Rodriguez takes a break after his GC victory in the Tour of Romandie: "Then I'll prepare for the Dauphiné and Tour de France"

Juan Ayuso seemed to make the final stage of the Tour of Romandie exciting for a moment, but in the end, the overall victory 'simply' went to the general classification leader Carlos Rodriguez. And of course, the Spaniard from INEOS Grenadiers was very pleased with it.

"This victory means a lot to me," began the young victor in the flash interview. "I am very satisfied with what I have shown over the past week. This is my first overall victory at the WorldTour level and therefore an extra special win."

"I have worked very hard for this, as has the team as a whole," continued the Southern European, who finished fifth in last year's Tour de France. "That's an important observation. It gives a lot of satisfaction. We have worked on this with a lot of people. It's rewarding to see it all come together."

Rodriguez heads to the Tour de France brimming with confidence

According to the 23-year-old climber, he was continuously at the front during the final stage. "I knew it could become dangerous with the rain. I was also very cold in the finale. That was quite tough. Still, we held on and were able to take the win home. That feels really good. It gives a huge boost to my confidence."

"I head to the next races with a lot of motivation, but I will first take a break," concluded Rodriguez. "Then I will prepare as well as possible for the Tour de France. Hopefully, I can improve on my result from last year, but I don't want to pin a specific result to it yet. My next race will be the Critérium du Dauphiné."