Joaquim Rodríguez (Katusha) has won the season-long World ranking competition from the International Cycling Union (UCI) and is quite happy about it. In an interview to Spanish sports paper AS, he talked about his year's achievements and what his plans are for 2011.
Winning the world ranking was very important to him. "It is something I wanted for a while. I have already seen Valverde win the ranking twice and I know what it means," said Rodríguez about his former teammate at Caisse d'Epargne. "I am not the World Champion, but it is like [tennis player Rafael] Nadal, [motorcyclists Jorge] Lorenzo or [Toni] Elías. Like me, they are are the first, because we have consistency. It is not easy to be at your best from February to September."
Asked if, like others, the UCI ranking system is not quite right, Rodríguez smiled. "For me it is perfect! Well, seriously, it is he who established himself and who did all the major races, classics and Grand Tours."
Rodríguez hadn't put too much thought into the ranking, but early in the season he took over the number one spot. "After Flèche Wallonne, I became the leader and then I put it in my head. Finishing the Tour we saw that it would be possible to pass Contador, if I could do a good Vuelta." With Contador's season ending in July, Rodríguez knew what he had to do. A fourth place overall in the Vuelta gained him the ranking title.
The Tour de France stays special for him, citing this year's stage victory as a highlight. "The one that had the most impact was Mende. For me as well. Because it was the Tour and because I prevailed in a mano-a-mano against Contador. He, too, likes to win; there was no [negotiated] agreement. I knew that if I could hang on to him, I would win. I am faster than he in the final meters."
In the future, he would like more than just stage wins in the Grande Boucle. Asked if he could win the overall, he wasn't shy. "Why not? Cycling has changed a lot. There are guys who do an exploit one day, then the next they have a crisis. The [2011] route is better for me. It has a lot of mountains and less time trial kilometers. More realistically, I am looking to get onto the podium and to win a stage." He has already picked one. "I like Plateau de Beille."
Despite the reduced time trialing, he will do special training for it, after his disastrous Vuelta time trial in Peñafiel. His 105th spot, 6'12 behind stage winner Peter Velits, cost him the lead and even the podium. "I knew I would lose the leadership but I thought I could maintain the podium. I was missing 1'40."
He will put more focus on it this winter. "I will try a new bike and I will go into the wind tunnel." But he wants to leave it at a reasonable effort. "I don't want to lose my climbing level."
Mentally, he is ready. He went to Katusha to ride the Tour, "and also to be the leader," he said. The pressure is higher than in any other race and Rodríguez said that he showed he is a Tour rider.
Besides the Tour, he is again interested in the classics. "The one I do best in is the Flèche Wallonne, but I dream of Liège-Bastogne-Liège."