Recent content by DanSilan

Really needed indeed after Livramento was dropped early on. But there are not many Portuguese riders with an added value which are feasible to sign by Banco Bic I assume. I live in Belgium, while attending university in the Netherlands (not because Belgian universities suck).

Boogerd has been asked multiple times to tell the truth and he denied for long time. Finally, when he was running out of excuses and after the Rabobank confessions, the increasing pressure by the media made him confess. Consequently he is perceived as a coward liar and it would have been...

Well, Nuno never got a 12 year ban like Sérgio. Anyway, I am simply astonished that a rider with a dirty past still seems to be popular. This would be unimaginable in for instance the Netherlands (bearing in mind the reactions of Dutch society on the Rabobank / Boogerd confessions).

And what about the other Ribeiro, who is even worse then Nuno but apparently can get away with it: "Ribeiro was also named as Portugal’s rider of the year for 2011 and 2012". http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/ribeiro-handed-12-year-ban-by-portuguese-federation Is this for real or is this...

Célio Fernandez, Marque and Prader are not related to Puerto, right? I thought all the dark horses from Puerto were retired.

But Vitor Rodrigues switched to concentrate on his mountainbike career, so I guess he'll be facing the same problems as he would in road cycling. But did he really quit road cycling due to "old school" riders who are still riding these days?

Fifty kilometres to go and what is striking again is that Efapel (with Brandão as domestique for Sergio Sousa) is leading the breakaway, but at the same time the Efapel guys are pulling at front of the peloton. Maybe the commentators clarified this tactic, but I am not able to understand...

Or the stage of Prati di Tivo in the Tirreno - Adriatico were he achieved a 13th spot, surrounded by nothing but world class riders. Also his performances at the Tour of Austria, Langkawi etc. tend me to say that he could win this Volta. But maybe I underestimate the others, who knows.

At least he managed to finish both the Tour and Vuelta, so the Volta should not be a problem, although I admit he is indeed to weak to consider him a serious GC contender. I totally forgot about Sergio Pardilla as a possibility for GC, since he is the only one in this Volta's field who obtained...

Finishing 16th in the Dauphiné Liberé (2010) seems to me that Duran is more than a hilly rider.

Reminds me of the ONCE-Eroski and Mercatone Uno shirts if in case Beloki / Pantani would have caught the yellow jersey in the Tour. I suppose Efapel does it for the same reason because last year David Blanco's leader jersey was not that distinctive.

Seeing another dysfunctional move at the finish today and bearing in mind the Efapel issue yesterday, I am wondering about team orders. I don't want to argue that pre-arranged or fixed team orders are always the key to success (like Guerra who worked for Barbosa a few years ago, which was really...

Whether it was on purpose or not, it is clearly visible according to me that Brandão doesn't leave much space for Petrov to sprint in a fair way. In fact, Brandão tried to smash Petrov into the fences which is unacceptable.

If it was on purpose, then the reaction of Brandão is kind of fake. Brandão namely says to be furious and confused about the move Sousa made and Efapel is planning a team meeting to sort it out. http://relvado.sapo.pt/diversos/volta-portugal-confusao-interna-na-efapel-470418

Could that be a valid reason why a lot of Portuguese riders don't go abroad? Besides Costa, Machado and a few others riding a international calender, it seems that the majority of Portuguese riders is stuck in Portugal. Or is this simply due to the low levels of qualities/abilities/talent etc.?