Carlos Rodríguez will continue with INEOS and will not make the move to Movistar

The Spaniard Carlos Rodriguez is being one of the cyclists of the year and not only for his exceptional role in the Tour de France. After being taken for granted that next season he would be racing with the Movistar team, now the Gazzetta dello Sport confirms that he will continue, with a probability of 80%, with INEOS.

INEOS does not want to (cannot) let Carlos Rodriguez go

During the Tour de France, in which Rodriguez won with his form and attitude to lead the mighty INEOS at the age of 22, rumors about his near future assumed that he would compete with Movistar next year, but even then Brailsford announced that a decision on him would have to wait.

All sources suggest that Rodriguez, who finishes his contract this year with INEOS, already had a pre-contract with Movistar for next season. But Ciro Scognamiglio of La Gazzetta dello Sport says that the heads of Ineos Grenadiers, Brailsford and Ratcliffe, do not want to let him escape and are betting on him as a leader for the Tour de France in 2024. In this way INEOS would pay the clause to break the agreement with Movistar and would improve the offer to the rider from Almuñecar.

INEOS' moves are being widely commented on because of the loss of talent they are suffering on the roster and Rodriguez's departure, if it happens, could be the final straw.

 

The INEOS team has been desperately looking for a leader to give them the chance to win the Tour de France again, something that seems to have blinded its directors, making them let riders like Richard Carapaz, Adam Yates or Carlos Rodriguez himself escape if it finally happens. All this to try a practically impossible signing, that of Remco Evenepoel, in which there have been rumored offers of up to 100 million or directly the purchase of his current team.

The bet on Carlos Rodriguez as leader for the 2024 Tour seems to be one of the first logical and deliberate decisions of the British team.