Movistar aim at signing Carlos Rodríguez: "Next year he will be released and we would be delighted"

Carlos Rodríguez has an ongoing contract with INEOS Grenadiers into 2023, but interest from Movistar Team towards the young Spanish talent is rising, and with Alejandro Valverde's retirement a place will open up within the team that can be filled with the current national champion of the nation.

In an interview with MARCA, the possibility that Carlos Rodríguez could end up in the Spanish lineup in 2024 has been discussed. Everyone talks about this link as more than likely in the future. Movistar needs to sign talent to become a competitive team worldwide. The retirement of Alejandro Valverde and the departures of Nairo Quintana and Richard Carapaz, among others, have done him a lot of damage. It has gone from being one of the best teams on the World Tour to fighting to avoid relegation.

Thus, Unzué did not hide the Movistar Team's interest in acquiring his services: "Carlos Rodríguez? Next year he will be released and we would be delighted". We will see what happens, because INEOS always has plenty of talent and Movistar could bet big and end up taking the talented Spanish champion, who in the last Vuelta has shown to have enough quality to fight to be a competitive Grand Tour rider.

Rodríguez rode to seventh place in his debut Grand, however hampered by a crash late in the race that has miraculously not prevented him from being in the fight for the podium almost until the very end of the race. It was a display of power, mental capacity to deal with the pressure and tenacity - alongside the prowess of having led one of the biggest teams in the world, supported by two recent Giro d'Italia winners.

The other topic that Unzué dealt with at COPEdaleando was Enric Mas, who after having a really bad time on a psychological level was able to mentally recover to face the descents of the Vuelta a España with solvency, demonstrating what a great racer he is: "Mas? I didn't trust that in such a short time he would go beyond a man nullified by his fears and four weeks later his head was different."

The 27-year old has been Remco Evenepoel's closes competitor, and has finished second in the overall classification, bringing home a string of points that has seen Movistar soar away from the relegation battle.