Lesser known races 2025 edition

[Cycling111]

The best race of this week.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1954145258343661625

View: https://x.com/rockets_cycling/status/1954145258343661625?t=MixbtlKaRB-EvqDHBIMusw&s=19

 

[Tim Cahill]

Volta, 55k to go

 

[QueenStagiaire]

Edison Callejas in the break, he‘s a real dangerman, could go thermonuclear at any minute.

 

[QueenStagiaire]

Hugo Nunes wins in a bunch sprint.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Hugo Nunes! The whole grown men crying because of a stage win thing is a bit overblown for me, unless there is a serious backstory (recent loss of a friend/loved one)

 

[Tim Cahill]

Colombia stage 9, going up the mighty Alto del Alexander Vinokourov

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Colombia stage 9, going up the mighty Alto del Alexander Vinokourov

Luckily we have one of his former riders in Contreras leading the race and defending his honour.

 

[Tim Cahill]

Sistecredito jersey is awesome, we need more glow in the dark apparel in WT, they're all so dreary nowadays.

 

[GenericBoonenFan]

Hugo Nunes! The whole grown men crying because of a stage win thing is a bit overblown for me, unless there is a serious backstory (recent loss of a friend/loved one)

I can't find the words to explain how strongly I disagree with this

 

[Tim Cahill]

Juan Alba cooked, Camargo with a huge attack but it's being managed, he left it way too late. Race over I think unless something happens tomorrow.

 

[Sciatic]

Juan Alba cooked, Camargo with a huge attack but it's being managed, he left it way too late. Race over I think unless something happens tomorrow.

Yikes, Over 6 hours of racing climbing more than 5,000 meters, at high elevation to boot.

 

[RedheadDane]

Rajovic wins the final stage in Himalaya, while Tsishkou won the GC.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Sistecredito jersey is awesome, we need more glow in the dark apparel in WT, they're all so dreary nowadays.

I miss some of the old jerseys from the scene. The 2009-era Boyacá es para Vivirla jersey was amazing. I also loved the Pinturas Bler-Nectar Cundinamarca one that was like a Latin American take on PDM.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Stage neutralised in the Volta a Portugal with the bunch in Vila Real. Forest fires in the Alvão area have rendered it unsafe to continue.

At present the plan appears to be to bypass the climb by detouring the riders to the village of Campeã, and go over a much lower, easier pass, descending on the N304 into Mondim de Basto to do the final climb to Senhora da Graça, rather than going over the Barragem do Alvão climb on the M313 and descending the M1204-1 to the N304 and going that way. There is a bit of a climb they can take if they are able to ride from Vila Real to Campeã but that seems unlikely at this point in time.

 

[Tim Cahill]

Surprised they aren't going through the fires, would've been a truly mythical image on the climb.

 

[Tim Cahill]

While a lot of radioactive materials aren't combustible, the risks involved in exposing biohazards to fire are high and so I understand why they might not want to risk the Volta péloton.

Any ETA on the restart? I keep checking but don't fancy doing this for the next 2 hours.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Any ETA on the restart? I keep checking but don't fancy doing this for the next 2 hours.

The péloton has arrived in Campeã now so by the original plan they should restart soon.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

They're pulling the breakaway riders out of the bunch now into their two groups to prepare for the restart, and we're go again.

The new route from Vila Real to Mondim de Basto resembles that from the 2017 stage, with them restarting on the plateau between the two parts of the ascent from Vila Real to the Alto do Velão.

Unfortunately, Alvão with its cobbles and ramps is often a good challenge that brings some teams' secondary contenders out and creates some intrigue, like in 2009 when Nuno Ribeiro and João Cabreira were up the road and people like David Bernabéu and Rubén Plaza tried to ride across on Alvão while people like Blanco and Guerra sat back, creating a very mixed up outcome after Blanco went nuts late on on Senhora da Graça because he was still only scraping back up to the group in front.

As things now stand it's likely to just be a straight shootout on the final climb which probably means a top 10 divided by 30-45 seconds. It does, however, massively increase the chances for the break because not only do they not have to worry about pacing themselves over the extra climb, but they also didn't lose any time in the neutralization, as well as getting some recovery time.

Breakaway group is Francisco José Peñuela (Caja Rural), Caleb Classen (Project Echelon), Francisco Morais (Tavfer), Jan Kino (Atom 6) and Edgar Curto (Illes Balears-Arabay). I'd guess at possibly Classen being the best climber of these, but none of them are especially proven shall we say. Curto has some middling results in some 2.1s and some decent climbing performances as an amateur. I feel a win from the péloton is still most likely.

The chase group looks a bit stronger but only has about 30" over the péloton now on the descent. It has Unai Esparza, Antônio Carvalho, and César Fonte among its numbers, but that's also probably why it's not being allowed all that much rope by the bunch.

 

[Tim Cahill]

Colombia

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bt7i7uMYoPM

Portugal

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xp2xMGz67xY

 

[Mayomaniac]

I see blue jerseys in the breakaway, I get w52 flashbacks!

 

[Tim Cahill]

Camargo is gone, the commentator is going absolutely ballistic, don't understand a word of course.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Camargo is gone, the commentator is going absolutely ballistic, don't understand a word of course.

In fairness, he is only 46" down on GC, so this is going for broke on the descent. Los Patios is one of the most classic ascents in Colombia, but it's more for its proximity to Bogotá than anything else. It's a solid cat.2 from the other side (the one they're descending) but not too much from this way as it's less than 3km at 7%, so the fact that the GC is close enough that it's worth Camargo going for broke is a positive, and the fact he's actually gapped Contreras on this climb is unexpected drama.

 

[Tim Cahill]

He needs to use some of that Johnny Vaughters world tour money he got and get these guys to help, otherwise it won't be enough

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Classic Mondim de Basto crowds in Portugal. Nearly 3 minutes for Classen and Peñuela at the bottom of the climb...

Camargo probably is worth a ProTeam level kind of ride and a second go around on the world calendar if he wants it. Contreras has saved the race win on the descent though.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Here comes the fluo train!