which of course failed.

Its not been J-Rod's year. At least one level below some of the rides in '13. I wonder if he can come back.

 

[MBotero]

Crappy year for Purito,not himself in this Vuelta.I hope next year we will have the old Purito back,he's needed.

 

[Netserk]

Piti will make sure Purito won't win Lombardia. Purito's last GT podium was in the Tour last year.

 

[Afrank]

Went down fighting, chapeau.

 

[Arredondo]

Piti will make sure Purito won't win Lombardia. Purito's last GT podium was in the Tour last year.

Last year he dropped Valverde on Vergano. I know it's quite impossible to think the same, but i really hope this dream comes true

Edit: On the climb to Bergamo ofcourse.

I still think it's already quite a achievement from his side he was able to finish 3rd in San Sebastian and 4th in Vuelta after such a unlucky year. Makes me think he can still fight with the best next year.

 

[SeriousSam]

I'm sorry for Purito, Tour and Vuelta were very bad for him.

 

[Flamin]

Except for Lombardia, what could really save his year is Valverde somehow being in a good position to become world champ, and then Purito screwing him over in the most obvious way.

 

[Arredondo]

Except for Lombardia, what could really save his year is Valverde somehow being in a good position to become world champ, and then Purito screwing him over in the most obvious way.

Valverde will screw his own chances himself, so no need for that

 

[Flamin]

Valverde will screw his own chances himself, so no need for that

It's a one-day race. Things might pay off for him when he does something right by accident.

 

[jens_attacks]

chapeau for this attack today

 

[roundabout]

So, what happened today?

 

[Pricey_sky]

So, what happened today?

Looked like he just didn't have the legs, he attacked first from the main bunch but was quickly swamped by Gilbert, Valverde, Gerrans ect.

 

[roundabout]

Yeah, but it's kinda unusual to see Rodriguez practically explode within 40 seconds of starting the attack.

 

[cineteq]

Looked like he just didn't have the legs, he attacked first from the main bunch but was quickly swamped by Gilbert, Valverde, Gerrans ect.

I wouldn't be surprised if Purito just didn't want to work for Valverde. Remember what Alejandro did last year? Anyway, he didn't say much today, although his body language said much more => http://youtu.be/qcQYhBLtUSc