Lesser known races 2024 edition

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Volta's stage 1 today, 158.2 km, classic hockey stick profile - TV from 16.00 CET

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Finish climb -
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The return of Freddy Watts?
 
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I don't wanna know what kind of road furniture they have in Lisbon! :eek:

Tbf they seem to have done a decent job directing the final part of the route somewhere without awful stuff in the road...

but I think the 5km-3km to go area where it goes near/through Oriente station before going onto the highway is going to be awkward, as the roads are pretty much split in two with "calcada" cobbles in the middle and a kerb. And the inside lane has in some places a slight kick-up onto smoother calcada...

And the final turnoff before the finish with maybe 1km to go goes from a 4 line highway to 1 lane to back to 3 lane in the space of a few hundred metres.

A team who get the right side of the road with maybe 4km to go will probably win the sprint.

The sprint will be pretty short and selective as a result. There is probably only 150-200m of road after the final right turn where it narrows to one lane and opens back up again to 3 lanes. If everyone makes it round that corner cleanly I will be shocked aha.

Such a beautiful city and actually one that - with the crazy elevation changes - could have some amazing stage finishes a la Strade Bianche... but not the best place to cycle around.

A Sintra/Setubal/Lisbon one-day classic could be incredible but it would take great planning. Classica da Arrabida is closest but using some of those roads alongside a Lisbon city hill finish and maybe some of the Sintra hills... would be so fun.
 
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