75ª Volta a Portugal 7-18 August 2013 (2.1)

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Michele

Michele

Mar 26, 2009
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And the 2 guys at the front going straight out in the team car parking was priceless! :p
 
Lupetto

Lupetto

Sep 8, 2010
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BRPWrHZCcAA4xzu.jpg


:D
 
Hugo87

Hugo87

Mar 21, 2013
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Wyss is the new yellow jersey, happy for him.

Good win for Rui Sousa, but that was a cheap shot on Petrov by Brandão.
 
DanSilan

DanSilan

Aug 9, 2013
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Ryo Hazuki said:
thank god he's not
Click to expand...

Why not?
I have to admit he was a local hero, but still I think he is a characteristic guy. I am more in favour of the average climbers like Cândido, then supporting world class riders from my own countries who look like scrawny boys like Mollema or Gesink.
 
Ryo Hazuki

Ryo Hazuki

Mar 31, 2010
18,136
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DanSilan said:
Why not?
I have to admit he was a local hero, but still I think he is a characteristic guy. I am more in favour of the average climbers like Cândido, then supporting world class riders from my own countries who look like scrawny boys like Mollema or Gesink.
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because he was the biggest clinical joke even in portugese cycling.

btw what happened in final climb? I didn't se eit but guys like sabido dropped? brandao what happened to him?
 
Libertine Seguros

Libertine Seguros

Feb 20, 2010
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Yup, Cândido being gone is one of the best things about the current Portuguese scene. Sérgio Ribeiro was clearly the pretender to his throne, unfortunately for him the vampires are a bit more effective than they used to be. Would kind of like Rui Sousa to join them on the scrapheap, mind. Guess with Arkaitz Durán losing time my Efapel choice has to be Hernâni now.

Still, following on from the parcours discussion, this is the best designed Volta since 2009, or even 2007. The Gouveia stage is better than expected (I thought they'd just do Penhas Douradas then twice up the Gouveia small climb like they did in both those years), the cobbled climb today was a nice bonus finish, maybe not mega decisive but enough to give us a bit of GC movement, and the Torre and Farinha stages are the best designed they've been in years, including probably the toughest lead-in climb Torre has ever had (or is possible for it to have unless they decided to climb Torre from the Vide side, which would be insanely cool).
 
DanSilan

DanSilan

Aug 9, 2013
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What about the preparation of these riders. I am used to see riders build up towards their main goal by riding at least a couple of races. Not as exaggerated as Froome did this year, but still. In case of Rui Sousa, his list of results upon till this stage victory is completely blank. And he is not the only rider doing this (Barbosa did this as well a few years ago). Does this mean that they ride some semi-pro or amateur races before heading off the Volta? Can you consider these guys full-time pros or what? Either way, one of the best races on the calendar, but I am just curious.
 
Ryo Hazuki

Ryo Hazuki

Mar 31, 2010
18,136
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DanSilan said:
What about the preparation of these riders. I am used to see riders build up towards their main goal by riding at least a couple of races. Not as exaggerated as Froome did this year, but still. In case of Rui Sousa, his list of results upon till this stage victory is completely blank. And he is not the only rider doing this (Barbosa did this as well a few years ago). Does this mean that they ride some semi-pro or amateur races before heading off the Volta? Can you consider these guys full-time pros or what? Either way, one of the best races on the calendar, but I am just curious.
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sousa basiclaly never rides anything but the volta. also never outside of portugal
 
Parrulo

Parrulo

Aug 5, 2010
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Ryo Hazuki said:
because he was the biggest clinical joke even in portugese cycling.

btw what happened in final climb? I didn't se eit but guys like sabido dropped? brandao what happened to him?
Click to expand...

Brandão dropped everyone in the break just in time for efapel to hammer it and catch their own man which was very stupid considering that hadn't petrov and brandão messed up on the last turn the stage would have gone to caja rural and not efapel.
 
Libertine Seguros

Libertine Seguros

Feb 20, 2010
33,064
15,261
28,180
DanSilan said:
What about the preparation of these riders. I am used to see riders build up towards their main goal by riding at least a couple of races. Not as exaggerated as Froome did this year, but still. In case of Rui Sousa, his list of results upon till this stage victory is completely blank. And he is not the only rider doing this (Barbosa did this as well a few years ago). Does this mean that they ride some semi-pro or amateur races before heading off the Volta? Can you consider these guys full-time pros or what? Either way, one of the best races on the calendar, but I am just curious.
Click to expand...

Semi-pros for the most part. It used to be better, but very few UCI-classified races in Portugal now, and they used to do a lot more of the Spanish .1 and .2 races that are shortening or dying left right and centre too. The Vuelta a Asturias tended to be a happy hunting ground for Portuguese teams. Nowadays, they'll do the Portuguese calendar with its national races, and the main build-up race for A Volta is the Trofeu Joaquim Agostinho-GP Torres Vedras, a 3-4 day race in July. Traditionally the Portuguese scene had quite a lot of races and paid better than the Spanish national scene, but with both dwindling, salaries have dropped through the floor.
 
DanSilan

DanSilan

Aug 9, 2013
19
0
0
Libertine Seguros said:
Semi-pros for the most part. It used to be better, but very few UCI-classified races in Portugal now, and they used to do a lot more of the Spanish .1 and .2 races that are shortening or dying left right and centre too. The Vuelta a Asturias tended to be a happy hunting ground for Portuguese teams. Nowadays, they'll do the Portuguese calendar with its national races, and the main build-up race for A Volta is the Trofeu Joaquim Agostinho-GP Torres Vedras, a 3-4 day race in July. Traditionally the Portuguese scene had quite a lot of races and paid better than the Spanish national scene, but with both dwindling, salaries have dropped through the floor.
Click to expand...

Could that be a valid reason why a lot of Portuguese riders don't go abroad? Besides Costa, Machado and a few others riding a international calender, it seems that the majority of Portuguese riders is stuck in Portugal. Or is this simply due to the low levels of qualities/abilities/talent etc.?
 
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