Joaquim Rodriguez reacted to the UCI announcement to give the World Tour license to the Kazakh Astana Pro Team. The Katusha leader think it would have been unfair to demote this team from the first division.

"The riders have no blame for the problems that they've had. Here it is not just 30 riders but 60 in the WorldTour and Continental teams and it is the fault of five who have committed an error," said Rodríguez according to Cyclingnews. "It doesn't seem fair. With regards to the regulations, I can have no opinion because I do not know how they decide who joins and who leaves the WorldTour but, I repeat, sportingly I don't think that it is fair to keep them out."

The Spanish rider is currently training in Calpe, Spain, where they share a hotel with the Astana team. He said that his program will be the same than this year: "I haven't changed because since 2010 I have been doing the same and I always go pretty well. The objectives will be more or less what they were in the 2013 season."

He will start his season with Dubai. He will then return to Europe to race Tirreno Adriatico and of course defending his Volta a Cataluna title. The Ardennes classics will be his first goal. After a little rest, he will prepare for the Tour de France. "This year’s Tour de France route is very attractive to the climbers and it will suit me very well. It is very good and fairly balanced and if it is true that there is not much time trialling then I can’t complain. The Tour will want a show in the mountains and surely this way they will have it.”

Rodriguez starts thinking about his retirement... "I very much like the idea of the Rio Olympic Games in 2016, to race and compete there because it has been said that it will be a very hard circuit," he said. "In 2016 would be a good year to start thinking about my retirement. I want to go with a good level and to give a good impression to the fans."