Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) came within just six seconds of catching stage winner Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Omega Pharma-Lotto) at the finish of the first stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné in Saint-Pierre-de-Chartreuse. Although his late surge on the final climb showed good form, and the result lifts him to eighth overall after an average prologue performance, the Spaniard is disappointed to miss out on the victory.
"Once again I missed the victory for a mere nothing,” he said after the stage. “Unfortunately this year is not the first time that happens.”
So far this season, ‘Purito’ has taken second places in the Amstel Gold Race, la Flèche Wallonne (behind Van Den Broeck’s teammate Philippe Gilbert both times) and the eleventh stage of the Giro d’Italia to Castelfidardo. He also finished third on the prestigious penultimate stage of the Giro to Sestriere and, so far this season, his only victory has come in the first stage of the Vuelta al Pais Vasco.
He finished the Giro in good form, taking fifth place overall, and hopes to capitalise on this with some victories.
“I did a good performance, but here in the Dauphiné placings and podiums don’t mean anything to me, just wins,” he explained. “Van den Broeck gained a lot in the final flat part, where I could have closed in on him only if one of my teammates was with me in the group.
“When the climbing started again I tried to recover and win at the final sprint, but the Belgian rider was already too far ahead.”
Although the final climb in the stage was only rated as second category, a number of splits occurred in the front of the peloton. Many of the overall favourites for the race lost time on the steep gradients and, with only two days out of the way, may have lost their chance to take the race.
“I knew this stage would cause a good selection,” said Rodriguez, “the first hard stage of a race is always hard to ride. The only good news, at least, is that some of the favourites lost something today, but I was able to finish the stage at the front.”