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79ª Volta a Portugal em Bicicleta (4 a 15 de Agosto de 2017)

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Re: Re:

Brt147 said:
classicomano said:
That W52 team is insane. They would've smashed the Vuelta if they were allowed to start.

They have enough quality to be a PCT but the available money I think it is around half a million, which is not enough obvieously.. My favourite for the race is Antunes, this has been a fantastic year for him...Vinhas will not be able to lead the team I think... I will pay many attention to João Almeida, one of the biggest talents of his generation (not as a GC contender, ofc).

joao almeida is not riding. thanks god, it would have been traumatic for the young fella

so far, w52 started slowly but we'll see on monte farinha. nuno ribeiro won't behave.
 
Re: 79ª Volta a Portugal em Bicicleta (4 a 15 de Agosto de 2

Max Rockatansky said:
Stage 1 - Vila Franca de Xira › Setúbal (203k)
altimetria.jpg

Km 172.6 - Alto das Necessidades: 1.1 km a 10.5% de inclinação média - 3ªcategoria
Km 189.7 - Serra da Arrábida: 7.3 km a 3.7% de inclinação média - 3ªcategoria

I'm not sure, but I think the last 2 km of Serra da Arrábida is between 9-10%.
 
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I've read somewhere that Edgar Pinto is not in good shape, due to health problems before the race
But he finished 17th yesterday, not so bad, so wait and see

Today we have Alto de Arrabida 13 km from the line, not sure the sprinters will be in the final if it rides fast, we should have a reduced bunch sprint, for GC riders who are fast (Garcia de Mateos, Nocentini, Mestre for example)
May be Caldeira should be there, but for riders like Ariesen, Dempster, Bibby, Lowndes or Frame it should be difficult
The leader jersey should also change
 
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Re: 79ª Volta a Portugal em Bicicleta (4 a 15 de Agosto de 2

Max Rockatansky said:
Max Rockatansky said:
Stage 1 - Vila Franca de Xira › Setúbal (203k)
altimetria.jpg

Km 172.6 - Alto das Necessidades: 1.1 km a 10.5% de inclinação média - 3ªcategoria
Km 189.7 - Serra da Arrábida: 7.3 km a 3.7% de inclinação média - 3ªcategoria

I'm not sure, but I think the last 2 km of Serra da Arrábida is between 9-10%.

According to the road book, you have 3,3 km at 4,2%, then 2,7 km almost flat, and to finish 1,3 km at 9,5%
 
Murias wanting to get their sponsors out there today, or pray for a 2010-style miscalculation from the bunch where Palmeiras wanted everybody else to contribute to the chase of Oleg Chuzhda but nobody wanted to pull the bunch just to lose to Cândido, so the Ukrainian won by about 2 minutes.

Gotzon Udondo is the lonely fugitive today, 2 minutes ahead of the chasing gang of Roy Goldstein (Israel Cycling Academy), Hugo Sancho (LA), Rui Rodrigues (Loulé), Alexis Cartier (H&R Block), Jasper Hamelink (Metec-TKH) and Sebastian Baldauf (Team Vorarlberg), with Udondo's teammate Pello Olaberria monitoring it. The péloton, led by Armée de Terre in defence of Damien Gaudin's lead, is at 3'30. I can't see this being much more than a hiding to nothing for Gotzon, but all credit to the 23yo Bilbaíno.

All coming together, but some glorious scenery for the closing stages.

Gaudin dropped on the final climb, César Fonte already upset with people interfering with his points-collecting, and Balarcón already lighting the blue touchpaper on the descent. Strap yourselves in, kids, this could be a fireworks show.
 
Balarcón takes it, Antunes somehow sprints to 2nd after being allowed to escape chasing de la Fuente who launched a hyper-speed escape in the last km to chase him. No time gap as they sat up at the line though.

So, 10" to Alarcón, and we get to see who the expected elites are.

1 Alarcón
2 Amaro Antunes +10"
3 David de la Fuente +st
4 Vicente García de Mateos + st
5 Rinaldo Nocentini +st
6 César Fonte +st
7 Davide Rebellin +st
8 Gustavo César Veloso +st
9 Alejandro Marque +st
10 Sérgio Paulinho +st

That's one OLD top 10, it just misses Horner. Marque is 35, DDLF is 36, Paulinho and César 37, Nocentini 39 and Rebellin 45 (46 next week). Antunes (26) and García de Mateos (28) are the only ones under 30.
 
Re: Re:

Cance > TheRest said:
Libertine Seguros said:
That's one OLD top 10, it just misses Horner. Marque is 35, DDLF is 36, Paulinho and César 37, Nocentini 39 and Rebellin 45 (46 next week). Antunes (26) and García de Mateos (28) are the only ones under 30.
Or Stefan Schumacher - who happened to be 8th in the prologue yesterday
And 52-year old Rui Sousa finished just outside of the top 10.
 
Re: Re:

classicomano said:
Cance > TheRest said:
Libertine Seguros said:
That's one OLD top 10, it just misses Horner. Marque is 35, DDLF is 36, Paulinho and César 37, Nocentini 39 and Rebellin 45 (46 next week). Antunes (26) and García de Mateos (28) are the only ones under 30.
Or Stefan Schumacher - who happened to be 8th in the prologue yesterday
And 52-year old Rui Sousa finished just outside of the top 10.
That's who I was referring to with 'Horner', we've been calling Sousa 'Horner' in August on this board for the last three years I think.

Although I guess it could have been interpreted as the 'real' Horner, and would still have made sense as he would fit right in here, so yes.
 
Re:

Libertine Seguros said:
Balarcón takes it, Antunes somehow sprints to 2nd after being allowed to escape chasing de la Fuente who launched a hyper-speed escape in the last km to chase him. No time gap as they sat up at the line though.

So, 10" to Alarcón, and we get to see who the expected elites are.

1 Alarcón
2 Amaro Antunes +10"
3 David de la Fuente +st
4 Vicente García de Mateos + st
5 Rinaldo Nocentini +st
6 César Fonte +st
7 Davide Rebellin +st
8 Gustavo César Veloso +st
9 Alejandro Marque +st
10 Sérgio Paulinho +st

That's one OLD top 10, it just misses Horner. Marque is 35, DDLF is 36, Paulinho and César 37, Nocentini 39 and Rebellin 45 (46 next week). Antunes (26) and García de Mateos (28) are the only ones under 30.

De la Fuente is still riding? I hadn't heard that name in years. That's a guy who fell off the map.
 
De la Fuente has been in Portugal for three years now, but it's only now that he's reaching a satisfactory age to be allowed to contend for the Volta.

Today's break is Pablo Guerrero (Rádio Popular-Boavista), João Matias (LA-Antarte), Roy Goldstein (Israel Cycling Academy), Travis Samuel (H&R Block), Jim Lindenburg (Metec-TKH) and Antonio di Sante (GM Europa Ovini). Marco Molteni (Trevigiani) and Patrick Jäger (Vorarlberg) are chasing on. Four minutes' lead with the long gradual grind to come before the likely sprint type finish in Castelo Branco. Matias is well placed after a good finish yesterday, but LA look to have their eyes set on the mountains prize after Fonte yesterday and now Matias today.

The Volta a Portugal is like a window into another world, it's like an elaborate parallel universe of cycling where usual rules and tactics don't apply. In the Volta, chasing your teammate is always the right tactic. In the Volta, team leadership and support is to be decided by age rather than strength. And going to Portugal to be annihilated in brutal heat by the August machines is becoming as much a rite of passage for lower end Dutch and German continental teams as being sent to the Peace Race to be battered on cobbles by the Poles, Soviets and East Germans was in the 70s and 80s for the elite amateurs of western Europe.

With 20k remaining the break has split in two, Samuel, Lindenburg and di Sante have around 20" on the other four from the break, the chasing duo are slightly behind that, and the bunch is still nearly 3 minutes back on the leaders - Efapel lining up on one side of the road and W52 not seeming like they want to go full gas to catch this. Armée de Terre seem to want to have a sprint, however, so are really drilling the bunch and have taken a fair few seconds straight from the word go. Not sure who would sprint for them, maybe Jordan Levasseur? Filipe Cardoso would have been another candidate but he's just been involved in a crash and is chasing back on with Nikodemus Holler and Adriano Brogi. JLT have some guys with a decent turn of pace and experience (none more so than Russell Downing) but not sure how into the speed of this race they are, peaking for next month's Tour of Britain and with their main sightings thus far having been being dropped.

...yea, the break is cooked, with the péloton now flying, taking nearly 2 minutes in 6km. Matias has attacked the pursuing group as they're about to be swallowed, while Samuel has attacked his breakmates at the front. I miss the orange LA jerseys, these ones look too much like the 2008 ones for comfort (even though that was actually a different team, based out of the União Ciclista da Maia, and this one is the former Fercase team). Samuel has been brought back and they're all working cohesively again. It all makes no sense. This is the Volta.
 

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