Joaquim Rodriguez got agonizingly close to a world championships title in Florence but a wily move by Rui Costa and some debated Spanish tactics saw him end up with a silver medal. The Spaniard is trying to move on from the disappointment and admits that he doesn't agree with the tactical decisions made by Alejandro Valverde.

The stars appears to finally align for Joaquim Rodriguez when he was soloing towards the finish line in the world championships in Florence a few weeks ago but as it has so often been the case for the Spaniard, things fell apart at the very end of the race. Portuguese Rui Costa escaped from a chase group that also contained Rodriguez' compatriot Alejandro Valverde, closed the gap to the lone leader and easily beat him in a sprint.

The feeling of being denied a big win is not a new one for Rodriguez. He lost the leader's jersey in the 2012 Giro d'Italia in the time trial on the final day and he lost the lead in last year's Vuelta a Espana on a transitional stage at a time when he appeared to have locked up the win.

However, Rodriguez admits that his most recent defeat was harder to bear.

“It will stay with me forever,” he told Cyclingnews on Thursday. “The Worlds are the Worlds. I lost a beautiful race, and the terrible weather and the fact that it was in Italy only made it even more beautiful again…”

Spain was the big loser in the race. The team had two riders in the final group of four but Valverde failed to mark Costa when he set off in pursuit of Rodriguez. Valverde has been heavily criticized for his lack of tactical astuteness but has claimed not to have had the legs to follow Costa at the end of a long and hard race in torrential rain.

Rodriguez admits that the race has created some wounds that it will take time to heal.

“In the end, everybody has his own thoughts on the race," he said. "I have mine and he has his. We have to respect each other’s opinions, even if I don’t share his and he doesn’t share mine. I think he lost his opportunity to win it too. When he says he didn’t have the strength to follow other riders, you just have to think that’s how it was. I respect what he’s said, but I don’t agree with it.”

Rodriguez has now started to focus on the 2014 season. He hasn't decided on his race schedule but expects to once again ride two grand tours. When the Giro d'Italia route was presented, he said that the Italian fans deserved to see him in their race. Combining those statements with his earlier confirmation that he didn't enjoy the Tour de France which he raced for the second time in his career in 2013, it becomes increasingly likely that he will go back to his traditional Giro-Vuelta double in 2014.

His Katusha team has not been very active on the transfer market and has only confirmed the signings of Russians Egor Silin (Astana), Alexander Rybakov and Pavel Kochetkov (both Rusvelo). With the market being loaded with talent following the demises of several major teams, Rodriguez still hopes to see his team getting reinforced a bit more.

In particular, he points to a former Euskaltel rider that he would like to have onboard.

“Egoi Martinez is one who stands out," he said. "He’s a rider who would be very useful, because the young riders on the team would learn so much from him. Everybody looks up to the guys who win, sure, but it’s important to appreciate how difficult it is to be a rider who works from the first kilometre to the last.”

On Friday, Rodriguez travelled to Brescia for the first gathering of the Katusha team for the 2014 season.