Can Carlos Rodríguez contest for the victory at Vuelta a Espana? "It's the first time I'm going to do two Grand Tours in a row"

Tuesday, 13 August 2024 at 15:15

Carlos Rodríguez faces the Vuelta a España with enthusiasm after a complicated Tour de France in which he finished completely exhausted. After being confirmed by INEOS Grenadiers as one of the leaders of the British squad along with Thymen Arensman, he assures to be recovered to face the challenge.

"After the Tour I took a few days off to recover and then I started to train little by little to try to stay in shape. I think the body is now recovered and I'm starting to feel more myself after being sick for some time," he said in the team's announcement of the lineup for the final Grand Tour of the season.

In 2022 he raced the Vuelta (where he finished sixth on his debut) and in 2023 the Tour. In 2024, for the first time in his career, he will race 2 Grand Tours, something that will be even more special racing at home: "It's the first time I'm going to do two Grand Tours in a row, so it's going to be a new experience for me. I just want to enjoy the race as much as possible, and it's going to be special with the crowds on home roads.

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Leadership with Arensman

He believes that he will get along very well with his teammate Thymen Arensman who should be a co-leader in the Spanish race, looking for the best for the team, although he does not dare to talk about a podium or a specific result:

"We are going with a strong team and we will fight to get the best possible result, both overall and in the stages. Thymen and I have already raced and trained a lot together, and I'm sure this will help us to manage the different race situations in the best possible way."

The lineup of the British team is one of the strongest heading into the race and also includes Laurens de Plus as a possible co-leader of luxury domestique, Joshua Tarling who should be the main favourite to win the opening time-trial in Lisbon and also Jhonatan Narváez who should be a strong contender to win stages in the many difficult hilly finales of the race.