76ª Volta a Portugal 30 July -10 August 2014 (2.1)

[Parrulo]

It makes me so happy to see Sousa nowhere near the front

 

[roundabout]

Viva uphill sprints. Veloso looks like a bodybuilder compared to the rest.

 

[Parrulo]

so luis leon might actually win the overall.

I think the Torre will be too much from him. Sra. da Graça hasn't been able to produce gaps in years now because the stages haven't been hard enough.

 

[BigMac]

Viva uphill sprints. Veloso looks like a bodybuilder compared to the rest.

Not the racer's fault, really. Uphill sprints are an usual sight at Monte Farinha.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Great stuff from Edgar Pinto - LA are my favourite team here, even if favourite riders are elsewhere (and underperforming). Délio Fernández really, really impressive today as a domestique. The helicam view of Monte Farinha is just perfect. The ultimate icon of A Volta.

 

[roundabout]

Not the racer's fault, really. Uphill sprints are an usual sight at Monte Farinha.

Yeah, I know.

I was hoping for Belda to hold on.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

what happened to eduard prades btw? injured? started season very strong

 

[Libertine Seguros]

The gaps today are even smaller than they have been the last few years, mind. Oh for a proper stage here with Barragem do Alvão then Campanhó or Monte do Viso before the MTF, or Torrinheiras and Favais or Tojais from the north or soemthing. Alvão is fine, but on its own the gaps aren't quite big enough come Senhora da Graça as regularly quite a lot of riders get back on on the descent.

Stage results:

1 Edgar Pinto (LA-Antarte) POR 5'18'08
2 Gustavo César (OFM-Quinta da Lixa) ESP +st
3 Joni Brandão (Efapel-Glassdrive) POR +8"
4 Délio Fernández (OFM-Quinta da Lixa) ESP +st
5 Luís León Sánchez (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) ESP +st
6 Ricardo Mestre (Efapel-Glassdrive) POR +10"
7 Rubén Fernández (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) ESP +14"
8 Jordi Simón (Team Ecuador) ESP +16"
9 David Belda (Burgos-BH) ESP +st
10 Rui Sousa (Rádio Popular) POR +st
11 Hernâni Brôco (Louletano-Dunas Douradas) POR +st
12 Sandro Pinto (Louletano-Dunas Douradas) POR +st
13 Amaro Antunes (Banco BIC-Carmim) POR +30"
14 Ricardo Vilela (OFM-Quinta da Lixa) POR +44"
15 Omar Fraile (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) ESP +47"
16 Higinio Fernández (Team Ecuador) ESP +1'03"
17 Sérgio Sousa (Efapel-Glassdrive) POR +1'08"
18 Victor de la Parte (Efapel-Glassdrive) ESP +st
19 David Rodrigues (Selecção Nacional) POR +st
20 José Gonçalves (Selecção Nacional) POR +st

others of interest
21 António Carvalho (LA-Antarte) POR +1'12"
22 Heiner Parra (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) COL +1'16"
25 César Fonte (Rádio Popular) POR +1'29"
26 Nuno Ribeiro (Efapel-Glassdrive) POR +1'40"
27 Frederico Figueiredo (Rádio Popular) POR +st
28 Hugo Sabido (LA-Antarte) +1'48"
29 Arkaitz Durán (OFM-Quinta da Lixa) +1'56"
42 Stefan Schumacher (Christina Watches-Kuma) +6'01"
92 Vitor Gamito (LA-Antarte) +21'59

What this means for the GC is:
1 Gustavo César (OFM-Quinta da Lixa) ESP 19'48'31"
2 Edgar Pinto (LA-Antarte) POR +26"
3 Luís León Sánchez (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) ESP +29"
4 Ricardo Mestre (Efapel-Glassdrive) POR +37"
5 Délio Fernández (OFM-Quinta da Lixa) ESP +39"
6 Joni Brandão (Efapel-Glassdrive) POR +43"
7 Rubén Fernández (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) ESP +46"
8 David Belda (Burgos-BH) ESP +53"
9 Hernâni Brôco (Louletano-Dunas Douradas) POR +1'00"
10 Rui Sousa (Rádio Popular) POR +1'01"
11 Ricardo Vilela (OFM-Quinta da Lixa) POR +1'17"
12 Victor de la Parte (Efapel-Glassdrive) ESP +1'19"
13 Jordi Simón (Team Ecuador) ESP +1'30"
14 Amaro Antunes (Banco BIC-Carmim) POR +1'32"
15 Omar Fraile (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) ESP +1'35"
16 Sérgio Sousa (Efapel-Glassdrive) POR +1'36"
17 Sandro Pinto (Louletano-Dunas Douradas) POR +1'54"
18 José Gonçalves (Selecção Nacional) POR +2'12"
19 António Carvalho (LA-Antarte) POR +2'18"
20 Higinio Fernández (Team Ecuador) ESP +2'22"

As you can see, there is some level of repetition there - nobody outside of Iberia in the top 20, and a few teams popping up several times. Here are the top men on GC for each team:

OFM-Quinta da Lixa: Gustavo César, 1st
LA-Antarte: Edgar Pinto, 2nd
Caja Rural-Seguros RGA: Luís León Sánchez, 3rd
Efapel-Glassdrive: Ricardo Mestre, 4th
Burgos-BH: David Belda, 8th
Louletano-Dunas Douradas: Hernâni Brôco, 9th
Rádio Popular: Rui Sousa, 10th
Team Ecuador: Jordi Simón, 13th
Banco BIC-Carmim: Amaro Antunes, 14th
Selecção Nacional: José Gonçalves, 18th
4-72 Colombia: Juan Osorio, 31st @ 4'25
Team Stölting: Fredrik Dombrowski, 33rd @ 5'41
Christina Watches-Kuma: Stefan Schumacher, 39th @ 7'57
Team Stuttgart: Nikodemus Holler, 40th @ 9'11
Lokosphinx: Aleksei Rybalkin, 43rd @ 10'59
Team Ukyo: Salvador Guardiola, 48th @ 12'18

It's good that of these, there are no 'sitting duck' teams like the Törku Seker Spor team of 2011 where poor Danail Petrov was the only one left in the race after the rest day, and the South American teams are either Europe-based or in the middle of a long run in Europe, so they aren't underprepared like Funvic were a couple of years ago. Stölting of course have a stage win under their belts as well.

 

[De Snelle Duif]

Good to see Ruben Fernandez doing quite well

 

[jens_attacks]

around 6.4 w/kg for pinto and veloso on farinha yesterday.one minute faster than pardilla last year. same time as epic and magnificent cabreira and nuno back in 2009 _O_

tinkov, prepare the money

 

[trevim]

around 6.4 w/kg for pinto and veloso on farinha yesterday.one minute faster than pardilla last year. same time as epic and magnificent cabreira and nuno back in 2009 _O_

tinkov, prepare the money

Tinkov better wait to see if they don't pop up first

 

[trevim]

Today finally...another MTF The easiest one although there can be some heavy legs on the peloton with the last three stages. Edgar Pinto to repeat? I don't see Veloso or Mestre as good enough uphill sprinters for this. Maybe Delio Fernandez or Luis Leon.

 

[jens_attacks]

this is where eladio jimenez won a few years back?
i go with edgar pinto . rui sousa really seems old and slow

 

[trevim]

this is where eladio jimenez won a few years back?
i go with edgar pinto . rui sousa really seems old and slow

I don't think Gimenez has ever won there. He was 2nd in 2007 beaten by the mighty Cândido Barbosa.
Last winners on Sra. Da Assunção:
2011 - Sérgio Ribeiro
2010 - Sérgio Ribeiro
2009 - Ruben Plaza
2008 - Nuno Ribeiro
2007 - Cândido Barbosa
2005 - Cândido Barbosa

 

[jens_attacks]

look at those names


2009, i remembered it well:
1 Eladio Jimenez (Spa) Centro Cilismo De Loule - Louletano 4:21:09
2 Ruben Plaza (Spa) Liberty Seguros 0:00:12
3 David Blanco (Spa) Palmeiras Resort / Tavira 0:00:14
4 Paolo Tiralongo (Ita) Lampre - N.G.C.
5 Nuno Ribeiro (Por) Liberty Seguros

probably he tested positive or something

 

[trevim]

look at those names


2009, i remembered it well:
1 Eladio Jimenez (Spa) Centro Cilismo De Loule - Louletano 4:21:09
2 Ruben Plaza (Spa) Liberty Seguros 0:00:12
3 David Blanco (Spa) Palmeiras Resort / Tavira 0:00:14
4 Paolo Tiralongo (Ita) Lampre - N.G.C.
5 Nuno Ribeiro (Por) Liberty Seguros

probably he tested positive or something

Typical
I didn't remember seeing Plaza win there either but that's what I found when I checked CQ Ranking. It's clear now!

 

[Hugo87]

around 6.4 w/kg for pinto and veloso on farinha yesterday.one minute faster than pardilla last year. same time as epic and magnificent cabreira and nuno back in 2009 _O_

tinkov, prepare the money

Impressive, but the usual in A Volta.

Today's stage is going to pass roughly 2 km from my house (almost obliged to go there and try to catch some bidon/can), but at the same time the weather is so good that i should go for a ride with my bike, what a dilemma

 

[jens_attacks]

go and put a big banner " i love edgar poeinto!"

always loving the portuguese crowds for this race. i hoe la grandissima will never die.

 

[Hugo87]

go and put a big banner " i love edgar poeinto!"

always loving the portuguese crowds for this race. i hoe la grandissima will never die.

I will try to take some pictures, but they will go through fast like 40 km/h in that zone, so the pics will suck.

 

[Parrulo]

around 6.4 w/kg for pinto and veloso on farinha yesterday.one minute faster than pardilla last year. same time as epic and magnificent cabreira and nuno back in 2009 _O_

tinkov, prepare the money

Oh really? Portuguese peloton going full gas

look at those names


2009, i remembered it well:
1 Eladio Jimenez (Spa) Centro Cilismo De Loule - Louletano 4:21:09
2 Ruben Plaza (Spa) Liberty Seguros 0:00:12
3 David Blanco (Spa) Palmeiras Resort / Tavira 0:00:14
4 Paolo Tiralongo (Ita) Lampre - N.G.C.
5 Nuno Ribeiro (Por) Liberty Seguros

probably he tested positive or something

That's the stage where Hector Guerra crashed on the last K against the barriers iirc.

 

[Rui Quinta]

I see here some funny confusions.

It's funny because Jimenez was first in 2009. Ruben Plaza was second but he celebrated. Some months later Jimenez has a positive control and Plaza was declared winner.

About Hector Guerra, he crashed in 2007.

 

[Hugo87]

I took so many pics and screamed a lot

3 main groups, the breakaway( Efapel had 2 guys it seemed) had like 30 seconds ahead of the main bunch lead by OFM. Some guys really behind, more than 7 minutes down already.

I will upload some pics later. Plus I got some hats and shirts.

 

[trevim]

So 42 km to go, 1.34 for a group with Duran, Madrazo, Alarcon, Mager and Daniel Silva. Hugo Sabido and Daniel Freitas in the middle. Parra attacks from the peloton.
Why so many attacks today?!

 

[trevim]

Caja Rural DS apparently told Parra to stop and get back to the peloton.

 

[Hugo87]

Breakaway at the time





Pictures from the main bunch lead by OFM