“It was a shock” - Carlos Rodríguez recalls having been removed from the Tour de France by INEOS
CyclingTuesday, 25 August 2026 at 11:00
Carlos Rodríguez approaches the Vuelta a España with a different goal from the one he had in mind at the start of the season. The Netcompany INEOS rider was left out of the team’s Tour de France eight, a decision he admits was a heavy blow both mentally and physically.
Rodríguez was removed from the Tour de France
“It was a shock and my body felt it. It wasn’t what we expected, and of course it was tough,” the Andalusian told Daniel Miranda in diario AS during the ongoing Spanish Grand Tour.
After the injury of Oscar Onley, the team decided to move away from a GC-oriented team, and chose one specified for stage wins. The Spaniard, who was the climber who had shown the best form ahead of the race, was removed from the lineup.
INEOS did not win a stage at the Tour, whilst the attempts to see both Thymen Arensman and Egan Bernal fight for a Top10 (after the Giro d'Italia) were unsuccessful. Rodríguez was, at the time, promised leadership at the Vuelta.
Currently, he is second in line to Oscar Onley at his home Grand Tour, with the Briton having returned to his best form.
At 25, Rodríguez lines up at the Spanish Grand Tour determined to regain sensations and progressively rebuild his best level. After finishing fifth at the 2023 Tour with a stage win, and adding important victories in 2024, the most recent seasons have been more complicated for the Spaniard. The Vuelta now appears as a chance to change the trend.
“I’m motivated to do well, go as fast as possible and see how the body can recover day by day,” Rodríguez explains. His plan is to race without obsessing over the general classification and to gauge how he responds physically across the different stages.
In addition, the rider from Almuñécar will play a key role within the Ineos structure. The team places much of its GC hopes on Oscar Onley, and Rodríguez is clear he will be at his service. “He’s coming in strong and I’ll help him in everything I can. I’m going to try to do my very best,” he says of his teammate.
Carlos Rodríguez was taken out of the Tour de France last minute by INEOS
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Preparation for the Vuelta
His build-up to this Vuelta has not followed the usual path either. While the peloton tackled the Tour de France, Rodríguez raced the Tour of Austria, where he finished fourth overall.
He then lined up at the Clásica de San Sebastián and the Vuelta a Burgos. A different schedule from other seasons that shapes how he arrives at the third Grand Tour of the year.
“Honestly, the preparation for this Vuelta was different from my usual, but we have a great goal here and I’m going to try to deliver a strong performance,” the Spaniard sums up.
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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- The Vuelta is an amateur race in every sense, compared to the Tour or Giro, in terms of organization, safety or journalism. The Spanish journalists ask Pogi questions in Spanish and he has a translater beside him??? WTF, if a journalist from any country doesn,'t understand or speak english, the No.1 language in the world (like it or not) than don't be a journalist, be a cook or a teacher or something. As for the canine hyperventilating bytch, I have no comment.PogiSloFans25-08-2026
- no kidding, great call.mij25-08-2026
- sprinters don’t count - what a comment. tell that to a sprinter. they get the majority of the wins throughout the year. who doesn’t watch much cycling? there is more to racing than GTs.mij25-08-2026
- You're BOZO the CLOWN ! That was to easy!frieders325-08-2026
- anytime a very dominant rider is someone willing to take on a leadership role on behalf of the peloton, he’s referred to as a patron. just being the best rider, even by a wide margin, isn’t enough. it has to be someone with a personality that is strong and assertive enough to LEAD. hinault, definitely. armstrong was a patron. everybody hated him and he hated them right back, but he was definitely a leader/tyrant/patron. indurain was a beast and everyone liked him, but NOT a patron.OCexile25-08-2026
- What about Almeida? I know he barely competed this year. His time trial was the best of the rest. For a guy who lack a little on technique showed a lot of power. I'll count on him.
PAULO25-08-2026 - I'm glad no one got hurt. That was wild.DAS24-08-2026
- What's the name they used to call Hinault when he controlled the peloton? The patron? I don't think this is the same thing. Watching that was just crazy.RidesHills24-08-2026
- Did you? Try to be logical. Cycling fans are unlikely to (have) watch(ed) but then they were not the intended audience because they were ALREADY captive. Anyone else had little idea what to expect and was already watching by the time it was too late to realise they might have preferred not to, although, knowing what is popular these days, I doubt many actually reflect or care but just end up continuing to watch. I expect that 10000 will start rising now as anything or discussed tends to do. I can also assure you from observing roadside crowds on climbs that there are huge numbers of spectators who are not actually cycling fans, they just wanna part of it when the circus comes to town. In fact, even in France, the majority along the way are more interested in the caravan than the race and may know 15 riders at best, mostly French.Jumpyjohn24-08-2026
- Tomorrow is clearly a stage to stamp a win to this year's race. Pogi can realistically get a strong foundation lead and it very well could carry all the way to the end. Look what happened at the Tour when he hammered the race early and then almost got to coast to the win. Keep in mind that the riders in this race aren't the caliber of the TDF so...he could have an even better lead.md197524-08-2026
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