Spain's biggest hope? INEOS' Carlos Rodriguez set to battle Pogacar, Vingegaard and Roglic before aiming at Tour de France

Ciclo 21 has given the lowdown on which will be the most important events in which we will see Carlos Rodríguez this season. One thing is for certain, the INEOS Grenadiers rider is not intimidated by the 'big 4', and throughout the spring he will battle against Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard and Primoz Roglic - before racing the Tour-Vuelta double alongside Pogacar and Vingegaard.

In a few days, Rodríguez will be at the start of the UAE Tour. At the moment, he is the only confirmed rider of INEOS Grenadiers. The top favorite for the victory will clearly be Tadej Pogacar, but the Spaniard should aim for the podium which could be a very viable result. This past week he finished sixth at the Volta a Comunitat Valenciana, showing good enough form to prove that he is worthy of full focus from the British teams.

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Two Spanish stage races will follow. At the end of March, he will take part in the Volta a Catalunya, where he will face a significantly more complicated field. Riders such as Jonas Vingegaard, Primoz Roglic, Adam Yates or Enric Mas are expected to be present at the race and Rodríguez will be able to test his climbing form against many of his expected rivals at the Grand Tours, in days full of mountains - unlike the UAE where the only climbs will be the ones to the finish line.

In early April, it will be the turn of the Itzulia, where he finished second overall last year by winning the last stage, taking advantage of the withdrawals of Vingegaard, Roglic and Remco Evenepoel. Once again there will be a star-studded contingent, although probably less than in Catalunya after the race's huge blow last spring.

Finally, he will do the double Tour de France and Vuelta a España. He will undoubtedly race a few more events in the year, but they are not yet known. Last season, in addition to what he did in the Basque Country, Carlos Rodriguez took a stage in the Critérium du Dauphiné and the final general classification of the Tour de Romandie.

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