Parrulo said:
from what rui costa said on his facebook page a couple minutes ago. he should reviel what team he signed for in the next couple of days. i hope so.
also from what he says it looks like its not the shack so at least thats good
Word I've heard on the grapevine is that he's likely to be crawling back to Unzué at Movistar. The falling out was that Rui felt like he was a bit shackled and unable to race for himself; right now he just wants to be able to race full stop - and with no Valverde and no Luís León Sánchez, a mostly leaderless Movistar will probably hand a lot of riders free roles.
Other Portuguese news: the Volta a Portugal will start in Fafe this year and finish in Lisbon. It seems that once more we will have the ceremonial flat stage into Lisbon; the race-settling contra-relógio will be in Guarda, a city at an altitude of over 1000m (and with some rather mountainous area around it). This location suggests that it would directly follow an Alto da Torre stage.
Starting in Fafe would make the Alto da Sra da Graça a very early spot to visit on the route unless they're doing a complicated S-shape. Heading down the coast before finishing off with Torre and Guarda keeps my hopes alive for a climb to the Alto de São Macário (9,2km @ 9,1%) but burns some of my hope for a return to the cobbled climb of Gouveia.