With the collapse of both the HTC-Highroad and Goex-TMC teams and several riders contracts expiring, Katusha welcomed a mix of new faces in 2012 from an open transfer market. Óscar Freire had initially planned to retire after the 2011 season with Rabobank but in October he signed a one year deal ensuring a swansong with Katusha. He rewarded the team in January in recording the first win of the season by taking Stage 4 of the Tour Down Under. Alongside Freire, Katusha signed the three time Grand Tour winner Dennis Menchov, Norwegian national champion Alexander Kristoff and the two young riders Simon Špilak and Gatis Smulkulis. Alongside the arrivals there were significant departures with Filippo Pozzato, Vladimir Karpets, Leif Hoste and Danilo Di Luca all leaving for new opportunities outside Russia.
July would be the only month in which Katusha wouldn’t experience a win in a season which belonged to El Purito. Freire won the first two race of the season for the team but these would be his only two wins in his final season. Daniel Moreno took home Stage 4 of the Vuelta a Andalucía a day after Freire had won in what was a early season highlight for the Spaniard in a good year for Katusha’s Spanish contingent. The wins were shared around early on with Rodriguez winning his first race of the year during Stage 6 of the Tirreno-Adriatico before Alexander Kristoff had success at the Three Days of De Panne, followed by Pavel Brutt’s win at Volta Limburg Classic and Moreno won the GP Miguel Indurain. Rodriguez had more success at the Tour of the Basque Country where he won Stages 4 and 5, setting up the team classification win. However the wins would be overshadowed by the positive test by Dennis Galimzyanov. In April Galimzyanov tested positive to EPO and the next day admitted to doping and had done so without Katusha’s knowledge. This was to be a blight on the season but with Rodriguez’s success the positive test had become an almost minor issue, overshadowed by the plethora of wins the team recorded.
In April of 2011 the Ardennes were under the total command of Philippe Gilbert. The Belgian became just the second rider to achieve a clean sweep of the three classics after Davide Rebellin in 2004. In 2011 Rodriguez was runner up at Amstel Gold Race and La Flèche Wallonne behind the all conquering Gilbert as he couldn't match his accelerations on the steep ramps of the Mur de Huy or the Cauberg. However after his early wins in 2012 the situation was almost reversed this season as Gilbert struggled for form at his new BMC team and Rodriguez had shown his form of the early season which was to would hold him in good stead coming into April’s classics. La Flèche Wallonne was for the taking as Gilbert was no were near his best and after consecutive second places, Rodriguez took the race by the scruff of its neck and rode away for his first Classics win. The form Rodriguez showed in Belgium would be a sign of things to come as Purito bettered his fourth placing in the 2011 Giro and recorded his first second placing at a Grand Tour.
In the last several seasons the most successful riders have mostly been those who can match it in both one day races and Grand Tours. The exception to this is sprinters who rack up wins anywhere a sprint finish is offered. These multi riders are of a calibre which only few can claim to possess and then, only fleetingly. Cadel Evans recent successes have been his 2011 Tour de France victory and 2009 road world championships and the 2010 La Flèche Wallonne triumphs. Alberto Contador and Andy Schleck are two more riders who have excelled in the three week races while remaining competitive till the pointy end of the one day races. The 2010 Vuelta winner Vincenzo Nibali had a successful 2012 in which he podiumed at the Tour, Milan-San Remo and Liège-Bastogne-Liège showing his all round skills. Fabian Cancellara has been a highly successful one day rider who expressed an interest in pursuing Grand Tour or stage race success but has since decided to focus on Classics and ITT races. Besides Cancellara, the riders mentioned above are Grand Tour specialists first and foremost who also include the Classics as an opportunity to test themselves against their rivals and compare early season form. Purito’s first Grand Tour was the 2001 Giro in which he finished 80th, a result he matched on his return in 2005. Between his Giro appearances Rodriguez made his Vuelta debut in 2003 and since then has ridden the Spanish Grand Tour annually expect for the 2007 edition when he participated in no Grand Tours. In that year he became the Spanish road champion and had success on two other one day races. Rodriguez has been steadily improving upon his Grand Tour GC positions and can now legitimately be regarded as a select rider who enters the Ardennes classics or Grand Tours as a favourite. However he is a rare rider whose focus has shifted from one day to three week results, a far tougher equation than the accepted approach Evans, Nibali Contador et el have taken.
The first top ten Grand Tour result for Rodriguez came in 2008 at the Vuelta. Since then he has ridden eight grand tours finishing all but one. More impressively he has on six of those occasions finished inside the top ten. The only time he failed to crack the top ten was the 2011 Vuelta where he still managed two stage wins and a stint in the leaders jersey before falling away and finishing in 19th place. With the signing of Dennis Menchov, Katusha would have two riders who could challenge for big GC wins. Menchov had expressed his desire for Tour glory upon his arrival at Katusha as it remained the elusive Grand Tour GC victory in his palmares for the rider sometimes affectionately known as the pope or smiling assassin. Rodriguez has only ridden one Tour back in 2010 finishing a respectable seventh but it appears it is at the Vuelta and Giro where his ambitions lay. Therefore with largely no conflict of issue, Rodriguez would be free to have a tilt at Giro/Vuelta success and Menchov would be allowed to focus solely upon his season objectives of Tour and Olympic glory.
Coming into the Giro d’Italia there were several big name favourites but there was to be no defence by Alberto Contador who was serving his suspension for his positive clenbuterol test at the 2010 Tour after a decision was finally made on his case. Ivan Basso was looking for a second maglia rosa after his return from a doping suspension with the Giro his season goal. Michele Scarponi was awarded the 2011 Giro after Contador was stripped of the title and was a favourite to win a Giro on the road and not in the courts. Alongside the Italians, Franck Schleck was hoping to outdo his brother Andy’s second place in 2007 but would have to battle against John Gadret, Jose Rujano and Rodriguez. Rodriguez had finished fourth at the 2011 edition but was not considered an out and out favourite for the GC win. Rodriguez won his first Giro stage on the ascent into Assisi for which he was also rewarded with his first maglia rosa. He would wear the leaders jersey until the ITT around Milan for all but one day after his ride into Assisi. He surrendered the jersey to eventual winner Ryder Hesjedal after Stage 14 but quickly took it back the next day overcoming the 9 second deficit to hold a 30 second lead. Rodriquez won Stage 17 ahead of Basso and Hejesdal which meant he entered the final stage with a 31 second lead over the Canadian and a debut Grand Tour GC win just 28.2kms away.
The lesson that Rodriguez will take out of 2012 is that his weakness lays in the race against the clock. His ITT failure in Milan cost him the Giro win and possibly contributed to him also coughing up the Vuelta to Contador. Rodriguez begun the final day of the Giro as the leader of the GC and points classification but by the time he arrived at the finish of the ITT around Milan he could had to console himself with the red points classification. The final margin was a minor 16 seconds, the closet GC winning margin since Eddy Merckx won the 1974 Giro by 12 seconds. Rodriguez is not alone in losing a Grand Tour on the final day but he must surely be spending time in the wind tunnel this off and pre-season as he showed on two occasions that a Grand Tour win is there for the taking. Two stage wins and the points classification meant it wasn’t an entire loss for Rodriguez or Katusha and it was also the closest the team has come to winning a Grand Tour. Appearance upon appearance at the Giro the Spaniard has improved his GC position from 80th to 17th to 4th and now runner up. 2013 will be a hard task for Rodriguez to better his result from this year but he will surely be burning that he came so close to two Grand Tour wins in one year.
After the Giro, Daniel Moreno carried the baton by winning stages at the Critérium du Dauphiné in June and followed it up by taking the overall and points classifications as well as two stages at the Vuelta a Burgos. Vladimir Isaichev won Stage 5 of the Tour de Suisse but his sole win of 2012 marked a the beginning of a barren period of July in Katusha’s season before a big August for the team. Menchov had a disappointing Tour after performing well in the prologue finishing 15th in his national Russian ITT champion outfit. Menchov only won two races in 2012 with his Stage 20 Vuelta de España win the sole for Katusha after taking out the national ITT title. In 2010 Menchov and Samuel Sanchez had played second fiddle to Contador and Schleck and were clearly at a lower level than the Spaniard and Luxembourger. After Contador’s positive test and stripping of the 2010 title, Menchov was elevated to second place which was his second podium placing at the Tour after third place in 2006. In 2011 Menchov skipped the Tour to focus upon the Giro and Vuelta finishing seventh and fifth, suggesting he was close to recapturing his GC winning form of 2005, 2007 and 2009. Although Katusha can write off the Tour for 2012 with the successes of the Giro and Vuelta, they will be looking for better performances in 2012 but Menchov's halcyon Grand Tour days appear to be behind him. Perhaps there’ll be a return to the all Russian line up of the 2011 Tour.
With mixed results in the Grand Tours and several notable one day and stage race results, Katusha went into the Vuelta with Rodriguez keen to exorcise his Giro demons. Contador begun the race as the favourite but considering the lack of racing in his legs there were suggestions he may instead focus on stage wins and prepare for an all out assault in 2012 building upon any early success of his return. Alongside Contador, Chris Froome was entering the race as a favourite after his second placing at the 2011 Vuelta and this year’s Tour while riding as a domestique. Alejandro Valverde and Juan José Cobo were co-captains on the Movistar team with Cobo keen to repeat his maiden Grand Tour win at last year’s edition and the 2007 champion Valverde proving his doping suspension had given him further motivation and mettle for more wins. With only one ITT and a short 16.5km TTT, the Vuelta was going to be the Grand Tour where Purito could make amends for his limited ITT skills.
Movistar won the opening TTT with Katusha only 15 seconds off the pace. The first few stages saw all the classifications change hands before Rodriguez took the leaders jersey off Valverde following Simon Clarke’s Stage 4 win with a slender one second lead over Chris Froome. Rodriguez held the leaders jersey until Contador’s daring breakaway, having earlier survived everything Contador and Valverde could throw at him. The GC battle had become a three way mano o mano as Froome and Robert Gesink threatened but faded and finished over 10 minutes behind Contador. Stage 6 was Rodriguez’s first stage of his three and the first of four wins for Katusha as Menchov won Stage 20 in a well rounded team performance. Daniel Moreno finished the race in fifth place but Katusha could only finish fifth in the team classification over 30 minutes behind Movistar. Whereas Rodriguez faded on the final day of the Giro, his collapse at the Vuelta came a little earlier when he lost the roja jersey after Stage 17 although he still lost two classifications on the final day. On the all Spanish podium Rodriguez slipped down to third 1:37 off Contador and 21 seconds behind Valverde. Valverde managed to wrest the points classification by six points of Rodriguez as well as the combination classification by the virtue of his points classification lead. As Rodriguez had not lost everything at the Giro, the Vuelta would prove to be a major disappointment as he led three classifications and lost them all, two on the last day. With Valverde snatching the classifications off him and Contador also winning the combativity award, Rodriquez stood atop the podium in Madrid with only his stage wins, flanked by the jersey winners.
The two podium results at the Giro and Vuelta as well as his stage wins and success at La Flèche Wallonne meant he and Katusha led the UCI World Tour rankings for the middle of the season. Bradley Wiggins and Sky were the biggest rivals to Katusha and Rodriguez and at the conclusion of the season Rodriguez was the highest ranked rider on 692 points, 91 above Wiggins but Sky was the highest team on 1767 points well ahead of Katusha’s 1273. The late season classic Giro di Lombardia win edged Rodriguez over the line which was a wet and treacherous race but rewarding final victory in 2012 for Purito. Marco Haller won the Stage 4 sprint at the Tour of Beijing for one last win in 2012 and his first for the season, concluding a highly successful season for the team but one with major disappointments and the positive EPO test in April.
Top Five Results
UCI World Tour Joaquim Rodriguez
Giro di Lombardia Joaquim Rodriguez
La Flèche Wallonne Joaquim Rodriguez
Critérium du Dauphiné Stages 2/7 Daniel Moreno
Giro di d’Italia Stages 10/17; points classification Joaquim Rodriguez
Breakout riders: Besides the numerous significant wins by Rodriguez, Alexander Kristoff and Daniel Moreno recorded several important wins across the season. Although there was a spread of winners in 2012, Moreno and Kristoff recorded multiple victories, Kristoff impressing in his first year with Katusha. Having spent two years at BMC and only recording one win, Kristoff won two stages, two points classifications, a young rider classification and the overall at the Three Days De Panne in 2012 to signal his arrival at Katusha. Although these were impressive results for the Norwegian sprinter his biggest result of 2012 was the bronze medal in the Olympic road race in London. Moreno’s fifth placing at the Vuelta was a crown in his impressive season which saw him win multiple stages and classifications as well as the GP Miguel Indurain. Both riders will be expected to pick up where they left off in 2011 particularly as no riders from World Tour teams have been signed and so far only four Russian riders have been added to the squad. Moreno may find that he given more freedom in 2012 with Menchov as a super domestique or one of the younger GC focused riders helping him chase stage race wins
Disappointing Riders: Dennis Menchov and Óscar Freire had limited success in 2012 and although they are aging riders there is still a level of expectation that is placed upon them. Freire started well by winning the first races for Katusha but in his final season the world championships were always a season objective but perhaps his performances in trade races suffered as a result. Menchov has shown that he can finish in the top ten Grand Tours but needs to to do at Katusha as so far he is only following wheels. It seems impossible that Menchov will animate any future Grand Tours but he will nevertheless continue to serve as super domestique. Perhaps he will be prove to be the vital ingredient to Rodriguez claiming a GC Grand Tour win. In 2011 Dennis Galimzyanov was winning races with ease and as looking like the Russian answer to Mark Cavendish. His positive test and admission of EPO use was a major disappointment for the team particularly as Galimzyanov already had one win before his positive test this year. It seems likely that he won't be welcome back at the team as they try to avoid any more doping scandals after the Kolobnev affair during the 2011 Tour and two positive tests in 2009.
2013: Next season’s goal will be a maiden GC win for the Russian outfit with Rodriguez and Menchov still the best options the team has. One day races will again be objectives but after the promise of the Giro and Vuelta performances, one day races will not be enough with Grand Tour glory so close. With Freire now retired and Galimzyanov serving a suspension, Katusha will struggle in the sprints with Kristoff improving upon his BMC performances but yet to record significant results. Season 2012 will serve as a template for future success but Katusha seem unlikely to replicate its success in future seasons. GC battles will only intensify and with Menchov 35 before any of the Grand Tours begin, the hopes of GC success will rest solely upon Purito. Moreno has performed well in 2012 as he recorded his first top five GC result but at 31 age is against him. With both Nibali and Jakob Fuglsang choosing Astana as their new homes, the transfer activity doesn’t bode well for the Russian team. The GC riders who may find their chances limited at other teams aren’t looking at Katusha as team environment where they can thrive and are offered protection and leadership in Grand Tours or stage races. With only four riders announced as signing on for season 2013 the squad as it is will not be allowed to rest upon its laurels.
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