Despite having a rich palmarès that includes 11 top-10 Grand Tour finishes, four of which are podiums, 11 Grand Tour stage wins, and three seasons as the number one ranked rider, Joaquim Rodríguez is not one of the major favourites at this year’s Tour de France. That’s not to say he won't be up there - with a palmarès like that you can never count the Katusha rider out - but up against the likes of Alberto Contador and Nairo Quintana, Rodríguez finds himself as an underdog.
“I’m not a serious favourite but there are few riders who have taken podiums at the Giro, the Tour and the Vuelta and cannot say that they are one of the favourites but that’s the way it is,” Rodríguez said in an interview with Cyclingnews and Het Nieuwsblad. “I will give my maximum to fight for the victory. At this moment I am very motivated. I think that Katusha are having one of the best years in their history.
“We are only missing a Grand Tour and at this year’s Tour de France we go with a great team.”
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It will be Rodríguez’s fourth appearance at the Tour de France and his record at the race has been a predominantly good one. He finished seventh and won a stage in his debut in 2010 and made it to the podium at his second attempt in 2013 – completing his trio of Grand Tour podiums. Last year, when he finished 54th, was the only blip on his record, although he was largely using the race as training after he crashed out of the Giro d’Italia earlier in the season.
With this year’s parcours heavily favouring the climbers, Rodríguez should be able to get his good record back on track. “If you look at the Tour de France, this year the route is very good for me. If I win or not, for me, the route is the best route that I could have had,” said Rodríguez.
“It is a great opportunity. There is very little time trialling so it is really good for us climbers. For us we can take advantage of this situation and we will give everything to achieve the goal to win.”
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