Crashes have made the 2014 season a bad one for Joaquim Rodriguez but now he hopes to salvage it all in the Vuelta a Espana. The Spaniard rode the Tour to prepare for the Spanish race but claims that his form is a bit of an unknown.

“The riders will rip their skin for the Vuelta”, said the mayor of Jerez de la Frontera Maria José Garcia-Pelayo. Joaquim Rodriguez got the message right at the introduction of the Spanish stars ahead of the start. After crashing at the Amstel Gold Race and the Giro d’Italia, the Catalan climber is very ambitious for the Vuelta.

Rodriguez won the Volta Catalunya and made the podium at the Clasica San Sebastian but admitted: “My 2014 season hasn’t gone according to my wishes. So far, it hasn’t been as good as in 2013 but I can make it up at the Vuelta. I came out of the Tour de France in good shape. One week later, I was already able to race for the win in San Sebastian. It’s been a long season without any rest since the preparation of the Giro really. I’m in the unknown but the first week will tell me all about my condition. My desire to ride at the front is enormous.”

“I’m a favorite among many others”, continued Rodriguez who made the podium of the Vuelta on two occasions (third in 2010 and 2012). “The list is as long as the numbers of fingers in two hands. The most important is to arrive at 100% and give everything without worrying about the others.

"Nairo [Quintana] showed himself at the Tour of Burgos, Froome doesn’t hide his ambitions, Alejandro [Valverde] is always well and Contador has to be considered as the great rider he is, regardless of his crash at the Tour de France.”

“The course of the Vuelta is very hard, especially in the north”, he added. “There’ll be many difficult stages at Covadonga, la Farrapona, Ancares… There’s no key stage. More than ever, consistency will prevail, especially with time bonus that allows gaining some time every day.

"I want the race to be hard in order to the strongest rider to win. This year, there’s no space for a surprise, as all the teams come with a real leader. I like the course, there’s a bit of everything but more mountain than time trialing. The time trial on stage 10 is a difficult one. Climbers will lose some time but not four minutes as it can happen on such a distance (36.7km).”