73ª Volta a Portugal 2.1 04/08 - 15/08

[Kazistuta]

cus martin would survive this

ya right

btw neither me nor libertine have any problems with races being decided on a time trial when the climbers get the chance to do something about it. paris nice had nothing that gave a chance to the climbers to drop martin so thats the difference.

oh and btw you can see right from the original post of this thread made by me even before we had seen the stage profiles and only knew the start and the finish place of each stage that i was disappointed because once again the volta ignored the alto de são macario.

Yeah, I know - I was just baffled when I saw the time differences made in yesterdays TT. And Broco (possibly the best real climber in the race so far) even ended second!!

I'm just really hoping for fireworks today - I've been following the Portugese cycling stage for the last year or so and love reading yours and Libertines posts about the scene, but now when finally being able to see some Portugese riding for myself (stream wise) there's just not enough action to me

Btw. can you tell me something about a guy called Daniel Freitas (I think)? Is he a young talent? And what about Daniel Mestre? Is he related to Ricardo?

 

[canyonball]

03:55 on the peloton with 81 km to go. The first group is climbing to Penhas Douradas.

EDIT: Daniel Freitas made an impressive ride as a junior on the portuguese scene and the hype only got bigger when he got fifth at the 2009 world champ. On that same year he had a positive for morfine. The process dragged for some time but he eventually got a suspension. He's back racing now.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Kinda funny that a race "hyped" by some very prolific posters in here might end up being decided on a time trial, just like Paris-Nice and all the other "Tony Martin-made" stage races

I know Mestre is a decent climber, so the comparison ids a bit harsh, but I would''ve thought that Volta A Portugal should've (should of? ) been decided in the mountains....

The German Panzerwagen would have easily won this years edition

To be fair, I'm as opposed to the "win-the-one-big-climb-win-the-race" events (eg Tour de Langkawi, Catalunya this year) as the "win-the-time-trial-win-the-race" evends - just there are fewer of the former.

I would have liked them to climb São Macário or Marão, sure, but even from the places they chose I would have liked to see a bit more challenge; the Senhora da Graça stage was not as difficult as recent years given the lack of Alvão or Campanhó as a lead-in, and the Gouveia stage was never going to be very selective without a climb like Penhas Douradas first.

So yes, the climbers' chances to take the race have been sadly a little limited, but today's big climb is a big obstacle and will give people the chance to catch things up. And let's be fair - that was a really hard ITT yesterday. That wasn't a flat grind, that was a difficult one.

I had no problem with Cadel Evans winning the Tour in the time trial. He deserved it for holding on in the mountains. Sure I would have liked him to have had to defend yellow a bit rather than just wearing it for one day, but whose fault is it that the Schlecks didn't do anything on Luz Ardiden or Plateau de Beille? The chance was there for them to try something, they just didn't take it.

Now later in the race, they tried and failed to open up a satisfactory-sized gap to Evans, and that's not a problem. You can't always succeed when you attack. But the point was that the climbers that can't TT had their chances, but weren't able or willing to take enough time on the TTer that can also climb. Similarly, Denis Menchov won the Giro in the hard, hard, hard 60km TT in Sestri Levante. Danilo di Luca had chances to distance him after that - but Menchov had enough to hold on.

Mestre has his lead. Now let's see if he can hold on. Tavira are strong in the mountains, but all it takes is Mestre having an off day, and suddenly rather than controlling a 40 second lead, they're trying to find a minute on Hernâni Broco somewhere for Cardoso.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Yeah, I know - I was just baffled when I saw the time differences made in yesterdays TT. And Broco (possibly the best real climber in the race so far) even ended second!!

I'm just really hoping for fireworks today - I've been following the Portugese cycling stage for the last year or so and love reading yours and Libertines posts about the scene, but now when finally being able to see some Portugese riding for myself (stream wise) there's just not enough action to me

To be fair, this has been a very disappointing parcours for the race. The 2009 race was far better, with Penhas Douradas preceding the laps of Gouveia making it more selective (and Sinkewitz soloing in), then several climbs before Senhora da Graça, but because there were big GC gaps, people had to attack on Monte Assunção, whereas in 2010 and this year when Ribeiro has won, it's been not a great deal more than an uphill sprint with only the last km really mattering. It seems that they've banked quite a lot on this Torre stage (I always preferred when the final weekend was an MTF and an ITT back to back), as apart from the ITT they haven't really offered too much to really break things apart until now; Senhora da Graça on its own is difficult but not going to open gaps in the minutes - but if you put it after another tough climb as they have done for most of the last few years, it can really tear the race apart; the last time they had a relatively easy stage to Monte Farinha was 2007, when Cândido Barbosa was 3rd, outsprinting David Blanco and Xavier Tondó to the top.

That is of course, notwithstanding the inescapable conclusion that the field is not especially strong this year; for a while we've found Puerto exiles who work all year round for it up at the front, and young Spanish and Portuguese riders trying to get noticed; putting it a week later meaning it doesn't clash with the Vuelta a Burgos might have been a smart idea now that Xacobeo Galiçia has folded. The field of outsiders is especially weak this year; Lampre were going to send Kashechkin before he left for Astana, whereas Cunego and Tiralongo used it as Vuelta prep in 2009. Last year the Italian teams provided some strong contenders with Pardilla, Sinkewitz and Sella; the demise of some of the 'lesser' Italian and Spanish ProConti squads has hurt the race's strength for sure.

 

[Parrulo]

the caja rural DS says he is interested in hernani broco+ some other names from portuguese peloton.

cardoso, mestre, vilela and ribeiro?

 

[jens_attacks]

what do you guys think barbot is planning with 3 guys in the breakaway?
let's hope for a showdown on torre.

 

[Parrulo]

they are already at the climb.

lets hope the fireworks start early

 

[Fetisoff]

they are already at the climb.

lets hope the fireworks start early

Hope not, my stream just died

 

[canyonball]

Cabreira and Sousa attack! Hernani Broco having a hard time.

 

[Parrulo]

sergio rebeiro dropped

i guess there will be no candido 2.0 thank god

hernani broco getting dropped!!!!!

still 23k of climb left so a lot can change

 

[jens_attacks]

and sergio ribeiro dropped nightmares of candido barbosa last year on senhora da graca

 

[canyonball]

Not so sure about mestre. He doesn't look too comfortable. Broco seems to be gone. Still a long climb though.

 

[Parrulo]

broco dropped for good now

he will lose tons of time like this

 

[Parrulo]

Not so sure about mestre. He doesn't look to comfortable. Broco seems to be gone. Still a long climb though.

would be hilarious if cardoso ended up dropping every1 and winning the volta

 

[Kazistuta]

23k to go and around five riders in the peloton?? Not fireworks, but carnage indeed..

 

[canyonball]

Broco coming back. Oh boy...

 

[jens_attacks]

broco is coming back

 

[Parrulo]

broco bridges across to the group.

 

[Parrulo]

i love how since cardoso is so small he usually sits last in the team train so the leader can draft on a bigger guy. same happened last year with blanco.

 

[roundabout]

Is Tavira that good to still have 4 people?

 

[jens_attacks]

tavira owns this race just like last year...ttt up the mountain

 

[Parrulo]

well the forth guy should be about to get dropped as he seems to be struggling to set the tempo. then whats left are mestre and cardoso that are team leaders and sitting first and third overall and nelson vitorno who is a veteran that is also on the top 10 of GC.

in terms of climbing talent tavira has the best portuguese talent so its not surprise.

 

[jens_attacks]

torre still to come no?

 

[Parrulo]

the garmin guy is looking good for the win.

mestre doesn't really look all that good tbh.

 

[Parrulo]

torre still to come no?

the cllimb from seia has a downhill part. but it has parts of 17%