Rigoberto Urán won’t fight for the general classification in the Grand Tours this year, and will instead focus on one-day races.
“We have analyzed what has happened in the first year of Urán at Cannondale. It was good but we have gotten to the conclusion that he has to ride races that he can win,” said Jonathan Vaughters to Colombian newspaper El Tiempo. “The objective will be different now, he will go to the classics.
“He will ride the Tour de France, but won’t try for the general classification. He will go for stage victories,” he added.
During the 2016 season, Uran showed his capacity to fight for one-day races by finishing in third position in the Giro di Lombardia, the Giro dell’Emilia and Milano-Torino.
“Tactically he is ready, he performs well in one-day races while in the long races, the ones of three weeks, he hasn’t done well lately. Even if he does well people are expecting him to win and when he finishes fifth, sixth or seventh in a Grand Tour there is a lot of criticism.”
“He will ride the Tirreno-Adriatico, (the Clasica) San Sebastian, the Ardennes classics (Amstel Gold Race, La Fleche Wallonne and Liege-Bastogne-Liege), as well as the Criterium du Dauphine and the Tour de France. He won’t ride the Giro d’Italia.
“Following this path, I think we can go serenely with him, without any rush. It is his second season with us and we are happy with his performance, but I think he can get more victories and we will aim for that,” the Cannondale-Drapac manager concluded.
