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

[Jamsque]

Cummings does have a good TT in him, but he isn't very consistent. Last year his best result against the clock was 14th in a 10km stage of the Vuelta a Andalucia, and he didn't race much in 2009, but way back in '08 he was 25th at Worlds, 11th at Olympics, 2nd in the Tour of Denmark ITT and 8th in the final time trial of the Giro.

Still, his chances of holding the GC are slim. The final stage is short and pretty flat, which is in his favour, but he'll struggle to hold off the likes of Contador and Martin.

 

[robertocarlos]

now imagine if tony was given the protection that a gc man deserves. i mean he can tt, suffer and even win mountain stages ore come close. he seems to start becoming the 800lbs gorilla. everybody here knows he can finish a gt.

 

[ingsve]

now imagine if tony was given the protection that a gc man deserves. i mean he can tt, suffer and even win mountain stages ore come close. he seems to start becoming the 800lbs gorilla. everybody here knows he can finish a gt.

I'm not convinced that he can finish a GT yet. The one time that he was high on GC he exploded in the third week.

Also he's 75kg which is certainly on the heavy side to be a consistent top GC rider. He could possibly pace himself to a top 15 or high top 10 but he's hardly a top 5 candidate even if he learns to last three weeks.

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

Hope Tony Martin will blow away AC in the time trial. This "Cle(a)n" guy does not deserve a single win this year... No wonder he's on form anyway. He always stated that his preparation for the season followed it's usual patterns. That includes his usual "program", I guess (hope that this is not too much for a post outside the Clinic...). An early stage and/or overall-victory would be a great thing for Martin's 2011 campaign...

Take it to the clinic, skippy.

 

[theswordsman]

2/18/11 Cummings becomes the new Tiago Machado, but with a team that might let him win in the future

 

[Ryaguas]

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

Here is the profile for the ITT... is a "hilly" one

he seems to start becoming the 800lbs gorilla

Dont get it

2/18/11 Cummings becomes the new Tiago Machado, but with a team that might let him win in the future

Glad to have you back! =D

Well... I think that Martin is going to destroy everyone in the TT... as you can see is mostly flat... AC is not even in a bad form He's below that but I think that He can defend at least a 3rd place in the GC... I can see an 1 - 2 for HTC... a podium like this is the most like tho:

Martin
TVG
AC

 

[woodburn]

I'm not convinced that he can finish a GT yet. The one time that he was high on GC he exploded in the third week.

Also he's 75kg which is certainly on the heavy side to be a consistent top GC rider. He could possibly pace himself to a top 15 or high top 10 but he's hardly a top 5 candidate even if he learns to last three weeks.

Wonder if Martin explodes in the last week because he is doing so much work on the front for Cavendish in the sprints. Would be nice to see him protected to see what would happen, though he faltered in yellow at the Tour de Suisse last year.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Martin is a monster but I think he comes up short in real mountains. He has proven that a few times already

The Tour de Suisse 09 was good but that one had shorter climbs and less hard, kind of like this one...

 

[Libertine Seguros]

andre cardoso will be up there too or tavira wouldn't be working. the guy is epic. have you ever seen the video of his job on the torre last year?

I thought the job he did on Senhora da Graça was superior, personally. That was where the race was won for me.

ya got the first place there but mestre keeps the kom jersey

Good. The national teams have been more or less invisible in the only race where the ProTour riders come to town; I know it's February and there has been no racing domestically prior to that, but you'd think more would want to get in breaks and at least show themselves. Since Rubinho Plaza and Machado in 2009 we've seen little.

cummings attacks lol cummings

Sorry to quote you again, when lots of people had this reaction, but remember Cummings made it to 4th on a mountain stage in the '08 Giro. This isn't a long climb, and it's February. As a Brit, surely he has a natural advantage when it comes to racing when it's cold!

looks like toni martin will get the win since tomorrow there is a ITT

Wouldn't be so sure. I'd expect him to win, but Tejay and Contador could both pull it out of the bag.

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.

On the one hand, I agree with you, and if he's doing the Giro then he shouldn't want to be in form at this time. On the other hand, I would like to see a bit more of a Portuguese presence in this race, since it's the only time the top riders come to Portugal.

Martin is a monster but I think he comes up short in real mountains. He has proven that a few times already

The Tour de Suisse 09 was good but that one had shorter climbs and less hard, kind of like this one...

I think Martin can do long power climbs, and short steep climbs, but not those in the middle. Montagne de la Lure or Crans Montana are in his grasp, but Mortirolo is not.

As such, obviously if he were to try to be a GC rider (or be allowed to be by a team that has shown itself willing to risk throwing away a GT podium to lead out sprinters) then the Tour is the only GT that would really suit him since the Vuelta is usually light on TT mileage, and both the Vuelta and Giro tend to include some steeper stuff than the Tour serves up.

 

[Raceoftruth]

Well done Steve! A very pleasant surprise I must say! Must be Tony Martin for the overall?

 

[Parrulo]

I thought the job he did on Senhora da Graça was superior, personally. That was where the race was won for me.

my bad. i meant senhora da graça. it was amazing to see him set a pace so high that only high leader was able to follow. the volta is his this year. no doubt about that

 

[Ryaguas]

Video in the finish Line and a little interview to Contador...

Is in spanish so... If you can understand spanish take a look =D

 

[Parrulo]

actually(sorry for going a bit of topic)

what is a guy like riis thinking when he lost most of his strong riders for the classics and GT's and doesn't hire a guy like cardoso, rui costa, ricardo mestre or jose mendes? i just don't get it. the best domestique left on riis team that wasn't brought by contador is prolly C.A. Sorensen and guys like cardoso and costa are much better then him.

btw for those who haven't seen it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uiuVSo7QEk

this is the video of climb to senhora da graça where cardoso did an epic job.

cardoso starts doing his work around 1:40 so you can just watch it from the start

p.s. am i the only one who thinks that the saxo bank kit looks much better on the road then on the pics we have seen?

 

[Libertine Seguros]

my bad. i meant senhora da graça. it was amazing to see him set a pace so high that only high leader was able to follow. the volta is his this year. no doubt about that

I am absolutely desperate that they should include the climb of S. Macário in the Volta one of these years... ca. 9,4km @ 9-10%...

the finish:

the altimetry:

a look down at part of the climb:

If they do this, then Cardoso may be unstoppable.

It's not far outside Viseu, so I would like to see a Volta that uses Torre as its first big mountain stage and does places like Gouveia early on, then sweeps towards the north for Sra. da Graça, then back south to finish on São Macário in stage 10, with stage 11 to be a TT in Viseu to finish like in 2009.

 

[robertocarlos]

@ ryaguas
it is an analogy stating that there are 1000 pound gorilla that is powerful and a nimble 600 pound gorilla. by stating that martin is becoming an 800 pound gorilla, i am saying that he is becoming really well rounded. he did win mt ventoux stage.

 

[Parrulo]

I am absolutely desperate that they should include the climb of S. Macário in the Volta one of these years... ca. 9,4km @ 9-10%...

the finish:

the altimetry:

a look down at part of the climb:

If they do this, then Cardoso may be unstoppable.

It's not far outside Viseu, so I would like to see a Volta that uses Torre as its first big mountain stage and does places like Gouveia early on, then sweeps towards the north for Sra. da Graça, then back south to finish on São Macário in stage 10, with stage 11 to be a TT in Viseu to finish like in 2009.

you have my support to take over the organization of the volta ^_^

isn't there a way to contact the organization and inform them about this climb?

 

[Parrulo]

@ ryaguas
it is an analogy stating that there are 1000 pound gorilla that is powerful and a nimble 600 pound gorilla. by stating that martin is becoming an 800 pound gorilla, i am saying that he is becoming really well rounded. he did win mt ventoux stage.

he didn't

he got smoked in the last km by garate. besides they were in the break. so even if he had won(which he didn't) its not like he dropped contador and shleck to get the victory(which once again . . . . he didn't)

 

[Winterfold]

Great result for Steve Cummings! Absolutely loving that.

 

[L'arriviste]

I am absolutely desperate that they should include the climb of S. Macário in the Volta one of these years... ca. 9,4km @ 9-10%...

Awesome, your pics just confirmed that I went there once when I was about 9 years old on holiday. Thanks!

 

[Libertine Seguros]

They used it, or at least part of it, partway through a stage of the Volta a Portugal do Futuro in 2009, but they descended for about 30km afterward. Amaro Antunes went solo over the top a couple of minutes ahead of the rest of the important riders in the race.

I'd hope that it was considered successful enough to use in the Volta itself.

 

[Parrulo]

i just found out the email of the organization of the volta (not hard as it is in the volta site)

libertine if you could get more info about that climb(where it is and what route must bet used to get there) i would be glad to email the organization about it. even tho the result would most likely be me being ignored <_<

They used it, or at least part of it, partway through a stage of the Volta a Portugal do Futuro in 2009, but they descended for about 30km afterward. Amaro Antunes went solo over the top a couple of minutes ahead of the rest of the important riders in the race.

I'd hope that it was considered successful enough to use in the Volta itself.

ic. well it wouldn't surprise me at all if that mountain was never used in the volta. the current organization doesn't really seem to care. the volta for them is always the same formula. and they don't even fight to get its prestige back. it dropped of category again last year.

 

[Ryaguas]

@ ryaguas
it is an analogy stating that there are 1000 pound gorilla that is powerful and a nimble 600 pound gorilla. by stating that martin is becoming an 800 pound gorilla, i am saying that he is becoming really well rounded. he did win mt ventoux stage.

ahhhhh ok ok...

----

Ufff what a pics!!! Thx you!

 

[robertocarlos]

he didn't

he got smoked in the last km by garate. besides they were in the break. so even if he had won(which he didn't) its not like he dropped contador and shleck to get the victory(which once again . . . . he didn't)

but how many times do you see contador tt to set up their srinters. to be honest i like Tony, but at the sametime i do not want to fype hime as people have hyped E.B.H.
let's look at another tt'r. cancellara has shown less than tony in gt standings, yet a lot of people see it as he can win a gt.

 

[Jamsque]

Tony Martin has some GC potential, but I think he is more in the Mick Rogers mould than anything else. He's a world-class ITT talent, and he can climb pretty well, but not on the really tough ascents. I'd be surprised if he develops in to a Grand Tour winner, but I'd also be surprised if he didn't win at least a few big one-week races when the course suits him.

 

[Parrulo]

but how many times do you see contador tt to set up their srinters. to be honest i like Tony, but at the sametime i do not want to fype hime as people have hyped E.B.H.
let's look at another tt'r. cancellara has shown less than tony in gt standings, yet a lot of people see it as he can win a gt.

ok lets do this. the day a tony martin that has been protected every single day and every single mountain beats a contador/shleck/nibali/purito/anton/etc/etc/etc(cus there a good 2 dozens of guys better then martin for GT's) on a real mountain stage on third week of a GT. i will eat my aluminum bike with ketchup and i will stream it live for every1.