Rodriguez falls short of compliments after grueling work by Arensman, Bernal and INEOS: "Winning Romandie would be amazing"

Carlos Rodriguez is now a serious contender to win the Tour of Romandie. The 23-year-old Spaniard from INEOS Grenadiers took the lead during the fourth stage on Saturday, by finishing third on an uphill stretch, surpassing Juan Ayuso of UAE-Team Emirates and claiming the leader's jersey.

It was clear from the start that Rodriguez had plans. INEOS Grenadiers took advantage of all five categorized climbs to push the pace and put everyone to the test. Among others, Thymen Arensman led the way for a long time. On the final climb to Leysin, Ayuso had to drop back when Egan Bernal went for a first acceleration. Once INEOS realized this, Bernal ceased his attack and went all out to set the pace for his teammate. Rodriguez then held his ground, although he had to leave the stage victory to Richard Carapaz.

"I'm really happy, and super proud of the effort and commitment of the team throughout the stage," Rodriguez said afterwards on Eurosport. "We didn't know how things would turn out, but they had trust in me. I'm really happy with that trust and that I could in the end deliver a good result. It's not over yet, we still have one more day to fight. I will give everything to try to keep this jersey."

Rodriguez not yet celebrating his first overall victory in a stage race

The fact that the final stage is likely to end in a sprint is of no concern to INEOS Grenadiers at the moment. "We can't relax yet, we will only do that tomorrow after the stage is done. Hopefully, then we can celebrate something. Winning the Tour of Romandie would be amazing. I have won some races before, but never a general classification. That would be really important for me to achieve."

Indeed, Rodriguez has never won a stage race before, although he has certainly proven himself capable in such competitions. In his very first grand tour in 2022, he finished seventh in the Vuelta a España, and in his Tour de France debut in 2023, he secured fifth place in the general classification. His achievements include stage wins in the Tour of the Basque Country (2022 and 2024), the national title in 2022, a stage win in the 2023 Tour de France, and a stage victory in the Tour of Britain that same year.