After reaching the final grand tour podium in the 2013 Tour de France podium, Joaquim Rodriguez is now ready to set himself a new lofty target. In 2014, the Spaniard wants to win the Giro d'Italia and would love to add the Liege-Bastogne-Liege to his palmares.

 

In previous years, Joaquim Rodriguez have usually followed a race schedule where the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a Espana have been his grand tour targets but this year he chose to deviate from the pattern. As the Tour de France offered a very mountainous course, the Spaniard saw a unique opportunity to get onto the only grand tour podium that had so far eluded him and he was even prepared to leave Katusha to make sure that he was on the start line in Corsica in June.

 

Having accomplished his mission by finishing 3rd in the French race, Rodriguez has now defined a new target. With a 2nd place in the Giro d'Italia, the 34-year-old now wants to win a grand tour.

 

In the past, Rodriguez has been close to reaching that objective. In the 2012 Giro d'Italia, he wore the leader's jersey for several days and entered the final stage time trial in Milan with a 31-second lead over Ryder Hesjedal. As it has so often been the case, the race against the clock became his undoing as he ended the race as the runner-up, just 16 seconds behind Hesjedal.

 

Later in the year, he appeared to have locked up the win in the Vuelta a Espana but a seemingly innocuous stage to Fuente De turned the race upside down. A gutsy attack from Alberto Contador put Rodriguez on the defensive, and at the end of the day, the Spaniard had been pushed down into 3rd which would be his final overall result.

 

Rodriguez is known as one of the most consistent riders in the peloton and it is no wonder that he has won the WorldTour rankings in 2010, 2012 and 2013. In the biggest races, he has, however, had more places of honour than actual wins and he wants to turn things around in 2014.

 

"Of course, winning the WorldTour and podiums are very good results, but in recent years I have had enough of it," he told R-Sport. "Of course I want to reach an objective that I have been close to several times."

 

 

"Yes, I want to win a grand tour and I will target the Giro d'Italia," he added. "After so many days in the pink jersey and a second place, it is a motivation for me to finally overcome that challenge. Therefore, the main objective of the season is to win the Giro d'Italia. The organizers have designed a very complex and mountainous course that suits me well."

 

The Giro d'Italia won't be Rodriguez sole objective in 2014. The Spaniard has often claimed that he is more in love with the classics than the grand tours and he has proved to be one of the best riders for the hilly one-day races. He has won the two most recent editions of Il Lombardia and triumphed in the 2012 Fleche Wallonne.

 

However, there is still on classic that he will more love to win than any other. In 21013, he finished 2nd in Liege-Bastogne-Liege after attacking hard on the final rise up to the finish in Ans, only to be passed by eventual winner Dan Martin shortly before the line.

 

"Every year, the main classic for me is Liege-Bastogne-Liege," he said. "Last year I was very close and was second behind Daniel Martin. I did a great race and my attack near the end was almost perfect. I hope that I will have no bad luck and can finally win my favourite classic.

 

"In 2014, I will do my best to win this race and, in fact, to win all of the Ardennes classics. That's my goal, in addition to Il Lombardia where I have been able to win a great and important classic twice in a row."

 

Rodriguez hasn't yet finalized his race schedule but will start his season in the Tour de San Luis before doing the new Dubai Tour. He has confirmed the participation in the Volta a Catalunya where he finished 2nd in 2013 as he was again beaten by Martin in a major race.