Rodriquez expects to recover lost ground and keep his time schedule ahead of his stated objectives for the spring, i.e. the upcoming Tirreno-Adriatico, Volta a Catalunya and Tour of the Basque Country, followed by the Ardennes Classics.

The Catalan rider retired during the second stage in the Volta ao Algarve and during the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana he was indisposed and weighed down by an infection in the throat and general malaise. However, the worst now appears to be behind him and Rodriguez is set to return to his prescheduled training programme. “There has been something disturbing,” Rodriguez said last Thursday according to Biciciclismo.com. “Now I’m just thinking about recovering well and resuming my training”.

Tirreno-Adriatico will be Rodriguez’ next challenge before taking part in the Volta a Catalunya, which he won in 2010 and 2014, and the Basque Country, where he will defend his overall win from last year. His dream would be to finally conquer the Liège-Bastogne-Liège after twice finishing second and coming third in 2015. The Tour de France and the Olympics remain his two objectives of the second half of the season.