After a chaotic final stage of the 2024 Tour de Romandie, INEOS Grenadiers' Carlos Rodriguez held on to the race lead, securing his first major stage race victory by just 7 seconds from Aleksandr Vlasov.
"This victory means a lot to me. I am very satisfied with what I showed last week. This is my first overall victory at WorldTour level and therefore an extra special victory," the Spaniard reflected in his post-stage interview. "I have worked hard for this, as has the team as a whole. It is very satisfying. We worked on this with a lot of people. Then it's nice if you can finish it."
With Dorian Godon sprinting to the win on the final stage, Rodriguez survived a number of attacks from his rivals to finish safely alongside them in the bunch, keeping hold of his overall race lead. "I knew it could get dangerous with the rain. I was also very cold in the final. That was a lot of suffering," he explains. "We still held out and were able to take the home home with us. That's very nice. It gives confidence a big boost."
Whilst this is undoubtedly a big success in the career of Rodriguez, the Tour de France remains the big goal of his for this season. After a stage win and a 5th overall finish last year, can he crack the podium in 2024? "I am going to the next races with a lot of motivation, but I am going to rest first," Rodriguez concluded. "After that I will prepare the Tour de France as best I can. Hopefully I can improve on my result from last year, but I don't dare to give a concrete result yet. My next competition is the Critérium du Dauphiné."
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