Carlos Rodriguez sparkles on Tour de France debut: “If they had told me beforehand that I would finish fifth and win a stage, I would not have believed it"

On his debut Tour de France, INEOS Grenadiers' 22-year-old Spaniard, Carlos Rodriguez was incredibly impressive. Looking back on the race, he admits that it went better than he ever could have expected.

“I look back on this Tour de France with pleasure," Rodriguez says to Escilismo, despite the fact he missed out on the podium, in part due to a bad crash towards the end of the race. “I'm a little scraped, but it doesn't hurt too much. The positive thing is that I could just continue cycling."

Eventually finishing 5th, Rodriguez improved on what was also an impressive performance at the 2022 Vuelta a Espana, his first Grand Tour, where he finished in 7th. “If they had told me beforehand that I would finish fifth and win a stage, I would not have believed it," he says referencing his stage 14 victory ahead of Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard. "It was a very positive experience and I enjoyed it very much.”

“Hopefully I can win the Tour one day,” he concludes. “But I realize that I have to work hard for that and improve month after month, year after year.”