Joaquim Rodriguez has got agonizingly close to a grand tour win but still hasn't finished better than 2nd in a three-week race. Despite his captain turning 35 in May 2014, Katusha manager Viacheslav Ekimov still believes that a grand tour win is within Rodriguez' reach.

Few riders have come closer to a grand tour win without actually getting to the top step of the podium than Joaquim Rodriguez. Heartbreakingly, he lost the maglia rosa in the final time trial of last year's Giro d'Italia and he lost what seemed to be an insurmountable lead on a seemingly unimportant transitional stage to Fuente De in that year's Vuelta.

This year he focussed on reaching the podium in the only grand tour in which the top 3 had so far eluded him, and he reached his goal when he finished 3rd in the Tour de France. Next year he will turn 35 and so people are starting to question whether time is running out for Rodriguez when it comes to winning a three-week race.

His Katusha manager Viacheslav Ekimov disagrees completely in the assessment that Rodriguez is now too old to triumph in one of the three longest stage races. He still believes that his captain has what it takes to win one of the coveted races.

"Chris Horner's recent example of winning the Vuelta a Espana at almost 42 years of age, shows that there is a misconception of the role of age," he told Championat. "In professional cycling, every rider is different, there is no specific age limit. At the moment, Joaquim is at his peak and is a rider who can still win a grand tour."

In the 2012 Giro, it was the final time trial that relegated Rodriguez to 2nd and in the 2010 Vuelta, he lost the leader's jersey by virtue of another defeat in the discipline. Despite massive improvements in recent year, Ekimov still feels that more work is needed.

"In particular, he has to work on his time trial," he said. "The team is willing to help and we are supporting Purito as best we can, yet we have not sat down with the experts to find the best position. We understand that to win a Grand Tour you have to work on your weaknesses and minimize your loss in the time trial."

Katusha has only announced the signings of Pavel Kochetkov, Alexander Rybakov and Egor Silin for the coming season. while Timofey Kritskiy will leave the squad to join Rusvelo. Ekimov told that the team has currently 29 riders under contract for 2014 and that a 30th and final rider is about to be signed.