37° Volta ao Algarve 2011 (708k) Feb 16 to 20

[canyonball]

tiago only 6th

Hopefully Machado is on to bigger things this year, so I'm actually happy he's not spending it all on this kind of races.

 

[ingsve]

Geral individual - general results
1º Stephen Cummings (SKY), 14h30m47s
2º Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank), a 6s
3º Tony Martin (HTC), a 10s
4º Tejay Van Garderen (HTC), a 12s
5º Rein Taaramae (Cofidis), a 18s
6º Andreas Kloden (RadioShack), a 26s
7º Ryder Heesjdal (Garmin), mt
8º Simon Gerrans (SKY), mt
9º Woulter Pouels (Vacansoleil), a 30s
10º Tiago Machado (RadioShack), a 31s
11º Roman Kreuziger (Astana), a 34s
12º Thomas De Ghent (Vacansoleil), a 36s
13º Fredrerik Kessiakof (Astana), a 38s
14º Sander Armee (Topsport), mt
15º Luis Leon Sanchez (Rabobank), a 44s

Kessiakoff 13th on GC. Nice to see him back after the horrible year he had with overtraining and injuries last year.

 

[Rocksteady]

TJ and Tony Martin all have good TT skills

As do Tiago, Kloden, Hesjay and Conti.

TT should be interesting.

 

[Ryaguas]

Uffff Tony Martin to win the ITT?

 

[Parrulo]

Hopefully Machado is on to bigger things this year, so I'm actually happy he's not spending it all on this kind of races.

ya i know.

i think he riding the giro. or at least that what he hinted he would do during the off season.

but still. . . .

 

[insideout leadout]

Uffff Tony Martin to win the ITT?

Rogers is in team Sky now = invincible.

 

[Jamsque]

Holy craaaaaaaaap! Stephen Cummings, what a win! He doesn't win much, this could be the biggest road result of his career.

 

[theyoungest]

Rogers is in team Sky now = invincible.

Come to think... maybe it was Rogers who won?

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

LOLOLOL
Just reread the last 6/7 pages
Cummings!? What the blazes is going on today.

Too bad Poels went for some stupid mountain jersey. He was 3rd on Mont Faron, why not try to go for a GC. Going for the mountain jersey in such a race is way too low of an ambition to have.

Oh well. Nice result by Cummings, van Garderen and clearly Contador is not good enough yet.
I don't think Schleck or Gesink will be impressed by that. Beaten by Cummings and van Garderen on a finishing climb.

 

[insideout leadout]

Holy craaaaaaaaap! Stephen Cummings, what a win! He doesn't win much, this could be the biggest road result of his career.

The thing is...can we really trust a portuguese ticker?

I need pics.

 

[Ryaguas]

Too bad Poels went for some stupid mountain jersey. He was 3rd on Mont Faron, why not try to go for a GC. Going for the mountain jersey in such a race is way too low of an ambition to have.

Lack of experience or lack of radios??? maybe both?

 

[Ryaguas]

Here the pic!

Hey look that... AC outsprint Rein hahaha

 

[hatcher]

DO your jersey up, Steve.

 

[insideout leadout]

Yeah zip it up.

 

[ingsve]

DO your jersey up, Steve.

He doesn't win enough to have that reflex.

 

[Anonymous]

Bizarre.. just bizarre...

 

[Ryaguas]

Bizarre.. just bizarre...

What a day for Sky huh!!??

 

[peloton]

WTF??? is all I have to say......

 

[stefrees]

What a day for Sky huh!!??

From a racing perspective, arguably best day sky have had. I think riders like Cummings are benefitting from the lack of pressure and attention at the mo as brailsford and Sutton are concentrating on the track

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

Not a given. Lots of good TTers here. Tejay for the Overall!!!

is it technical itt?? if not martin will blow away everyone

 

[Publicus]

From a racing perspective, arguably best day sky have had. I think riders like Cummings are benefitting from the lack of pressure and attention at the mo as brailsford and Sutton are concentrating on the track

And in this particular case (and not take anything away from Cummings or Sky), Cummings et al benefited from the fact that AC isn't in his usual early season form due to the subject that can only be discussed in a certain sub-forum. All of that being said, great day for Cummings and Team Sky.

I think it's either Tony Martin or AC for the overall, with me leaning heavily toward Martin given AC.

 

[Iker_Baqueiro]

For Alberto, even finishing on the top 5 overall, would be a great result.
The guy hasn't trained properly, let alone sleep properly, for the past 6 months.

 

[Frosty]

Well i wasnt expecting that!

Cummings can tt quite well at times, not up to the top guys standard but could hold off a few off the guys mentioned.

 

[SiAp1984]

Hope Tony Martin will blow away AC in the time trial. [snip] An early stage and/or overall-victory would be a great thing for Martin's 2011 campaign...

 

[maltiv]

From a racing perspective, arguably best day sky have had. I think riders like Cummings are benefitting from the lack of pressure and attention at the mo as brailsford and Sutton are concentrating on the track

I also suspect that Sky have planned to make a few riders peak for early races like this. I guess Cummings is close to top-shape, while his competitors surely are not.