Volta ao Algarve 2022 (February 16-20)

[KZD]

Before his accident he was boxing Ganna. I'm curious.

Exactly, he gained 46 seconds to Ganna in Yorkshire's TT, a relatively hard course, so it shows that he can definitely aim for a gold medal in the years to come. Maybe this won't be the best year for it because he will do the Vuelta but the Worlds TT isn't totally flat either and I think its a more likely outcome than him winning the Vuelta.

 

[TourOfSardinia]

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Good performance by Hayter! Hopefully he can hang on to his podium tomorrow.

 

[limak_]

Awesome time by Evenepoel, always looks like he is riding a bike too big for him but to be fair it's extremely difficult to look stylish on a tt bike, only Big Jan, Wiggo and Tom Dumoulin managed it off the top of my head.

Remco looks great on his TT bike, he's got imo one of the prettiest positions in the whole peloton - super comapct, his head and shoulders perefectly tucked, looks super fast. But I know the term stylish is very subjective.

 

[sir fly]

Good to see Remco hitting the ground running.
We need as many challengers as possible to prevent Pogačar from making the future monotonous.

 

[rghysens]

TT jersey?
That's not ganna happen.

Will depend on the course. If it is hilly enough, Ganna won't be the favorit.

 

[TomBonnen2005]

Kung ahead of Gaudu in GC?

 

[Carrick-On-Seine]

Exactly, he gained 46 seconds to Ganna in Yorkshire's TT, a relatively hard course, so it shows that he can definitely aim for a gold medal in the years to come. Maybe this won't be the best year for it because he will do the Vuelta but the Worlds TT isn't totally flat either and I think its a more likely outcome than him winning the Vuelta.

And also Alkmaar in the 2019 European championships. Ganna finished sixth.

 

[houtdffan]

TT length was a bit too long for this type of race. 10 km is more appropriate for this kind of race

32km is more suited for a race like Romandie. 15-20km for a race like PN or TA.

The very long ITTs (50km or longer) should be for the Dauphine/Suisse and the GTs

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

TT length was a bit too long for this type of race. 10 km is more appropriate for this kind of race

32km is more suited for a race like Romandie. 15-20km for a race like PN or TA.

The very long ITTs (50km or longer) should be for the Dauphine/Suisse and the GTs

I disagree. Too many 7-10k TT 's all through the year. It suits the same (type of) riders and it gets boring fast. While 32k might be overkill, i quite liked the previous 20k TT course in Algarve.

 

[jmdirt]

Rem revin that motor!

 

[Skijumper Roglic fan]

Remco seems to have gotten arms of a bodybuilder over the winter. He looked very powerful and was super fast. Küng had a perfect winter, and today did not have a chance against Remco.

Roglic was made crash by Colbrelli in last year‘s TdF. That won‘t happen to Remco, in the GTs. With these intimidating muscular arms, Remco is able to defend himself. If Colbrelli wants to make him crash, Remco will get off his bike and invite Colbrelli to a 1 vs 1…

 

[Red Rick]

I disagree. Too many 7-10k TT 's all through the year. It suits the same (type of) riders and it gets boring fast. While 32k might be overkill, i quite liked the previous 20k TT course in Algarve.

It's fine. It's also a race that's not big enough to really care about balancing.

 

[Red Rick]

Also wind circumstances were changing quite quikcly at the end, no? Think Hayter is a better comparison than Kung for today for Evenepoel.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Also wind circumstances were changing quite quikcly at the end, no? Think Hayter is a better comparison than Kung for today for Evenepoel.

The big change in wind circumstances clearly manifested before Küng started, with guys like Hoole, Russo and even Gesink putting down incredible times for their doing (compared to proven TT powerhouses that had already finished, Lampaert, Asgreen... who rode much earlier).
Also, Küng started only 22 minutes earlier than Evenepoel by the way, so circumstances couldn't have changed that much, as both were underway simultaniously. Compare Küngs time to that of Foss, who started 2 minutes after Küng, it's clear that Küng simply didn't deliver a stellar performance, and that it wasn't due to the wind changing, imho. If you compare times by Foss and McNulty to that of Evenepoel, in light of their previous encounters in long ITT's, they actually came closer to Evenepoel today.

Imho, Today's difference between #1 & #2 was as much due to Küng delivering a subpar performance, as it was due to Evenepoel's top performance.

 

[hayneplane]

It's fine. It's also a race that's not big enough to really care about balancing.

I can get that viewpoint as other than the Local teams it’s nobody’s seasons goal so a little imbalance every so often is ok.

 

[hayneplane]

McNulty is in great form and a similar type of rider to Remco in terms of their GC skillset orientation yet he got absolutely roasted by Remco today going out at close times.

We pretty much all agree that the 2020 Giro was a freak Covid anomaly but we saw there that McNulty can put decent time into the climbers yet with 50-60km of ITT in a GT route it is feasible for Remco to even put 2 1/2 - 3 minutes into him.

 

[Andre]

Yes, you hit back and not only at me but at everyone every single time something is written regarding him, everywhere in the forum like a personal crusade in his favour, last year after the Giro I even stopped writing in his thread after you complained I was coming there only to criticize but it's no use. Anyway I call him this way because he looks like an arrogant *** both in interviews and in attitude during and after the races.

You just don't like Remco but you hate all the attention he gets. No need to try to degrade him with name calling. Guess what? Remco is the man (look at today's stage). I have a feeling he's going to break your heart quite a lot.

 

[Escarabajo]

Remco now the favorite to win the Vuelta.

And the Tour and the Giro. I think we went through this already!!!

 

[Escarabajo]

Full disclosure: I do like Remco

And, as I have said, this TT is a little out of balance for this race.

However, it is such a shame that GTs have so cut the TTs.

It is the race of truth. Always has been.

And it is a thing of beauty.

And if they brought the balance back in GTs it would force the pure climbers to take risks and attack earlier.

It would force no-one to do anything. Pogacar was the best in the TT and the best at climbing. It would bring no balance either because Pogacar would eat Remco in the mountains. So there is that!

 

[RedheadDane]

It would bring no balance either because Pogacar would eat Remco in the mountains.

There are rules against that!

 

[repre]

And the Tour and the Giro. I think we went through this already!!!

After Malhao he'll be again just contender for the podium)

 

[KZD]

It would force no-one to do anything. Pogacar was the best in the TT and the best at climbing. It would bring no balance either because Pogacar would eat Remco in the mountains. So there is that!

I have no doubts Pogacar is quite stronger than Remco in the mountains but he would have definitely lost some time today.

 

[Big Doopie]

It would force no-one to do anything. Pogacar was the best in the TT and the best at climbing. It would bring no balance either because Pogacar would eat Remco in the mountains. So there is that!

um...duh.

i wasn't directing this at benefitting remco in particular, that wasn't the point. My point was that GCs should always have a balanced amount of TT kms, because it is the race of truth, beautiful to watch, and should come into play in deciding the best all-rounder in a race -- yes, even if that means rog and pog win by more!

i'm talking about the yates, carapaz, gaudu, etc... these climbers masquerading as GC favorites that have been all the vogue in recent years.

a lengthy TT can also serve to force a pure climber to over-extend themselves and wear themselves out defending against massive losses. they can often then not perform as expected in the mountains (yates in 2018 giro for example). GTs used to have that all the time -- the longer flat stages and TTs actually wore down the pure climbers who rarely performed to expectations when it came to the mountains. It is why true all-rounders like Merckx, Hinault, and Lemond often outperformed pure climbers in the mountains of a GT.

if you shorten stages and have virtually no ITT, now you have riders simply fighting it out for seconds at the tops of MTFs -- something everyone complains about.

 

[houtdffan]

I disagree. Too many 7-10k TT 's all through the year. It suits the same (type of) riders and it gets boring fast. While 32k might be overkill, i quite liked the previous 20k TT course in Algarve.

7-10 is too short for this race. Think 20-25 is more suited for Basque Country where there are few sprint stages, mostly designed for punchers and goats. The longer ITT there balances things a bit out more.

10-15 should produce a slightly different kind of winer vs a prologue length TT