Fred Rodriguez (born September 3, 1973 in Bogotá, Colombia) is an American professional road racing cyclist. His nickname is Fast Freddie due to his reputation as a sprint specialist. He is a three-time US National Champion as winner of the US Pro Cycling Championship. He came up through the ranks of the U.S. National team (1992–1994) in the same 'class' as a series of other professional riders, including Lance Armstrong, Bobby Julich, George Hincapie, Jeff Evanshine, Chann McRae, and Kevin Livingston.
Rodriguez won four stages of the Tour de Georgia between 2003–2007. He won Stage 9 of the 2004 Giro d'Italia, beating Italian sprinter Alessandro Petacchi, winner of the 2010 Tour de France green sprinter's jersey. Rodriguez finished a close second to Mario Cipollini in the 2002 Milan-San Remo classic. He also led out Davitamon-Lotto team-mate Robbie McEwen to win Stage 13 of the 2005 Tour de France from Miramas to Montpellier. Rodriguez has participated in all three Grand Tours: France, Italy and Spain. Rodriguez raced for the now-defunct Rock Racing team from 2008–2009.
Rodriguez supports youth cycling, including high school mountain bike racing. Fast Freddie resides in Berkeley, California.
Read more about Fred Rodriguez: Palmarès
Famous quotes containing the words fred and/or rodriguez:
“For me, it’s enough! They’ve been here long enough—maybe too long. It’s a funny thing, though. All these years Fred was too busy to have much time for the kids, now he’s the one who’s depressed because they’re leaving. He’s really having trouble letting go. He wants to gather them around and keep them right here in this house.”
—Anonymous Parent. As quoted in Women of a Certain Age, by Lillian B. Rubin, ch. 2 (1979)
“The genius of American culture and its integrity comes from fidelity to the light. Plain as day, we say. Happy as the day is long. Early to bed, early to rise. American virtues are daylight virtues: honesty, integrity, plain speech. We say yes when we mean yes and no when we mean no, and all else comes from the evil one. America presumes innocence and even the right to happiness.”
—Richard Rodriguez (b. 1944)