Ineos Grenadiers confirmed on Monday that they will head into the second week of the Tour de France with a two-pronged plan for the general classification, with Tour newcomer Carlos Rodríguez lying fourth overall and Tom Pidcock moving up to seventh after the duo's strong rides on the Puy de Dôme stage.
So far 22-year-old Rodríguez has hit the ground running in his first Tour, despite an uneven build-up that saw him suffer a broken collarbone in March, but regain traction at the Critérium du Dauphiné.
Speaking in a rest day press conference, the Spaniard said that his lack of Tour experience meant he had had no idea pre-race how high up the GC hierarchy his condition would take him, but that the important thing was “I’m doing well and I’ll go on doing the best I can. I’m still discovering all this.”
Pidcock confirmed his interest in doing as good a GC as possible, even if that meant sacrificing the chances of a stage win like the one he took on Alpe d’Huez last summer. “My goal is to be consistent and see how far that takes me,” Pidcock said.
Rodríguez said that the current plan at Ineos Grenadiers was to keep the two of them as high on GC as possible. “Both of us are ahead, protected for the overall, and while we are responding well, it’ll go on like this. It could be good for both of us,” he said.
Born and bred in deepest southern Andalucia, Rodríguez said that the high temperatures en route to Puy de Dôme and forecast for this week at the Tour were anything but unfamiliar to him. “It’s always something to bear in mind, but I’m used to it. Hopefully, it’ll benefit me,” he said.
As compatriot Mikel Landa’s (Bahrain Victorious) GC bid fades, interest in Rodríguez’s Tour performance is currently surging in Spain, but he denied that this meant extra pressure or nothing he couldn’t handle. “The support I get is extra motivation,” he said. As for how many Wattsapp conversations he had currently had to leave unanswered amidst all the heightened attention on his Tour performance and demands on his time, he answered simply: “None.”
Strongly rumoured to be heading for Movistar in 2024 but with the transfer window still not officially ‘open’ until August 1st, Rodríguez was coy about his plans for next season, saying “the best person to ask about that is my team manager.”
Pidcock, meanwhile, was in an equally upbeat mood, saying that rather than resenting the limitations fighting for GC might imply for his natural gung-ho racing instincts, “the opposite was true.”
“Normally I wouldn’t have the patience and focus for GC, it’s not in my characteristics, but now I’m enjoying it,” the Briton said.
“Obviously the first day of the race did not go as I’d hoped, but in general things are working out pretty well. I’m growing in confidence, exploring my limits. Yesterday [Sunday] was a great day, hopefully I can replicate that again.
“My goal is to be consistent, even if that means there’s no chance of a stage win. But I think I can learn a lot about myself if I fully commit to GC now.”
Pidcock recognised that having two riders on GC was an advantage when, as he put it, “we’re both quite young.”
“Carlos finished in the top five or whatever in the Vuelta last year “ [Seventh - Ed.] “so he’s a bit more used to this. But it’s not the same as if we had two experienced GC riders.”
One teammate with considerably deeper Grand Tour knowledge than the Ineos GC duo in France this July is Egan Bernal, and when it came to the degree of support he was giving them, both Pidcock and Rodriguez sang the Colombian’s praises.
“He’s very impressive,” Pidcock said. “He came here with a free role because it wasn’t clear what he could do, but now he’s not in GC, he’s switched to helping me and Carlos. It’s really impressive. I’m honoured a guy like him has put 100 per cent commitment into helping me and Carlos.”
“He could just as easily have said ‘fuck this, it’s not what I want’, but he’s fully committed instead.”
“It’s incredible to be able to share a team with him,” Rodriguez said, when asked for his reaction to Bernal’s promise that he would “work his finger to the bone” to get the Spaniard on the podium in Paris.
“When you hear that he’s willing to do that, words fail me. It says a lot about the kind of person he is. He’s an example to follow.”
