Rodriguez in Giro

[ttrider]

So Katushya are pressuring him into riding the Giro, he seems to not like the idea at all, i guess its all those years being held away from the Tour by Caisse D'eparne
He should relish the opportunity it is a brilliant course for him with Crostis - Zoncolan being taylor made, add in no real tt and a Katushya power house for the ttt and hes sorted!

 

[El Pistolero]

I don't see a GT winner in Rodriguez to be honest.

 

[theyoungest]

I don't see a GT winner in Rodriguez to be honest.

If he didn't majorly screw up the last Vuelta TT, he'd already have won one.

 

[ttrider]

Its easily conceivable he can launch big attacks on the Grossglockner and Zoncolan as well as the classic like stages, we all saw what he could do on the tourmalet (3rd) Angliru (3rd) and Bola del mondo (3rd) on super hard climbs. If you take out now banned riders thats a 1st and 2 2nds

 

[uphillstruggle]

Katusha can give him a good head start in the TTT. I think he could win this one with only a 30 K TT at the end and lots of climbing, this route suits him well. It will be interesting to see if he can cope with the inevitable liquigas train that will turn up.

He will no doubt go to the Tour for a top 10 rather than have a crack at winning this though - shame.

 

[Hugo Koblet]

I think definately he should go for the Giro/Vuelta. The thing is, he doesn't want to compromise his chances in the ardennes which, honestly, is understandable, but I don't think it would be much of an issue.

 

[The Hitch]

If he didn't majorly screw up the last Vuelta TT, he'd already have won one.

Good point. Maybe we could even say that if he didnt do the Tour last year he would already have had one. And he would have had a podium spot had he maybe not spent so much energy trying to get the red in the first place before cracking in Andora.

ANd the Giro doesnt have as much tt.

And we know he can handle Nibali. the problems will be Ricco, Scarponi and Rujano. 2 of them on home soil. I think Purito can get a podium you know. And with those finishes a few stages no doubt. and 3rd on the Tourmalet behind al and andy was it. Maybe we are looking at the 3rd guy to win on the gateway to hell. I dont see any other favourites for that stage atm.

I cant see him winning Liege nor AGR just the Muur. Forget FW. Giro > FW, a equation Cadel Evans might be wishing he had made earlier.

 

[El Pistolero]

Good point. Maybe we could even say that if he didnt do the Tour last year he would already have had one. And he would have had a podium spot had he maybe not spent so much energy trying to get the red in the first place before cracking in Andora.

ANd the Giro doesnt have as much tt.

And we know he can handle Nibali. the problems will be Ricco, Scarponi and Rujano. 2 of them on home soil. I think Purito can get a podium you know. And with those finishes a few stages no doubt. and 3rd on the Tourmalet behind al and andy was it. Maybe we are looking at the 3rd guy to win on the gateway to hell. I dont see any other favourites for that stage atm.

I cant see him winning Liege nor AGR just the Muur. Forget FW. Giro > FW, a equation Cadel Evans might be wishing he had made earlier.

Time trials are an essential part of a GT. To exclude it and say he would have gotten one otherwise is a meaningless statement.

The Giro has better climbers then the Vuelta and the climbs are a lot more demanding.

Rodriguez was more then 10 minutes back of Contador in the Tour this year without any bad luck as far as I know. In the end, the Vuelta only had one time trial, that's not what I would call a lot.

 

[uphillstruggle]

And we know he can handle Nibali. the problems will be Ricco, Scarponi and Rujano. 2 of them on home soil. I think Purito can get a podium you know. And with those finishes a few stages no doubt. and 3rd on the Tourmalet behind al and andy was it. Maybe we are looking at the 3rd guy to win on the gateway to hell. I dont see any other favourites for that stage atm.

But Nibali is the only one of those who can take multiple minutes from him in the final TT. All the others could lose time on a mountain stage just by having a bad day. I would have him as a favourite on that course.

 

[theyoungest]

But Nibali is the only one of those who can take multiple minutes from him in the final TT. All the others could lose time on a mountain stage just by having a bad day. I would have him as a favourite on that course.

The Vuelta didn't have a Zoncolan, where Rodriguez on a good day could really destroy Nibali. He could have the victory sewn up even before the final TT. I actually hope J-Rod will do the Giro, he'd be the no. 1 favourite in my book.

 

[Michielveedeebee]

But Nibali is the only one of those who can take multiple minutes from him in the final TT. All the others could lose time on a mountain stage just by having a bad day. I would have him as a favourite on that course.

what about Velits

 

[Libertine Seguros]

When Rujano said he was the 3rd best climber in the world, the person he said was 2nd was Joaquím Rodríguez.

J-Rod will never see a GT parcours more suited to him than the 2011 Giro, unless they finish on Montelupone 21 times in a row.

 

[theyoungest]

When Rujano said he was the 3rd best climber in the world, the person he said was 2nd was Joaquím Rodríguez.

J-Rod will never see a GT parcours more suited to him than the 2011 Giro, unless they finish on Montelupone 21 times in a row.

On the other hand, he'll probably never see a Tour parcours more suited to him either.

 

[roundabout]

I don't see how finishing 4th in a Vuelta very suited to his characteristics makes Rodriguez a favorite for a much tougher Giro.

 

[The Hitch]

I don't see how finishing 4th in a Vuelta very suited to his characteristics makes Rodriguez a favorite for a much tougher Giro.

Perhaps this will be of some assistance.

Rodriguez season before the Vuelta

6th Paris Nice with 4 top 5 finishes and 4th points classification

WINNER Vuelta Catalunia including 2 podiums and 4 days in leaders jersey

3rd place Vuelta Pais Vasco including a stage a podium and 4th in points

WINNER GP miguel Indurain

2nd La Fleche Wallone

9th Tour de Suisse including a podium

WINNER stage into Mende at the Tour

Podium stage into Tourmalet, 5th stage into AX 3 Domainx

8th Overall at the Grandady of them all,

5th Classica San Sebastian.

 

[roundabout]

3 peaks a year is mighty impressive, but somehow i doubt that he won't focus on Ardennes this year so it's unlikely that he will be in optimal form for the Giro.

 

[peloton]

I don't see how finishing 4th in a Vuelta very suited to his characteristics makes Rodriguez a favorite for a much tougher Giro.

Giro doesn't have that long, flat TT where he lost the podium in Vuelta, his tt is crap but he sure can climb well.

 

[roundabout]

Rodriguez was 25 seconds slower than Nibali on proper climbs in the Vuelta (and 1.36 slower than Mosquera). And those were much easier stages than the ones in the Giro.

 

[hfer07]

Very nice news -I hope he decides to go for it- and it'd be fantastic to have Igor Anton in the mix- perhaps Soler, Henao get to participate as well and we'll have the Ultimate battle in this year's Giro.

Only four moths away .....

 

[theyoungest]

Rodriguez was 25 seconds slower than Nibali on proper climbs in the Vuelta (and 1.36 slower than Mosquera). And those were much easier stages than the ones in the Giro.

Rodriguez is stronger than Nibali on the really steep grueling climbs. And BTW, he lost all those seconds on the Bola del Mundo, when he had no chance of finishing on the podium anymore. Don't forget that unlike Nibali, he had the Tour in his legs. He must have felt it by then.

 

[Angliru]

I don't see how finishing 4th in a Vuelta very suited to his characteristics makes Rodriguez a favorite for a much tougher Giro.

Wouldn't his having ridden his first Tour as a team leader, as opposed to riding for someone else, have affected his performance in the Vuelta? I recall many of us were surprised that he had anything left in the last week. He did falter a bit but then came back and rode a strong race with the exception of his final ITT performance. I think the Giro parcours is ideal for him and I think he agrees, but I doubt that he's willing to sacrifice his Tour performance to chase a Giro win. I personally would love to see him go all out for a Giro victory but I don't think it's likely. He's quoted as putting the Giro as third on his list of priorities behind the Ardennes and the Tour.

 

[Luis Ocaña]

I doubt Purito will take on the Giro. His priorities are the Ardennes classics, and the double Ardennes/Giro is nearly impossible.

I can't see him winning the Giro nor another GT anyway. While La Fleche is made for him, and maybe he can win LBL (with a bit of luck) too.

 

[El Pistolero]

When Rujano said he was the 3rd best climber in the world, the person he said was 2nd was Joaquím Rodríguez.

J-Rod will never see a GT parcours more suited to him than the 2011 Giro, unless they finish on Montelupone 21 times in a row.

How many times did J-Rod get dropped by Andy in the Tour alone?

 

[Angliru]

Rodriguez was 25 seconds slower than Nibali on proper climbs in the Vuelta (and 1.36 slower than Mosquera). And those were much easier stages than the ones in the Giro.

Nibali was fresh coming into the Vuelta. Rodriguez, as I just mentioned had just finished the Tour a month earlier, with a full season prior to that.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

How many times did J-Rod get dropped by Andy in the Tour alone?

I'm just quoting José Rujano, don't shoot the messenger.

When it comes to the super-steep stuff, I mean the 20%+ stuff, then Rodríguez is near enough the best in the business. Unfortunately for him, there aren't too many climbs like that that can feasibly be used.