Konyshev names Purito for Tour line-up as preparation for the Vuelta
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Joaquim Rodríguez warming up(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Overall favourite Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) with his special bike(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
It didn't look good for Joaquim Rodriguez after the finish(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
After crashing out of the Giro d’Italia, Joaquim Rodriguez will ride the Tour de France, Katusha sports director Dimitri Konyshev has told Spanish sports daily AS. However the Catalan veteran will be racing with radically different objectives compared to 2013 when he finished third overall, targeting stage victories as he uses the Tour to build his form for the Vuelta a España.
The main objective is for Rodriguez to use the Tour as a way of building his form for the Vuelta -his main objective of the remainder of the season and in which he finished fourth overall in 2013 and third in 2012.
“We had no choice but to change plans after he fell [and was injured, breaking three ribs and a finger] in the Giro d’Italia. There aren’t many races apart from the Tour in the build-up to the Vuelta and Joaquim can’t be resting up for such a long time,” Konychev explanied.
Rodriguez will also race the Clásica de San Sebastian and perhaps the Vuelta a Burgos prior to the Vuelta, which starts on August 23rd in Jerez de la Frontera.
For a top contender in the Vuelta to ride the Tour as preparation for September is rare but not totally unheard of. The most recent case was in 2012 when Juan Jose Cobo took part in the Tour de France that year as a way of building his form to defend his 2011 Vuelta title. However his training after July was badly affected by an infected wisdom tooth, and after finishing 30th in the Tour, he finished 67th in the Vuelta.
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Alasdair Fotheringham has been reporting on cycling since 1991. He has covered every Tour de France since 1992 bar one, as well as numerous other bike races of all shapes and sizes, ranging from the Olympic Games in 2008 to the now sadly defunct Subida a Urkiola hill climb in Spain. As well as working for Cyclingnews, he has also written for The Independent, The Guardian, ProCycling, The Express and Reuters.
