- Jul 10, 2009
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Yup, he said that. They're in the Volta to enjoy the race. The GC battle is for the other teams.
Yup, he said that. They're in the Volta to enjoy the race. The GC battle is for the other teams.
- Feb 20, 2010
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Now Movistar's presence starts to make sense. They've already exhausted all their known options for messing things up tactically, they need to freshen things up with some new approaches to awful tactics, so they're coming to learn from the best!
- Apr 10, 2019
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If Efapel are confident that Carvalho only had a bad day they should use him to cover attacks from Rodrigues, Moreira to cover attacks from Brandao and Figueiredo to cover attacks from Antunes. If the gc stays as it is now then you go all out on the final mountain stage and try to drop Antunes.
Looks like Luis Gomes recovered well aftet yesterday's effort, the final road stage/the queenstage is now the main obstacle between him and a top 10 on the gc.
With the next uphill finish coming tomorrow I don't really facy the Tavira oldies to hold on after todays stage, they used a lot of energy today and payed for it on the final uphill drag.
Looks like Luis Gomes recovered well aftet yesterday's effort, the final road stage/the queenstage is now the main obstacle between him and a top 10 on the gc.
With the next uphill finish coming tomorrow I don't really facy the Tavira oldies to hold on after todays stage, they used a lot of energy today and payed for it on the final uphill drag.
- May 5, 2010
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Is that a new rule? Riders on the stage-podium must have alliterative names?
| 1 | FIGUEIREDO Frederico | Efapel | 14 | 20 | 4:28:25 |
| 2 | ANTUNES Amaro | W52 / FC Porto | 5 | 12 | ,, |
| 3 | MOREIRA Mauricio | Efapel | 3 | 7 | 0:59 |
- Sep 26, 2020
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- Feb 21, 2019
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- Feb 20, 2010
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...Eusebio Unzué has entered the chat
- Apr 10, 2019
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That explains the Torre stage, Efapel and W52 were just fighting for the team classification!
Atm I feel that Efapel will probably win at least 5 stages (at least one of the uphill finishes and the final TT) but still not win the gc.
They are just here to enjoy the show, just like the rest of us.
- Aug 14, 2012
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Classic Efapel.
In 2017 while Balarcón and Amaro where doing the classic Saunier 1-2 in Guarda (artistic note: 9.7/10), their DS at the time (Américo Silva) was interviewed during the stage and said that they were happy because they were guaranteeing the podium in the team classification.
- Sep 29, 2013
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Today's stage was hilarious. I hope we have a full episode for Movistar's Grandissima. I'm already imagining their face of disbelief with these amazing tactics by Efapel.
- Feb 20, 2010
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"We need to watch out for this rider, we think Efapel will be planning something from them at this point in today's stage"
"You're right, that seems logical"
"Wait, it seems logical? In that case I must reconsider, they will clearly be planning something else"
- Feb 29, 2012
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I just watched stages 3 and 4, and I have to say that I am not disappointed at all. I was actually shocked that Veloso did track-stand riding on Torre and burned himself the next day to give Marque a chance, even though he is the older rider and should be the leader. You also have to salute Marque for climbing Torre on the big ring for style points.
It also looks like Moreira is the new Alarcon-style rouleur, even though he's a decade younger than what I expected.
It also looks like Moreira is the new Alarcon-style rouleur, even though he's a decade younger than what I expected.
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- Dec 6, 2012
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Volta is Portugal's answer to Marvel universe, so why not
- Apr 10, 2019
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Euskadi are leaving the race, I assume the other 2 teams are staying?
- Aug 14, 2012
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Bunch of amateurs organizing the race. But from what I've been reading, the protocol is almost non-existant. Families can be with the riders after they finish the stage, yesterday during the rest day I think they were allowed to go wherever they wanted.
I even doubt that a bubble is set up around the hotels and such, because I saw of picture from Willie Smit's where he was clearly in a "residential" house and not in a hotel, given the tiles of the bathroom.
I even doubt that a bubble is set up around the hotels and such, because I saw of picture from Willie Smit's where he was clearly in a "residential" house and not in a hotel, given the tiles of the bathroom.
- Apr 10, 2019
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I mean what was the trouble with Efapel tactics yesterday?
This succession of posts was pretty funny:
And suddenly, when any reasonable reader would have assumed Efapel was on the verge of forfeiting the race, reality briefly seeps in:
Not only they won the stage, but they also got their strongest rider back in contention (after being 1:00 and 40 seconds down to two exponentially stronger time trialists) and have now 2 men in the top-5.
And they achieved all this by basically following wheels and not doing much work at all themselves.
Stepping up the pace on the approach to the cobbled climb in Guarda isn't "chasing their own team" - it's preparing the attack from Mauricio Moreira, who is a much stronger puncheur than Marque and the W52 guys. And it worked just fine - he put 22 seconds on Marque and 16 on Rodigues.
Cutting some margin to the leading duo was a good thing - it'll always be extremely difficult for Figueiredo to come ahead in a mano-a-mano with Antunes when there's a sizable TT at the end and he's already down 25 seconds. Having Moreira lurking - even though I personally believe he'll struggle in the Barreiro+Senhora da Graça stage if not before - is their best chance of getting something, they need some uncertainty and high variance.
So they needed to play on two boards: having the front duo have enough of a gap to force the Tavira guys to go all in and at least eliminate Veloso; but not to the point of turning the race a 1v1 Antunes-Figueiredo. Plus, of course, the stage victory. They thicked all three boxes and somehow people think that's bad tactics?
Even though they apparently had radio problems, it worked rather well to have Figueiredo just following Antunes' wheel, then helping out when Mas came to the front of the peloton between the climbs and dramatically cut the gap. And then trying to implode the group and make it unpleasant to Marque when the last climb started.
Nothing decisive; however in road cycling it's often the case the best tactics are the ones you don't commit to. Just make gradual gains and live to fight another stage. That's what they did... while also winning a stage. Considering they're facing a super-team that in years past has cannibalized the entire race, it's nothing to snigger about.
Nothing wrong whatsoever with their tactics.
This succession of posts was pretty funny:
And suddenly, when any reasonable reader would have assumed Efapel was on the verge of forfeiting the race, reality briefly seeps in:
Not only they won the stage, but they also got their strongest rider back in contention (after being 1:00 and 40 seconds down to two exponentially stronger time trialists) and have now 2 men in the top-5.
And they achieved all this by basically following wheels and not doing much work at all themselves.
Stepping up the pace on the approach to the cobbled climb in Guarda isn't "chasing their own team" - it's preparing the attack from Mauricio Moreira, who is a much stronger puncheur than Marque and the W52 guys. And it worked just fine - he put 22 seconds on Marque and 16 on Rodigues.
Cutting some margin to the leading duo was a good thing - it'll always be extremely difficult for Figueiredo to come ahead in a mano-a-mano with Antunes when there's a sizable TT at the end and he's already down 25 seconds. Having Moreira lurking - even though I personally believe he'll struggle in the Barreiro+Senhora da Graça stage if not before - is their best chance of getting something, they need some uncertainty and high variance.
So they needed to play on two boards: having the front duo have enough of a gap to force the Tavira guys to go all in and at least eliminate Veloso; but not to the point of turning the race a 1v1 Antunes-Figueiredo. Plus, of course, the stage victory. They thicked all three boxes and somehow people think that's bad tactics?
Even though they apparently had radio problems, it worked rather well to have Figueiredo just following Antunes' wheel, then helping out when Mas came to the front of the peloton between the climbs and dramatically cut the gap. And then trying to implode the group and make it unpleasant to Marque when the last climb started.
Nothing decisive; however in road cycling it's often the case the best tactics are the ones you don't commit to. Just make gradual gains and live to fight another stage. That's what they did... while also winning a stage. Considering they're facing a super-team that in years past has cannibalized the entire race, it's nothing to snigger about.
Nothing wrong whatsoever with their tactics.
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- Apr 10, 2019
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The interesting thing is that Figueiredo is better than Antunes in Prologues, but last year he was clearly weaker in the longer TT and cracked a bit. Maybe he's just more explosive than Antunes? Last year he also dropped Antunes on the steep penultimate climb on the Senhora de garca stage, only for the later to come back on the descent/false flat, not collaborate and then drop him on the final climb. I think Figueiredo not collaborating with him has to be seen in the context of that stage (that stage was a massive Efapel fail, neither Carvalho nor Brandao went with those 2 and they kinda lacked the firepower to chase them down, one gc rider would have needed zo sacrifice his chances for the other one).
- Feb 20, 2010
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The problem interpreted on the board with Efapel's tactics are twofold.
Firstly, that the positive outcome does not necessarily mean that the decision was correct, it depends on other factors. A few more seconds due to not setting such a pace, or Figueiredo helping Antunes slightly more, and it's W52 who have to expend domestiques rather than Tavira when it comes to controlling the break going forward, rather than letting W52 keep their riders fresh. GCV is also tired faster if the gap gets bigger because Fred is working. So there were ways that the outcome could have been better. They have also won while doing similarly counter-intuitive things before, such as Antônio Barbio's win on Monte Assunção in 2016, when they pulled a successful 1-2 punch from the break... then took over on the front and chased their own break in which they had the sole escapee and the best climber in the chase group. Then, Barbio stayed clear so they got the stage, but they caught the chase group, and then their leaders got dropped on the climb. So they won the stage, but it was still a tactical fail. It looked for a good chunk of yesterday's stage like they were planning on repeating that, since Figueiredo is their best GC option and they were reducing his gains while seeming unlikely to make realistic gains elsewhere (unless we're genuinely feeling Moreira will be a GC candidate after 11 days, which we mostly weren't at day 1).
Secondly, the history of Efapel's tactical idiocy means that even when something works, they don't get the benefit of the doubt that it was by judgement rather than luck. They have a history of chasing their own moves, of passivity when they need to attack, of prioritising the wrong rider and sacrificing riders in better form, of supporting the chase when it is counterproductive or refusing to commit when they need to help the chase, and so on. Much like Jumbo-Visma or Movistar, who have a history of tactical fails that colour people's interpretation of their attempts to enliven proceedings and mean they aren't seen as sympathetically as they might otherwise be. I mean, take all those stacked lineups from the mid-2010s where they had by far the strongest team in the race, but blew it completely by sacrificing every option for the reanimated corpse of Rui Sousa, who inevitably failed hard in the final TT against the likes of Marque and César Veloso.
Firstly, that the positive outcome does not necessarily mean that the decision was correct, it depends on other factors. A few more seconds due to not setting such a pace, or Figueiredo helping Antunes slightly more, and it's W52 who have to expend domestiques rather than Tavira when it comes to controlling the break going forward, rather than letting W52 keep their riders fresh. GCV is also tired faster if the gap gets bigger because Fred is working. So there were ways that the outcome could have been better. They have also won while doing similarly counter-intuitive things before, such as Antônio Barbio's win on Monte Assunção in 2016, when they pulled a successful 1-2 punch from the break... then took over on the front and chased their own break in which they had the sole escapee and the best climber in the chase group. Then, Barbio stayed clear so they got the stage, but they caught the chase group, and then their leaders got dropped on the climb. So they won the stage, but it was still a tactical fail. It looked for a good chunk of yesterday's stage like they were planning on repeating that, since Figueiredo is their best GC option and they were reducing his gains while seeming unlikely to make realistic gains elsewhere (unless we're genuinely feeling Moreira will be a GC candidate after 11 days, which we mostly weren't at day 1).
Secondly, the history of Efapel's tactical idiocy means that even when something works, they don't get the benefit of the doubt that it was by judgement rather than luck. They have a history of chasing their own moves, of passivity when they need to attack, of prioritising the wrong rider and sacrificing riders in better form, of supporting the chase when it is counterproductive or refusing to commit when they need to help the chase, and so on. Much like Jumbo-Visma or Movistar, who have a history of tactical fails that colour people's interpretation of their attempts to enliven proceedings and mean they aren't seen as sympathetically as they might otherwise be. I mean, take all those stacked lineups from the mid-2010s where they had by far the strongest team in the race, but blew it completely by sacrificing every option for the reanimated corpse of Rui Sousa, who inevitably failed hard in the final TT against the likes of Marque and César Veloso.
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- Feb 20, 2010
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Tavira probably bought themselves a reprieve from péloton-pulling duty until Montalegre, since there's two transitional stages now, which means César Veloso can probably recover a bit to protect Marque for the last few days. So Freitas becomes a new factor as well, as although you'd expect him to drop down the order, he's no mug - 14th and 13th on the two MTFs last year - and again neither W52 nor Efapel need expend anybody as Boavista will probably just be happy to have the jersey.
Great stage win by Hollyman, I don't know much about him but he was top 10 to Montejunto in the Trofeu Joaquim Agostinho and top 20 in the one-day version of Castilla y León which basically used the 2014 Worlds circuit, so he's a promising enough young rider, just turned 21. Maybe not a super-talent but he's definitely got potential. Needs to remember to zip up his jersey when he has a 30-second buffer though, he's got a bit of the Brice Feillu about him there
Moreira and Abner González once more the strongest on these uphill sprint / sprint at the top of a climb kind of finishes, which augurs well for them. They make a comical double act with the size difference, too.
Great stage win by Hollyman, I don't know much about him but he was top 10 to Montejunto in the Trofeu Joaquim Agostinho and top 20 in the one-day version of Castilla y León which basically used the 2014 Worlds circuit, so he's a promising enough young rider, just turned 21. Maybe not a super-talent but he's definitely got potential. Needs to remember to zip up his jersey when he has a 30-second buffer though, he's got a bit of the Brice Feillu about him there
Moreira and Abner González once more the strongest on these uphill sprint / sprint at the top of a climb kind of finishes, which augurs well for them. They make a comical double act with the size difference, too.
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