Despite being such a ferociously strong climber and a palmares bursting with major successes, Joaquim Rodriguez is doomed to forever be remembered as the eternal bridesmaid unless he fires on the biggest stages of all.
Third at last year’s Tour de France, fourth at the Vuelta a Espana and second at the World Championships, last year was another season of near-misses, even though his consistency was enough to see him crowned world number one after winning the Giro di Lombardia.
His back-to-back successes in Lombardy and countless victories on some of the fiercest climbs on the WorldTour circuit show he has what it takes to win. But Purito needs now to prove it over three-weeks, and went a long way to showing he has the legs to do so with victory at the Volta.
The way he, first, burst away from Chris Froome, Alberto Contador and Nairo Quintana, and then resisted El Pistolero’s attempts to dethrone him, gives plenty of cause for optimism. The Ardennes Classics are now Rodriguez’s most imminent priority, but, with the Giro fast approaching, the signs are good for fans of the Spaniard.
