Volta ao Algarve 2022 (February 16-20)

[Logic-is-your-friend]

GC

1	17	▲16	GAUDU David	Groupama - FDJ	5	9:47:20
2	9	▲7	MCNULTY Brandon	UAE Team Emirates		0:01
3	7	▲4	EVENEPOEL Remco	Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team		,,
4	12	▲8	HAYTER Ethan	INEOS Grenadiers		,,
5	11	▲6	MARTÍNEZ Daniel Felipe	INEOS Grenadiers		,,
6	16	▲10	BERNARD Julien	Trek - Segafredo		,,
7	14	▲7	BYSTRØM Sven Erik	Intermarché - Wanty - Gobert Matériaux		,,
8	26	▲18	GALLOPIN Tony	Trek - Segafredo		0:08
9	13	▲4	PIDCOCK Thomas	INEOS Grenadiers		0:17
10	25	▲15	VAN BAARLE Dylan	INEOS Grenadiers		0:18
11	37	▲26	LÓPEZ Juan Pedro	Trek - Segafredo		0:21
12	43	▲31	BATTISTELLA Samuele	Astana Qazaqstan Team		0:29
13	47	▲34	ZIMMERMANN Georg	Intermarché - Wanty - Gobert Matériaux		,,
14	19	▲5	HIGUITA Sergio	BORA - hansgrohe		0:36
15	48	▲33	BARGUIL Warren	Team Arkéa Samsic		,,
16	41	▲25	SWIFT Connor	Team Arkéa Samsic		0:39
17	10	▼7	FOSS Tobias	Jumbo-Visma		0:41
18	50	▲32	GUERNALEC Thibault	Team Arkéa Samsic		0:42
19	42	▲23	KÜNG Stefan	Groupama - FDJ		0:46
20	38	▲18	GOGL Michael	Alpecin-Fenix		0:58

Quite unfortunate, but my first impression was that the fault is mostly on Higuita.

I'm not sure, i think Foss first slightly bumps Higuita, who then starts swerving and crashes back into Foss? Hard to blame either one. A bit like yesterday's bump in the sprint of Ruta del Sol.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Well the jury will have a hard time with that one. Evenepoel went for a gap that was already disappearing because the rider to McNulty's right was also moving left, and then the bend makes it hard to accuse both Higuita and Foss of changing their line. Still, with the stringent punishments for Meeus and Richeze lately, there might be relegations regardless and then there's also the matter of time gaps.

The gap was most definitely still there when Evenepoel started his acceleration:

 

[Volderke]

Lazy b... not daring to attack. Probably this stage should come after the TT.

Lolololol just seen the finish clip, Belgian Simon Spilak protesting as he crossed the line as if he was costed the victory. Hahahahaha

Remco was re-enacting, inspired by a statue he saw when crossing the line!

 

[Netserk]

The gap was most definitely still there when Evenepoel started his acceleration:

Judged by those two pictures, McNulty was forced to move or crash. Same for Foss (in that situation).

 

[DaLong]

Looks like a bunch of climbers trying to sprint to me. Not for the faint of heart, ugly all around.

 

[AlfaLum]

Gaudu won.
Battistella finished on the podium.
Hayter also.
Higuita crashed while almost winning a stage.
Foss crashed also.

Why is the most mentioned name still a rider who hardly played a part in todays stage.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Judged by those two pictures, McNulty was forced to move or crash. Same for Foss (in that situation).

He could have braked, which is what he now forced Evenepoel to do. The space next to him was taken but he went for it anyway.

Gaudu won.
Battistella finished on the podium.
Hayter also.
Higuita crashed while almost winning a stage.
Foss crashed also.

Why is the most mentioned name still a rider who hardly played a part in todays stage.

What a constructive passive agressive message. Everybody is free to discuss what they wish as long as it's on topic and within forum rules. You're talking about the overwhelming pre-race favorite who won this stage 2 years ago and wasn't able to sprint for the stage because he was blocked. Reason enough to talk about him.

 

[AlfaLum]

He could have braked, which is what he now forced Evenepoel to do. The space next to him was taken but he went for it anyway.


What a constructive passive agressive message. Everybody is free to discuss what they wish as long as it's on topic and within forum rules.

Which is why i am trying to figure out why even on a stage where he hardly played a part the main topic needs to be Evenepoel.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Which is why i am trying to figure out why even on a stage where he hardly played a part the main topic needs to be Evenepoel.

Feel free to discuss other riders instead of discussing why another rider is being discussed, hence drawing even more focus to him. And see my previous post edit if you're wondering why.

 

[jflemaire]

Which is why i am trying to figure out why even on a stage where he hardly played a part the main topic needs to be Evenepoel.

In case you haden't noticed you too are talking about Evenepoel.

 

[Carrick-On-Seine]

Lolololol just seen the finish clip, Belgian Simon Spilak protesting as he crossed the line as if he was costed the victory. Hahahahaha

I suppose he got beat by the British Simon Spilak today

 

[johnymax]

It has to be the worst Alto da Foia stage ever. Ending in a 20 men uphill sprint with only one single attack on the final climb...

One of Higuita or Foss could have probably won if not for the crash, but I'm happy for Gaudu. Too bad that both involved in a crash lost time. They would have been players in GC for sure. Now it'll be difficult for them to contend for a top3.

 

[Nirvana]

LIYF hit back at me because I'm overcritical of the little brat supposed climbing prowess but this time he was even worse than my expectations. Anyway i wonder why people call him "Belgian Spilak" when Spilak in his days was able to climb in way Evenepoel can't even dream of.

 

[tobydawq]

LIYF hit back at me because I'm overcritical of the little brat supposed climbing prowess but this time he was even worse than my expectations. Anyway i wonder why people call him "Belgian Spilak" when Spilak in his days was able to climb in way Evenepoel can't even dream of.

Eh?

 

[johnymax]

LIYF hit back at me because I'm overcritical of the little brat supposed climbing prowess but this time he was even worse than my expectations. Anyway i wonder why people call him "Belgian Spilak" when Spilak in his days was able to climb in way Evenepoel can't even dream of.

Why was he worse than your expectations? What did you expect? He was with the leading group till the end and never looked in difficulty, just as expected I'd say.

Agree on Špilak though. I don't understand why his name is being used in a negative way. In his prime there were times when he was the only rider who was able to stay with prime Froome on the climbs in spring WT stage races and has won multiple WT stage races with lots of climbing like Romandie and Suisse. Remco has yet to win those.

View: https://youtu.be/DkjIJLRy9hE?t=1924

 

[AlfaLum]

I was really pleasently surprised by how strong both Higuita and Foss looked. Especially Higuita who had a poor 2021 makes me happy, as i hope he can get back to his 2019 level or a bit better.

Foss meanwhile I found lacking something usually, but yesterday seemed to have a lot of power. So also looking forward to his Development this season and I could actually see him doing better than Dumoulin in the Giro this season.

Also nice to see Battistella at this level. Had read that he was looking super strong in training and good that he is able to show that in races so far.

Lastly Gaudu, hopefully he will be able to make that final step this year to be a real challenger for the elite riders. Last year already was super strong, but a bit below the Class of guys like Pogacar, Roglic etc. This year it would be Nice If he can find that extra gear to beat those guys occasionnaly.

 

[RedheadDane]

Lastly Gaudu, hopefully he will be able to make that final step this year to be a real challenger for the elite riders. Last year already was super strong, but a bit below the Class of guys like Pogacar, Roglic etc. This year it would be Nice If he can find that extra gear to beat those guys occasionnaly.

Do you have a specific race in mind?

 

[AlfaLum]

Do you have a specific race in mind?

Haha somehow my telephone always corrects nice to Nice. It would be nice if Gaudu could win there yes, but with the TT I dont see it happening. Liege would be great for him!

 

[RedheadDane]

Haha somehow my telephone always corrects nice to Nice. It would be nice if Gaudu could win there yes, but with the TT I dont see it happening. Liege would be great for him!

Sure, the GC of P-N might be tricky, but maybe a stage.
As for L-B-L; well... if a podium place meant that he got to drag that non-cyclist friend of his on a seven-hour training trip, I wonder what a win would mean.

 

[Hugo Koblet]

I was really pleasently surprised by how strong both Higuita and Foss looked. Especially Higuita who had a poor 2021 makes me happy, as i hope he can get back to his 2019 level or a bit better.

Foss meanwhile I found lacking something usually, but yesterday seemed to have a lot of power. So also looking forward to his Development this season and I could actually see him doing better than Dumoulin in the Giro this season.

Also nice to see Battistella at this level. Had read that he was looking super strong in training and good that he is able to show that in races so far.

Lastly Gaudu, hopefully he will be able to make that final step this year to be a real challenger for the elite riders. Last year already was super strong, but a bit below the Class of guys like Pogacar, Roglic etc. This year it would be Nice If he can find that extra gear to beat those guys occasionnaly.

Higuita was actually very strong last year as well (at least in some races). He was the third best in both UAE Tour and Tirreno, but in the former he missed the split in the echelons (ok, you could then argue that he really wasn't the third best...) and in Tirreno he completely bonked on the Castelfiardo stage (again you could argue that he really wasn't the third strongest then which is fair). He has a high top level, but he just seems to lack stability.

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Let's see if Hayter can limit his losses on Malhao. Last year he lost 21 seconds but in a much weaker field and he looks to be in pretty poor shape. However, if he can defend himself he might still be in with a shot at top 3 (I expect Evenepoel and McNulty to take the top two spots on the podium).

 

[AlfaLum]

Higuita was actually very strong last year as well (at least in some races). He was the third best in both UAE Tour and Tirreno, but in the former he missed the split in the echelons (ok, you could then argue that he really wasn't the third best...) and in Tirreno he completely bonked on the Castelfiardo stage (again you could argue that he really wasn't the third strongest then which is fair). He has a high top level, but he just seems to lack stability.

Yeah i agree that he was very strong on some days last year. But in 2019 and start of 2020 he did seem to be very consistent. At that point I was almost expecting him to become a Valverde like rider.

After the COVID break that consistency seemed to have vanished. Obviously unlucky with the Jungels incident in the Tour. Last year indeed he reached a very decent level occasionally, but results were lacking. Also he sprint seemed very poor on a number of occasions.

I hope this year he can really get that consistency (back) at Bora. Because I still see him as having the potential to win/podium some very big races.

 

[AlfaLum]

Let's see if Hayter can limit his losses on Malhao. Last year he lost 21 seconds but in a much weaker field and he looks to be in pretty poor shape. However, if he can defend himself he might still be in with a shot at top 3 (I expect Evenepoel and McNulty to take the top two spots on the podium).

What about Martinez? Doesn’t have to loose too much time in the TT against Hayter and should be a better finisher on Malhao perhaps.

 

[Nirvana]

Why was he worse than your expectations? What did you expect? He was with the leading group till the end and never looked in difficulty, just as expected I'd say.

Agree on Špilak though. I don't understand why his name is being used in a negative way. In his prime there were times when he was the only rider who was able to stay with prime Froome on the climbs in spring WT stage races and has won multiple WT stage races with lots of climbing like Romandie and Suisse. Remco has yet to win those.

View: https://youtu.be/DkjIJLRy9hE?t=1924

Because I thought Foia was easy enough for him to be able to drop everyone but maybe coupled with the new climb they added just before it's already too much climbing for him to do something more than following wheels.

For reference that was I predicted after Valenciana for him in Algarve: https://forum.cyclingnews.com/threa...ruary-2nd-6th-2022.37634/page-12#post-2660868

Regarding Spilak he even won solo on Tiefenbachferner, it's crazy to use him to mock Evenepoel.

 

[Hugo Koblet]

What about Martinez? Doesn’t have to loose too much time in the TT against Hayter and should be a better finisher on Malhao perhaps.

Yeah, I actually meant to include him as well, but I guess I accidently left him out as they're teammates. Martinez has a very good shot at podiuming as well.