Volta ao Algarve 2022 (February 16-20)

[tobydawq]

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.

What about Küng? Surely, he can take more time on Martínez in the TT than he will lose on Malhão.

 

[Mayomaniac]

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

Spilak was a badass, whenever the weather got really bad he started unzipping his jersey.
Not to mention the fact that he was 5th in De Panne and inside the top 10 in the RVV as a neopro...

 

[Mayomaniac]

What about Küng? Surely, he can take more time on Martínez in the TT than he will lose on Malhão.

If they go hard on the first Malhão ascent Küng will loose lots of time.

 

[tobydawq]

If they go hard on the first Malnao ascent Küng will loose lots of time.

Perhaps, yes. But it was quite impressive how long he lasted yesterday. Foia is a much better climb for him, though, obviously.

 

[Red Rick]

Malhao should be a better lithmus test for Evenepoel than today. But the real test is Tirreno

 

[Hugo Koblet]

What about Küng? Surely, he can take more time on Martínez in the TT than he will lose on Malhão.

Küng lost time on stage 1 as well as yesterday, so he's already 45 seconds down on Martinez. Martinez is not a bad ITT'er himself, and with Malhao still coming up, I think he's a pretty big favorite head to head against Küng.

 

[tobydawq]

Küng lost time on stage 1 as well as yesterday, so he's already 45 seconds down on Martinez. Martinez is not a bad ITT'er himself, and with Malhao still coming up, I think he's a pretty big favorite head to head against Küng.

Sorry, I didn't know he lost time on stage 1. Then I agree that a podium is out of the question.

 

[greyclouds]

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

That's correct, but you can't blame McNulty for this. The whole bunch was moving to the left, what was McNulty supposed to do? Break, during what effectively was a sprint, and risk getting crashed by a rider behind, stay put and he would crash with the sliding bunch. Besides, he doesn't even necessarily know that Remco is riding for the gap, as he is always ahead of him. Imho it was just bad luck, and a weird sprint uphill.

 

[greyclouds]

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).

Last year's Malhao climb was the day after the ITT (same as this year) where he crashed

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Last year's Malhao climb was the day after the ITT (same as this year) where he crashed

I didn't know that Hayter crashed last year. Interesting. Thanks!

 

[greyclouds]

I didn't know that Hayter crashed last year. Interesting. Thanks!

Yeah, he would have won it last year if not for the crash. He lost 1 minute to Asgreen in the ITT, maybe half of it due to the crash, and only grabbed a few seconds to Rodrigues - who is not a good ITT'er. Worth to say that there wasn't much competition last year, with Hayter and Asgreen being the two clear favourites, Rodriguez was there but even younger, and Rodrigues, well, Portugal can really be a parallel universe when it gets to cycling.

To be honest, the only guy that I can see challenging Remco this year is Hayter, but he might not be in top form yet (I think he had Covid during the winter break), but he will need to make up time in the Malhao climb. He can ITT (he only lost about 40s to Remco in last year's 43km WCC ITT), but unless he gives a big jump in performance, he will always from loose 30s upwards to Remco.

Last year in the ITT after the crash:

 

[Ranagazoo]

Pasqualon DNS, he's been a beast for Kristoff so far this season. Even easier for Jakobsen now

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Yeah, he would have won it last year if not for the crash. He lost 1 minute to Asgreen in the ITT, maybe half of it due to the crash, and only grabbed a few seconds to Rodrigues - who is not a good ITT'er. Worth to say that there wasn't much competition last year, with Hayter and Asgreen being the two clear favourites, Rodriguez was there but even younger, and Rodrigues, well, Portugal can really be a parallel universe when it gets to cycling.

To be honest, the only guy that I can see challenging Remco this year is Hayter, but he might not be in top form yet (I think he had Covid during the winter break), but he will need to make up time in the Malhao climb. He can ITT (he only lost about 40s to Remco in last year's 43km WCC ITT), but unless he gives a big jump in performance, he will always from loose 30s upwards to Remco.

Last year in the ITT after the crash:

Yeah I remember now. And I think you're right about Hayter and covid.

 

[Ilmaestro99]

Man there are so many crashes in this race for some reason. Already a crash in the bunch this morning.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Seems like a stupid move for Alpecin to do most of the work when you can also wear out a Declercq-less Quickstep to prevent Evenepoel from destroying your train again.

 

[SafeBet]

Tulett has already crashed three times in 8 racing days since the beginning of the season.

 

[Samamba]

QS changed their train line up, Evenepoel behind Lampaert.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Aaand Jakobsen ran rings around everyone else again.

 

[Samamba]

That was an impressive sprint from Jakobsen tho. First time this season he actually had to go full.

Only one who can beat him is Ewan and he needs to be in his wheel imo.

 

[Salvarani]

QS changed their train line up, Evenepoel behind Lampaert.

Much better.

Great today and more smooth. Better executed than the other day in my opinion.

Van Leberghe delivered Jakobsen perfectly. It was smart to use Coquard also. Jakobsen is hard to beat atm.

 

[SafeBet]

When is the first h2h between Ewan and Jakobsen? Kuurne?

 

[jmdirt]

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!

Your phone telling you that you need a Nice vacation!

 

[Lequack]

So happy for Jakobsen, always great to see him win. And he gives great interviews about tactics, not just the usual "we'll see how it goes" that you get from many other riders.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

QS changed their train line up, Evenepoel behind Lampaert.

Asgreen had to pull at least 25m before going off the front. Maybe even 50.

 

[jmdirt]

Fabio!