2012 Volta ao Algarve

[Waterloo Sunrise]

No it was stage 6. But this was the stage that put him in yellow and won him the race. Why wouldnt he be going all in?

It's a better story that way.

Anyhow, just realised I picked Porte in Cq.

winning#

 

[Richeypen]

No, after the ITT there were still 2 stages to go.

You all have amnesia

Mountain stages as well if I remember. Martin's lead was precarious but for some reason no one tried to attack him. He did not soft pedal any of that TT

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Really good ride from José João Mendes! He's one of my favourite guys in Portugal. Maybe like Sérgio Sousa last year he can show some really good results if he stops being such a suicidal attacker and harnesses his undoubted talents. He went into the 2010 Volta as LA-Paredes' leader, but ended up spending most of the time slaving the way up the hills for Hernâni Broco. We didn't hear much from him last year as he signed for the ill-fated Liberty Seguros start-up team and eventually wound up riding for CCC Polsat after the team inevitably collapsed but only after the other Portuguese teams had more or less closed recruitment. He's now back at LA and without Broco to ride for. He could be a good shout for Asturias or the Volta, especially now Cardoso and Broco are gone and so could well be at the Vuelta instead.

I don't give a flying one about Richie Porte or UK Postal, so I've decided to focus in on things more positive for me. I know, first time for everything.

 

[Bavarianrider]

No, after the ITT there were still 2 stages to go.

You all have amnesia

But those were meaningless stages for the GC. The race was decided after the TT and this was obviuos. Way shpuld you waste energy to win the GC by 1 Minute instead of 40 seconds? so early in the season it's much smarter too ride smarta nd not to watse energy. That wahat's spereates a classy rider like ony from the huge bunch

 

[Gloin22]

Bavarianrider always makes **** excuses for Martin. I think we are used to that by now ... he went full gas to guarantee him that GC, no soft pedalling. The fact is he was in better shape than he is now and only won by 27 seconds that's why I believe he won't be close to get enough to win the GC in TT against Porte.

 

[Moviefan1203]

What the hell happened to Van Garderen? He usually has good form in early season races.

 

[iZnoGouD]

It will be hard for Machado to take 12 seconds back, but it's certainly not impossible...

 

[Poursuivant]

Anyone got any links to the overall results, not just the top 10 on the main page?

 

[Waterloo Sunrise]

Anyone got any links to the overall results, not just the top 10 on the main page?

On the race website.

 

[Duartista]

Anyone got any links to the overall results, not just the top 10 on the main page?

http://www.biciciclismo.com/cas/site/noticias-ficha.asp?id=47766

 

[iZnoGouD]

http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/volta-ao-algarve-2012/stage-3/results

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

But those were meaningless stages for the GC. The race was decided after the TT and this was obviuos. Way shpuld you waste energy to win the GC by 1 Minute instead of 40 seconds? so early in the season it's much smarter too ride smarta nd not to watse energy. That wahat's spereates a classy rider like ony from the huge bunch

Lol, those were both mountainous stages among others with the traditional last stage over the col d'eze

Absolutely not meaningless. You are showing your noobness about cycling

 

[Parrulo]

well at least costa has shown that he is still steadily improving his climbing which is nice to see, lets see how porte's itt is as we all know machado will put in a good performance. should be interesting.

 

[Poursuivant]

Thanks for the links.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Lol, those were both mountainous stages among others with the traditional last stage over the col d'eze

Absolutely not meaningless. You are showing your noobness about cycling

The Biot stage was mountainous until such a point as any action could realistically happen. If José Joaquín Rojas hadn't punctured with 15km to go, wasting Movistar's hard work on the front and allowing di Gregorio to slip off the front, it would have been a sprint from a reduced bunch. In the end the final kilometre (at a punishing 6%) served as the platform for Xavier Tondó to say "well, the team have worked all day, I might as well try SOMETHING", and pretty much no other action.

Possibly the worst weekend stage of Paris-Nice in living memory. The traditional final stage had plenty of options, but unfortunately the time trial was of such length as to mean that anybody who reasonably would attack for the win was too far down; people like Wiggins were happy with the podium at that point.

There was no reason for Martin to ride within himself as bavarianrider suggests, and I'm sure he went all out in the ITT. However, the rest of the course was such to make it easy for a champion TTer to hold on.

 

[Swede1]

It appears that Van Garderen has been slacking off this winter. Since he claims his main target this year is Paris-Nice (I think), he should be in much better form than he is. He is supposed to be the next lance armstrong!!

Anyway sky look set to win this one. Porte will most likely finish 1st or 2nd in the TT and will have no problem winning this overall. Wiggins is also looking like he will get an early season win based on his form. Maybe Paris-Nice?

 

[trevim]

Apparently Rui Costa hasn't been training a lot on the TT bike.

http://www.record.xl.pt/Modalidades/Ciclismo/interior.aspx?content_id=741375

 

[auscyclefan94]

Still surprised that Porte won on a such a finish. tbh he did seem to have good form at the nationals so maybe he has carried it through to here.

 

[Poursuivant]

Greipel 12/1 with sky bet for Milan San Remo. Any takers?

 

[auscyclefan94]

Cummings has broken his pelvis in today's stage. Shocking news.

http://www.bmc-racing.com/us-en/tea...lgarve-stage-3-cummings-fractures-pelvis.html

 

[Andy99]

Cummings has broken his pelvis in today's stage. Shocking news.

http://www.bmc-racing.com/us-en/tea...lgarve-stage-3-cummings-fractures-pelvis.html

Yeah, just seen this on the BMC twitter. Gutted for Steve.

He made out he is fine, but 'walking like Elvis'. Hopefully its not too serious a fracture - if there is such a thing..

 

[Justin Pain]

Eddy vs Ciolek tomorrow? How many km from the final hill to the finish line?

 

[hektoren]

I thought Froomey looked very strong today too. I'm interested to see how he goes in the time trial. Him and Porte are both targeting Paris-Nice where Wiggins will ride in support again.

Quite a lot of the guys on Sky looked strong today. Nordhaug and Löfkvist put in some massive turns pulling in the breakaway-guys. Kosta and Zandio worked their a**es off, EBH, Froome and Wiggo laid more groundwork for Porte as well. Too bad it can't be copied in a GT, but impressive nevertheless.
Most impressive was Porte though, the way he parked Machado was stellar. Porte is probably the best acquisition of Sky, ever. Still young, a credible GC-guy for a lot of years to come, and infinitely more sympathetic than Cav.

Another thing, look out for EBH on the ITT on Sunday!

 

[Richeypen]

quite a lot of the guys on sky looked strong today. Nordhaug and löfkvist put in some massive turns pulling in the breakaway-guys. Kosta and zandio worked their a**es off, ebh, froome and wiggo laid more groundwork for porte as well. Too bad it can't be copied in a gt, but impressive nevertheless.
Most impressive was porte though, the way he parked machado was stellar. Porte is probably the best acquisition of sky, ever. still young, a credible gc-guy for a lot of years to come, and infinitely more sympathetic than cav.

Another thing, look out for ebh on the itt on sunday!

27



.

 

[Mambo95]

Eddy vs Ciolek tomorrow? How many km from the final hill to the finish line?

About 10-12km (summit to finish). It's too much to stay away.

However, the largely, gently downhill middle section of the stage may assist a breakaway.