Russian rider Denis Menchov has vowed to sacrifice his personal goals to help Katusha teammate Joaquim Rodriguez win the Vuelta a Espana, although the Russian would be keen to grab a stage win, he said in a blog for R-Sport on Thursday.
Rodriguez leads the race by a second from fellow Spaniard Alberto Contador, while two-time Vuelta winner Menchov is 40 minutes off the pace with no hope of a third race win.
“The team’s got a leader and, more than that, the leader of the Vuelta’s general classification, and there’s one big goal, to help our leader to win this race,” Menchov said.
“That’s why all our strength, including mine, will be thrown at achieving this goal.”
If Menchov gets the chance, though, he admitted he had not given up hope of a fifth career stage win on the Vuelta.
“Of course I’d also like to realize my ambitions too. I want to fight for victory on one of the mountain stages. I’ve got plans like that, but first of all I came to the Vuelta to help our team with the race.”
The last Grand Tour that Menchov, 34, won was the 2009 Giro d’Italia, while he won the Vuelta in 2005 and 2007.
