Joaquim Rodriguez tried to take it easy in stage 11 of the Tour de France but suffered due to the hard pace set by Garmin-Sharp. The Spaniard is saving his energy for the Alps where he wants to win a stage.
For Team Katusha it was a day to stay upright and safe and it was mission accomplished with Joaquim Rodriguez still safely in his polka dot King of the Mountains jersey. A late attack with 2 km to go by former yellow jersey wearer Tony Gallopin (Lotto Belisol) gave the French rider his first stage win in the Tour de France on a day that saw plenty of drama on the roads of eastern France.
"It was a hard stage," Rodriguez said. "Today it was really hot and in the beginning it was very high speed until the moment the break went away. I thought the peloton might let the break go today, but some teams went in front to bring it back so the whole race was very speedy.
“It's been hard, hard! The day after a rest day is usually not the best for me and today's stage was very fast. I thought it would be quiet but when we hit the hills, the Garmin team rode flat out.
"Anyway, I've enjoyed seeing the sun coming up on the road of the Tour. I also eye at the coming mountains, which will suit me better than this kind of terrain, ‘vallonné' (lumpy) as French say. I've kept some energy for Friday and Saturday. I'll look at winning a stage in the Alps.
"I felt quite good today and passed a calm stage. Tomorrow is another hilly stage so we will see how it looks, but after that we have two hard stages in the Alps, so I want to be in front there."
Stage 12 comes on Thursday with a 185,5 km stage beginning in Bourg-en-Bresse and ending in Saint-Étienne. It’s a day for the sprinters or a tricky breakaway artist.
30.03: The Bueng Si Fai |
30.03: Gran Premio Miguel Indurain |
30.03: Volta Limburg Classic |
31.03: Ronde van Vlaanderen |
31.03: Ronde van Vlaanderen |
29.03 - 01.04: Ster van Zuid Limburg |
01.04: Gran Premio del Perdono |
01.04: Ronde de Mouscron |
01.04: Giro del Belvedere |
02.04: G.P. Palio del Recioto |
Willian Alves De ARAUJO 38 years | today |
Matthew MELVILLE 45 years | today |
Maurizio VANOTTI 37 years | today |
Lauren PERRY 28 years | today |
Piotr KIEBLESZ 35 years | today |
© CyclingQuotes.com