Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) has revealed that the Clasica San Sebastian was his last ever race in Spain, indicating that he will not ride the Vuelta a Espana or any other race on home roads before formally retiring at the end of the 2016 season.
The Katusha team dropped a hint that Rodriguez could even hang up his bike after the Rio Olympics and never ride again for the Russian team.
Purito was awarded a special prize as the most aggressive rider in the Clasica San Sebastian and emotionally collected the award with his young children. His attack on the late climb blew apart the group of favourites before Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) passed him near the summit and surged away to take a solo victory. Rodriguez finished fourth, behind Tony Gallopin (Lotto Soudal) and Alejandro Valverde (Movistar), waving to the crowd as he reached the finish rather than sprinting for a spot on the podium.
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He quickly confirmed his farewell before joining up with the Spanish team to travel to Rio for the Olympic road race. He first revealed he will retire at the end of the season during the Tour de France when the race enjoyed the first rest day near his home in Andorra. The end of the 37-year old Catalan’s career appeared much closer in San Sebastian.
“I enjoyed my last race in Spain,” Rodriguez said. “This was a nice goodbye. The climb was super with the fans cheering for me. I really enjoyed it. I’m sorry I missed the top 3, but in the end there were three riders faster than me.”
As in the final stages of the Tour de France, Rodriguez took the race from the front, attacking at the key moment on the climb of the Murgil Bidea, as the gradient kicked up to 20%.
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