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

[auscyclefan94]

we have been telling you how popular the volta is for a like a year and you never believed us (me and libertine mostly )

You both never talked about the popularity of the race but more about the quality of the race. The mocking of this race and David Blacno was more to annoy Libertine Seguros.

Traditionally, August is the holiday month in Portugal. All the emigrants come to spent the holidays with family here. Specially in the north where the race is mostly held. Add that to the fact that cycling is a popular sport (not close to football....) and we usually have a very crowded race!

Good to know.

 

[Jux1893]

Thomas Dekker has quited the race.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Thomas Dekker has quited the race.

Really?

That sucks, what happened?

 

[Mellow Velo]

Really?

That sucks, what happened?

Ran out of Jack Daniels?
Just looks overweight and under interested.

 

[Jux1893]

They don't mention any reason in particular, nor any previous accident, so I reckon it was a little bit too much for him. He was complaining a few days ago there were no flat roads in Portugal.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

No

@SEGCycling
@DekkerThomas kampt sinds de 5e etappe in Portugal met een bovenbeen blessure, de rustdag was niet genoeg om daar volledig van te herstellen

Upper leg injury,

 

[Sylvester]

Too hard, too soon. He'll be back in a few months, it seems to me the decision to make him start here was not the best one.

 

[Parrulo]

flat stages in the volta?

 

[Ferminal]

flat stages in the volta?

Long and tough today though, so no Guardini. Is the finish a little bit uphill? 75km remaining.

 

[jens_attacks]

it seems like another sergio ribeiro day

 

[Parrulo]

Long and tough today though, so no Guardini. Is the finish a little bit uphill? 75km remaining.

doesn't seem to be.

 

[Ferminal]

doesn't seem to be.

lol, very hard to measure the height on that profile, looks like only 1-2%.

 

[Parrulo]

lol, very hard to measure the height on that profile, looks like only 1-2%.

ya thats why i used the "" smile. not the best profile

 

[AlejandroValverde]

How many kms to go?

 

[jens_attacks]

How many kms to go?

45 in my stream

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

How's Ribeiro's time trialling btw? Would be interesting for tomorrow

 

[Libertine Seguros]

How's Ribeiro's time trialling btw? Would be interesting for tomorrow

Historically pretty woeful (recent best being 16th in the nationals, over 2 minutes behind Broco, André Cardoso was the only pro he beat) but if he's doing a Cândido Barbosa impression we can throw all that out the window.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

1 F Gavazzi
2 Ribeiro

 

[jens_attacks]

gavazzi wins

 

[canyonball]

but if he's doing a Cândido Barbosa impression we can throw all that out the window.

When interviewed by RTP he said he was surprised and pleased to see people calling his name and cheering for him on the road. Portugal may have found his new cycling hero...we never learn, do we?

I will follow closely tomorrow's time trial. There's a lot at stake. Will Broco improve last year's TT performance? Which Sousa will head into Torre as team leader on Barbot? And on Prio?.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Neither Sousa will. Ribeiro will come top 5 in the ITT and we'll watch Sergio dragging the other Sergio's worthless hide up Serra da Estrela like Héctor Guerra or something.

That 2007 stage was the epitome of ridiculous, watching this 80kg sprinter outclimbing Sevilla, Pozzovivo, Ribeiro, Blanco, Bernabéu, Broco, Azevedo, a Pecharromán that tested positive just two weeks later and a doped-to-the-eyeballs Pedro Cardoso.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Stop Libertine, please. You are reminding me of some epic Pro Cycling Manager Barbosa nightmares.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Kritskiy's 3rd place is interesting. With him and Kai Reus both getting good results today, it's a bit of a day for comebacks.

Dekker excepted, obviously.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Too bad really, looked forward to the time trial tomorrow.

 

[jens_attacks]

my guess is that ribeiro will make the top 3 in the itt,the barbot team's devotion says all:they are uber confident in ribeiro's form otherwise how the hell did the sousa's become his domestiques?
if this won't happen,at least i want a strong performance from the tavira guys.