Rodriguez looking towards World's
By Tim Maloney, European Editor in Paris
We caught up with Fred Rodriguez, a.k.a. Fast Freddy, purveyor of fine coffee. The three-time USPRO champ told Cyclingnews about the Davitamon-Lotto team's final stage game plan: "We were going for a stage win on the Champs Elysées and if went as planned, there's a good chance we would have gotten a win for Robbie. But it didn't work out that way, and it ended up kind of weird, because (Davitamon-Lotto) thought that the bonuses were taken away on the final circuits. That's what they told us on our race radio."
Like many riders in this fastest-ever Tour De France, Rodriguez suffered from gut-rot in the last few stages, but still made it to Paris. "We still got three stage wins for Robbie and that was satisfied with that," he said.
We asked the soon father-to-be how his very pregnant wife Annie was holding up in the Bay Area. "She wishes she was here at the Tour; she loves the finish here!" Fred and Annie are expecting a baby boy next month and then Rodriguez is looking forward to the rest of the 2005 season, telling Cyclingnews, "My program is focused on the World Championship, so I'll do Hamburg (HEW Cyclassics), the Tour of Poland and then World's. It's a good course for me at the World's."
