Hats off to Rodriguez

“I was hoping for a tad better result, though. I´m not completely satisfied. According to the itinerary, the climb should have been even steeper. I thought that more riders would get dropped but unfortunately, it turned out that you can´t believe everything that is said in that booklet,” Roman admitted. “Once again, I have to thank all my team that put in an outstanding job. Gasparotto, for example, pulled at the foot of the climb so he absolutely sacrificed himself for me. Otherwise, he would have arrived in the main bunch. I had quite good legs today. I didn’t lose any time but I didn’t gain any, either,” he added.He gave the Spaniard Rodriguez much credit for the attack that he made on the final climb that suited him best. “Hats off to him. He said yesterday that he would like to win this stage and don the pink jersey. In the end, he won in a great style and it was a well-earned victory not only for him but also for the team that had been pushing hard all day long,” Roman added.10th stage (Civitavecchia-Assisi, 187km): 1. Joaquim Rodriguez (Spa/Katusha) 4:25:05, 2. Bartosz Huzarski (Pol/NetApp), 3. Giaovanni Visconti /Ita/Movistar)  +2, 4. Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita/Colnago), 5. John Gadret (Fra/Ag2r), 6. Ryder Hesjedal (Can/Garmin), … 9. Roman Kreuziger (Cze/Astana)  +6.Overall Standings: 1. Rodriguez 40:27:34, 2. Hesjedal +17, 3. Paolo Tiralongo (Ita/Astana) +32, 4. Roman Kreuziger, 5. Benat Intxausti (Spa/Movistar)  +52, 6. Ivan Basso (Ita/Liquigas) +57.