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He finished the 2012 season as the number 1 in the UCI world ranking list and will be honoured before the start of the Tour of Catalonia today. He won the Tour of Lombardy and Flèche Wallonne.
He wore the pink jersey at the Giro d’Italia and the red jersey at the Tour of Spain.
And he is all fired up for the 2013 season.

We are of course talking about Joaquim “Purito” Rodriguez, the exceptional Spanish rider in the Katusha World Tour Team.
Just a few days ago he won a stage at the Tirenno-Adriatico and today he’ll be lining up for the start of the Tour of Catalonia with very big ambitions.

Even though Purito certainly won’t be lacking in motivation we have provided him with a new Aeroad CF, which is sure to draw attention from fans and riders (hopefully who have been dropped by Purito) alike.

However we are especially pleased that we can offer you, our fans, something really quite special today.

What you can win:

You can go to the classic road race Liège-Bastogne-Liège and be right up close to both the Katusha team, and of course to Purito when the world’s elite pro riders tackle “La Doyenne”. Of course you also have the chance to meet Purito in person and immortalise this for your friends. Our Social Media Team will accompany you and experience pure bike sport with you. And of course, the costs for travel and accommodation will be covered by us.
We’ll be holding a prize draw for all participants with more great prizes from Katusha and Canyon.

What you have to do:

As a pro sportsman the fans are the most important people to Purito. If you can prove to him that you are his biggest fan, then you are exactly the right person to scoop this great prize.
Send us a photograph or a drawing (max. 5 MB) that will show how passionate a fan you are and convince Purito. Use the e-mail address meetpurito@canyon.com and write in the subject line “I am Purito’s biggest fan”. Remember that the picture must be of you and you have the rights to use it.
By sending us your photo you allow us publish it on Facebook and on our other media channels such as Twitter and Canyon.com.
The closing date for entries is 3 April 2013. We reserve the right to exclude entries which contain offensive or inappropriate images. Canyon or Katusha employees are not permitted to take part and we are of course not able to pay out on any prizes.

What happens next?

We will regularly upload all the photos we receive into a Facebook album so you can see who has so to speak “come out“as a Purito fan. If you wish to have your Facebook name on your photo, then please explicitly state this in your e-mail when entering the competition. Purito will look at all the photos and select the fan who is most convincing and we will then announce the winner on all our media channels. As soon as this happens, we will contact you so that you don’t need to do anything more than simply look forward to a truly fantastic experience.

We wish everyone who takes part in the competition the very best of luck!

The Canyon Team

23-year old second year pro Alexey Tsatevich of Katusha Team sprinted to victory at the Belgian semi-classic Le Samyn on Wednesday on his Canyon Aeroad CF . Tsatevich rode a brilliant tactical sprint to take the win, his first professional victory.

Post-race, the delighted rider from Verhnaya Pyshma, Russia explained, “The team gave me a chance to try and go for the win today and the whole race was set up for me. I am really grateful to the team for that.
During the final part of the race I said to the team that I am ok and can try to win, so, my teammates did everything possible to help me and get me into an ideal position for the sprint finish. I was waiting for the mass sprint, but a rider from Europcar attacked before. I managed to get on his wheel and was able to save energy. In the last few meters I started my sprint to win. I am really happy that I was able to win today”, explained Tsatevich. “I came to Belgium a little bit earlier to train and that paid off today.”

Katusha Team Sports Director Gennady Mikhaylov said, “Today, we planned our race especially for Alexei. During the whole race the team worked hard for Alexei, and he did a great uphill sprint for the win. We all are very happy. I think the fact that we finally got our World Tour license has given us additional motivation in races”.

Le Samyn / Results
1. Alexey Tsatevich (Rus) Katusha Team
2. Kris Boeckmans (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM
3. Adrien Petit (Fra) Cofidis
4. Kenny Dehaes (Bel) Lotto Belisol
5. Alessandro Bazzana (Ita) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team

It’s been official since last Saturday. The 2012 season is now history and for the second year in succession the Canyon Aeroad CF has been crowned the most successful bike in the UCI World Tour. After Philippe Gilbert scooped one victory after another on the breakaway bike in 2011, this year it was the turn of Joaquim “Purito” Rodriguez to take the UCI honours – and this he did with bravado.

He laid the foundation for the title defence of the Aeroad CF with stage victories in Tirreno-Adriatico and the Tour of the Basque country, his victory in Flèche Wallonne and his scintillating performance in the pink jersey at the Giro d’Italia, where he finished in second place overall and only 16 seconds down on winner Ryder Hesjedal.

In his second major stage race of the 2012 season at the Vuelta a Espana in his native Spain, Purito impressed once again in a superb display of form, winning three stages and holding the leader’s red jersey before finally having to concede defeat to his Spanish rivals Contador and Valverde.

In his last race of the 2012 season Purito secured his crown by winning a monument of cycling, the Tour of Lombardy. He then overtook leader Bradley Wiggins in the UCI ranking, reaching a total of 692 points, which is 91 points ahead of Wiggins and 282 ahead of Tom Boonen.

In the team competition the British Sky team scooped overall victory, followed by the Russian Katusha team, which is currently sponsored by Canyon.
We think this is an impressive performance which gives rise to a great deal of optimism for the future.

Canyon & Katusha: Learn from each other, win together.

With an audacious win in Italian season-ending classic Giro di Lombardia, Katusha Team’s Joaquim Rodriguez scored his 10th win of the 2012 season and took over as the world’s #1 ranked rider in the UCI World Tour Rankings, with 692 points to beat Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins who had 601 points.

Riding a Canyon Aeroad CF 9.0 Katusha team bike, Rodriguez soloed to victory in the pouring rain at the Giro di Lombardia to become the first Spaniard to win the race in it’s 106 year history. Rodriguez attacked on the day’s final climb of the 3km, 7,4% average, 15% max Salite di Ello-Villa Vergano and was able to stay away from a strong chase group.

“This is the most important triumph of my whole career,” explained 33 year old Rodriguez post-race. “For me this has been a perfect season:
I won Fleche-Wallone, and I took the second in the Giro d’Italia and third place in the Vuelta a Espana. I had two goals at the Giro di Lombardia; to win this prestigious race and to take the lead in the UCI World Tour Ranking, and I managed both. So I’m really happy.”

Rodriguez said “It’s hard to know if I was the strongest rider over the course of the year, and Wiggins was certainly the best stage race rider,”
said Rodriguez, who finished on the podium of both the Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a España. “All I can say is that 2012 has certainly seen the best Joaquim Rodriguez yet.”

With the 2012 season over, Rodriguez looks forward to 2013, explaining “I have work to do in the time trial, as always,” he said. Rodriguez rides a Canyon Speedmax CF time trial bike and explains “I’ve improved an awful lot in the time test this year, but I still have to work a lot in the wind tunnel over the winter to make sure that what I’ve done to date doesn’t go to waste. In the mountains, on the other hand, I think I can compete with the strongest, and sometimes I’m the strongest myself.”

Riding his Canyon Speedmax time trial bike, Katusha rider Anton Vorobyev (Russia) powered to victory in the Under-23 individual time trial at the World Championships in Valkenburg, Netherlands. 21 year old Vorobyev from Dmitrov, Russia had a great ride on the hard, hilly course to win and beat the Australian pre-race favorites Dennis and Howson.

Vorobyev explained post-race, “I am so happy! My dream came true! I followed this dream for a long time, was really close to it last year, but finally I’ve won the gold medal of the World Championships. I can’t describe my feelings in this moment. This is unbelievable. My medal is the medal of the entire Katusha/Itera-Katusha team, it’s the medal of the Russian Global Cycling Project. I would like to thank Mr. Igor Makarov, our sponsor the Itera company and the whole Project for the support provided to the team and me personally during all these time. I want to thank everyone for the chance they give to realize my dream – to win the gold medal of the World Championships for Russia.”

Katusha Team General Manager Hans-Michael Holczer said post race “We are very pleased with Anton’s performance. When he just missed the podium last year, we knew he could come back well and win it all, and he did. In the early season, we made the decision not to take him in the ProTeam but to keep him in the Continental team and give him help with the technical side with our equipment manager Michael Rich and on the coaching side with Sebastian Weber.”

Vorobyev raced the 36km course at the fast average speed of 48.9km per hour, a fantastic performance on the hilly roads of the Limburg area. There were two major climbs on the course, the two-kilometre climb of the Sibbegrubbe and the final ascent of the famous Cauberg climb in the finale. Vorobyev was ahead at every time check, and he explained afterwards that he had made no special concessions to the difficulty of the course. “No, I just worked hard from the first metres,” Vorobyev said. “I was sure of myself and I hoped that I could win.”

UCI Road World Championships
Valkenburg, Netherlands, CM
September 17, U23 Men time trial: 36km
1. Anton Vorobyev (Russian Federation) 44:09.02 / 48.9kph average speed
9. Sergei Chernetckii (Russian Federation) @ 1.37,95

Katusha Team’s Joaquim Rodriguez finished the 2012 Vuelta a España on the podium in 3rd place and won 3 stages and led the Vuelta for 13 days in total.
Purito Rodriguez is the only rider in 2012 to take two podium finishes in Grand Tours.

In Madrid, after his 2012 Vuelta a España podium appearance, Rodriguez explained, “I raced within myself at the Vuelta and didn’t get too rash in any of my attacks because I was trying to win the race overall. I have to be realistic, though. Both Contador and Valverde are very strong riders. However, the Katusha Team should be happy about the job we did in this ‘Vuelta’. We made the final podium, we won 4 stages, we kept the jersey 13 days and we were always one of the main protagonists. So, I have to be satisfied with this. I gave it everything. Now I hope to go to the World Championships, where I’ll try to get the best possible result I can”.

For 2013, Rodríguez will likely look to take on the Tour de France. And Rodriguez is closing in on the top of the World Tour individual rankings. After his third overall in the Vuelta a España, the Spaniard sits just nine points behind leader and Tour de France champion Bradley Wiggins (Sky). The Katusha Team is ranked 2nd in World Tour standings With some major races still to come in the final weeks of the 2012 season, look out for Katusha Team’s Joaquim Rodriguez as he tries to achieve 1st place in the individual ranking in the World Tour standings once again.

At the GP de Fourmies / La Voix du Nord in northern France, Katusha Team’s Norwegian sprinter Alexander Kristoff was a close second place. At the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal in Montréal, Katusha Team’s Alexander Kolobnev made an audacious attack in the final kilometer to make the podium in 3rd in the World Tour race, while Luca Paolini finished back in 9th.

World Tour individual standings / September 9, 2012
1. Bradley Wiggins (GB) Sky Procycling 601 pts
2. Joaquim Rodriguez Oliver (Spa) Katusha Team 592 pts

World Tour Team standings / September 9, 2012
2. Katusha Team 1035 pts

Following a strong ride on the steep Cuitu Negru climb on Stage 16 at the 2012 Vuelta a España for third place, Canyon sponsored Joaquím Rodríguez of the Katusha Team is still firmly in command at the 2012 Vuelta a España.
Riding his Canyon Aeroad CF 9.0 Team Issue bicycle, Rodríguez has a lead of 28 seconds over Alberto Contador and is more confident than ever about his chances of winning his first ever Grand Tour.

“This a very big step forward”, explained the 33-year-old from Barcelona. The hardest part of Vuelta is behind us now. It’s true there are some very hard mountain finishes ahead like Fuente Dé and the Bola del Mundo, and the stages to Valladolid and Segovia are not easy either but the toughest ones are behind us now.

I didn’t get much of an advantage today on Cuitu Negru ahead of Contador, but I got a few seconds and that gives me a little bit more margin. The Bola del Mundo and the sierras of Madrid always make for tough racing, and Alberto will be racing on home terrain, so that’s an advantage for him. It’s not over yet.”

Tuesday’s rest day offers the tired Vuelta peloton some respite, and then it’s right back on the road. Wednesday’s uphill finale to Fuente Dé in the Picos de Europa is tough, then it’s two flat stages until Saturday’s climax at Bola del Mundo near Madrid.

Purito Rodriguez is really on a roll and the Catalan produced a great performance on his Aeroad CF in the second week of the Vuelta.

It was above all stage 14 that couldn’t have gone better. In an unbelievably exciting finish Purito fought off all the attacks from his rival Alberto Contador and won the mountain top finish in Puerto de Ancares after around 190 kilometers, thus securing his 3rd stage victory of the event.

Rodriguez was able to extend his lead in the general classification over his closest rival Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) up to 22 seconds thanks to the support of teammate Dani Moreno.

This margin didn’t change on yesterday’s 15th stage, which was won by outsider Antonio Piedra from the Spanish second division Caja Rural team.
For Purito and his team it’s now a question of maintaining and extending the gap over their closest rivals.

Today’s 16th stage is regarded as the Queen’s stage of the Vuelta. The 183.5 km stage through Asturias starts with a moderately hilly section, before the 1st category climbs come in the second half of the stage. At the end it gets really tough again for the riders because the final 9.5 kilometers involve a climb with an average gradient of 6.9%. The final 3.2 kilometers have an average gradient of 12.3 % with a maximum of 24%! This is ideal terrain for the wiry Catalan Purito!
After the exertions of the 3 mountain stages the peloton can have a short break tomorrow before the last challenging stages of the Vuelta are tackled.
Go for it Katusha!!

Alexander Kristoff 3rd overall and best young rider at the World Ports Classic:
From 31.08 to 01.09 the premiere of the World Ports Classics two day event took place. The route took the riders from Rotterdam in the Netherlands to the Belgian industrial centre Antwerp and back again. The Norwegian bronze medalist Alexander Kristoff finished 3rd overall and as best young rider.

He is the best when it gets really steep – Purito also impressively demonstrated this on stage 12 of the Vuelta. After 190, mainly flat kilometers up to the mountain top finish on the Mirador de Ézaro the wiry Catalan got the better of countryman Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) and secured his second stage win on his Aeroad CF during this 67th installment of the Vuelta a España.

Purito further extended his overall lead to 13 seconds over Contador and 51 seconds on Chris Froome (Team Sky) with his second stage victory of the event.

On today’s stage 13 the riders must overcome around 172 km on the route from Santiago de Compostela to Ferrol. The slightly undulating course will be above all one for the sprinters to think about.

On Saturday the stage will be again clear for the climbers. There are 4 climbs that need to be overcome before the riders reach the mountain top finish on the Puerto Ancares in the province of Léon. The final climb is 9.5 km long and has an average gradient of around 8.1 percent, ideal conditions for Purito and the Katusha team to scoop yet another stage victory. Stage 14 is set to be a key one in the battle for overall victory and is certain to deliver some exciting duels out on the road.
Congratulations to Purito! We are very proud and wish our team the best of luck for the remainder of the race!