Joaquim Rodriguez has sought to play down his defeat to Rui Costa at the world road race championship, saying that while nothing would beat taking a world title, that his victory yesterday in Il Lombardia is important in helping him to move on.
The Spanish Katusha rider was speaking after he took an excellent solo victory in the Italian Classic, attacking on the final climb of the Villa Vergano, cresting the summit alone and then hurtling down the descent and in to the finish.
He reached the line seventeen seconds ahead of compatriot Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) and a further six seconds ahead of Rafal Majka (Team Saxo Tinkoff). Dan Martin (Garmin Sharp), who had been with Majka, crashed on the final bend and came in 45 seconds back.
It was a clear-cut victory for Rodriguez and showed he was a step above the others yesterday.
“Lombardia is never easy, especially with this weather, 240 kilometres,” he said in the post race press conference, which can be watched below. “I did feel well and I kicked off [attacked] at the right moment. “
“There always is some lack of confidence, especially with ten kilometres to go, due to the stress. But it was a great race, a great victory.”
Rodriguez faced several questions about the worlds and his defeat inside the final kilometre by Rui Costa. As Costa is on the same team as Valverde, some have suggested that the latter may have favoured his trade team over his national allegiance and not chased hard when the Portuguese rider set off in pursuit of Rodriguez.
That claim is complicated by the fact that Costa will leave Movistar at the end of the season and race instead for Lampre Merida, but Rodriguez was still asked about what happened and if he believed Valverde’s explanation.
“He already clarified everything at the world championship,” he said, when asked if the two had talked about what happened in Firenze. “He explained the way he saw his race. We have different thoughts about it but I respect what he said, that he wasn’t 100 percent there. Everyone has his own point of view. I respect that.
“Cycling is a very hard sport. He had a feeling, I had a feeling, he saw one race, I saw a different race. It is not useful to regret anything.”
In the video below Rodriguez speaks about the worlds, yesterday’s victory in Lombardia, his concerns when Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) had a big lead heading into the finale, his likely victory in the WorldTour for the second year running and also the possibility that Chris Frooome could head to Beijing in one final push to regain the WorldTour lead.
He also speaks about his future racing programme and whether or not he will ride the Giro d’Italia in 2014.