The Katusha team gave a party for star rider Joaquim Rodriguez, the winner of the International Cycling Union (UCI) World Ranking. At the team’s first gathering in advance of the 2011 season, at the Teatro Alberti near Lake Garda, Italy, awarded the rider a special prize.
It was awarded to Rodriguez by team manager Andre Tchmil and Gennady Belousov, the head of the General Management Division of Itera, one of the team’s principal sponsors.
“At beginning of the year we could not imagine this result,” said Tchmil. “So, today we are very happy and proud of the success of our rider, Joaquim Rodriguez, which is the victory of whole team.
“We introduced a special prize for the best team’s rider,” he added, “who now is the best in the world. We will do the same thing next year, to put a base for a new tradition in the team.”
Rodriguez, who joined the team in 2010 after spending four years at Caisse d’Epargne, enjoyed by far his best season to date. The 31-year-old won the Volta a Catalunya in March, and although he had few other victories, his consistency throughout the year won him the season-long prize.
His eight place in the tour de France and fourth place in the Vuelta a España might both be improved upon, depending on the outcome of the cases involving positive tests from Alberto Contador and Ezequiel Mosquera.
“For me personally, this trophy means a lot,” said Rodriguez of the award from his team. “To be number 1 in the world by ranking: it’s a new top, one more victory in my history, one more success for my team, where I feel, like I’m at home. The team does a lot for me, so I hope that next year I can reach new heights for the team.”