"Let's see if I can get him out of there. I always get to be the bad guy. But you have to go to train." Xabier Artetxe from Biscay is the head of technical and performance at Ineos. And "from there" is from under a marquee that the British team has installed in the parking lot of the Ibis Styles hotel in Sallanches, so that Carlos Rodríguez, third in the Tour, can meet the media. First answer the questions in Spanish. It is now with the answers in English. Artetxe had scheduled the departure at 11:00 a.m. and does not want him to be too late on his rest day.
Rodríguez, tall, slender, thin, has come down dressed all in blue, except for his white, high socks, which flow into his very comfortable blue On sneakers. It will immediately go up and change. He reappears dressed in breeches and a sweater. “The time trial frogs are perfectly tested. They don't need to wear them to train. Sweaters are more comfortable", admits Artetxe.
The first thing the Grenadier does when he returns is to install the power meter and GPS on the handlebars of his bicycle, then he sits on the steps of the mechanics' truck to discuss the details of the training with Artetxe.
They will be approximately 45 kilometers and he will use them to recognize the route of today's individual time trial, the only one of this edition. "I will refresh my memory because I already came to see her after the Dauphiné (in June). It's a pretty tough chrono. I have to give my best because it is clear that it will be a very important stage", analyzes the 22.4 km, between Passy and Combloux, and which includes the famous Côte de Domancy. Of the 2.8 km of the climb, there is a 1.5 km stretch where the slope exceeds 10%. There Hinault founded the triumph in the 1980 World Cup, the hardest.
But this battle is a long way off for Rodríguez, born on February 2, 2001, who despite being a rookie, is in contention to be on the Champs Elysees podium on Sunday.
"Already thinking of going to the cafe with Jonas Vingegaard on the day off", Tadej Pogacar joked on the networks as a caption to a photograph of the moment when the Dane, in yellow, and he arrive together, in parallel , at the arrival of Saint Gervais Mont-Blanc. If they are separated by 10 seconds, in favor of the Jumbo, Carlos Rodríguez has a 19s advantage over the fourth, Adam Yates. And it is certain that the Andalusian would like to have Yates further away, nothing to do with coffee with him. "You never know who could be a rival. Hindley looked unreachable and is now fifth. Tomorrow it can happen to me. I continue to give my best version and fight with whoever is next to me", says Rodríguez.
His team fears that the chrono, with a lot of change of pace, will be better suited to the conditions of the Briton. But the boy from Almuñécar, at the age of 22, shows his confidence and also does not want to take as a reference the 31 km time trial he contested at the Critérium del Dauphiné, where he lost 1m03s to Yates (UAE) and 52s to Hindley (Bora) . "The time trial is different and I also arrive with a different form. It's another experience that can help us see how to regulate the forces", he emphasizes. And already, little more, because, in addition, the Andalusian cyclist fell two days before that stage, which slowed him down. His left leg still has wounds from that day.
Whatever happens today, Rodríguez will not give up on the fight, especially because there is still a mountain to go. "On paper, the Courchevel stage (tomorrow) may be the one that goes best for me. The Col de la Loze is a rather long and hard climb. It could be a key moment of this Tour”, he predicts. He has already shown that he is brave to attack, as he did going down to Morzine, where he won. "Of course if I have good legs I will attack. I like to be offensive", he explains.
Then he gets on the time trial bike, lenticular at the back, three-spoke wheel at the front, 58x11 in development, and at 11.20 he leaves with Castroviejo, Omar Fraile, Kwiatkowski and Pidcock. Today at 16.56 he will go out alone.
