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Volta a Portugal Discussion Thread
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| ember |
Posted on 15-06-2012 16:34
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Volta a Portugal
Welcome to Portugal! This should be a highlight in the Continental Division this year. It's a .HC-classified stage race, with 11 stages which all, by the look at the profiles, look to guarantee action. It starts with a prologue, before a not-so-flat flat stage takes us to the first difficulty for the riders with overall ambitions. Stage 3 is a hilly stage, but the final kilometers is steep, in fact they're very steep! A strong kick will be demanded to win the stage. Stage 4 means back to "not-so-flat flat stages" for the sprinters, before it's back to business with a mountain top finish on stage 5, followed by a hilly stage 6.
Stage 7 is, surprisingly enough, a flat stage for the sprinters, which the overall favourites will use to save energy for the upcoming days, as stage 8 is the Queen stage in this year's edition, with the finish line up in the mountains. Another flat stage for the sprinters takes us to 30 kilometers of individual riding against the clock, before everything might be decided on the hilly stage 11, which is also the final stage of the race.
 Luis Leon Sanchez
is given bib #1, and he's definitely one of the favourites to the overall win. He's known to be an attacking rider, who's at his very best in the hills, but he also rides well on mountains and time trials. He should also be 100% supported by his team mates, as they're a Portuguese team, riding the biggest Portuguese bike race. They'll obviously be motivated, will it be enough to give Sanchez the overall win?
 Franco Pellizotti
won this race last year, ahead of great climbers like Serpa and Kohl. He's one year older, and he starts to feel the age, but he's still a very respected climber. His acceleration on steep climbs has broken many riders trying to follow throughout the years, and he'll try once more to be at his very best here in Portugal, trying to defend his title from 2011.
 Carlos Castano
has arguably been Pirelli's best rider so far this season, which says a lot considering both Van Den Broeck and Roche are also in the team. He has pulled of a couple of nice wins so far this year, and he might very well put his name to another big race here in Portugal. Montana, Dupont and Busche should all be able to give him great support on the tough stages, which means it's all up to Castano himself to prove he's strong enough for the overall win.
 Ryan Eastman
is seen as the American wonderkid, which is fully reasonable. He's only 20 years old, but already a great climber. He also handles the time trial bike well, which should be a perfect combination for this race. Strong enough to win it?
 Mikayil Krasnoperov
is a great, great climber. And he's also good against the clock. Definitely one of the absolute favourites for the overall win, question is if he'll will be able to ride at his very best on all 11 stages, which is needed to win a .HC stage race.
 Larsson
 Paulinho
 Lowe
 De Greef
 Rujigh
will all need a surprise to fight for a podium overall, but ruling them completely out would be stupid. Larsson might grab the yellow jersey on the opening prologue, who knows how far that can bring him? Rujigh showed on Corsica that he's more than able to surprise, and he'll look for a similar ride here in Portugal. De Greef and Lowe are both rock solid riders, but they probably favour a breakaway to get a good overall placing, eventhough they're more than capable to ride with the best in the mountains. Paulinho is on home soil, and should definitely be inspired. He's the Portuguese champion on the time trial bike, and with the opening stage being a prologue, expect the crowd to go wild for him, as he'll thunder for the line in his national jersey!
Full startlist
Spoiler | Cerne | | 1. L. Sanchez Gil | | 2. A. Antunes | | 3. C. Baltazar | | 4. J. Martins | | 5. N. Oliveira | | 6. B. Pires | | 7. B. Santos | | 8. A. Vital | | Pirelli | | 11. C. Castaño | | 12. M. Busche | | 13. N. D'Andrea | | 14. H. Dupont | | 15. S. Lagana' | | 16. F. Montaña | | 17. E. Murgoitio | | 18. F. Tizza | | Venchi | | 21. F. Pellizotti | | 22. V. Agnoli | | 23. F. Aru | | 24. M. Bodnar | | 25. M. Corti | | 26. P. Haugard | | 27. S. Marinangeli | | 28. L. Sestili | | WWE | | 31. S. Paulinho | | 32. J. Becerra | | 33. A. Gottfried | | 34. L. Hoste | | 35. F. Jeandesbosz | | 36. J. Pineau | | 37. C. Sørensen | | 38. D. Veilleux | | Aker Solutions | | 41. G. Larsson | | 42. H. Duenas Nevado | | 43. L. Haedo | | 44. O. Hirschlein | | 45. J. Le Bon | | 46. M. Ortega | | 47. J. Rojas Gil | | 48. E. Viennet | | Cal Giant | | 51. R. Eastman | | 52. A. Ablenado | | 53. T. Brandt | | 54. W. Frischkorn | | 55. A. Jeannesson | | 56. B. King | | 57. J. Simon | | 58. B. Sinner | | Focus | | 61. R. Sicard | | 62. J. Adams | | 63. J. Debusschere | | 64. B. Feillu | | 65. R. Hardy | | 66. B. Jungels | | 67. C. Pineau | | 68. T. Thill | | Puma | | 71. P. Rolland | | 72. J. Bol | | 73. M. Delage | | 74. T. Dumoulin | | 75. T. Martin | | 76. G. Meersman | | 77. J. Sütterlin | | 78. J. Thire | | Cyclevox | | 81. T. Lowe | | 82. C. Beyer | | 83. S. Casar | | 84. G. Heymes | | 85. C. Knees | | 86. D. McLay | | 87. T. Rabou | | 88. S. Richardson | | Export | | 91. M. Krasnoperov | | 92. T. Bonnin | | 93. G. Báez | | 94. A. Grigrian | | 95. D. Navarro | | 96. J. Niño | | 97. V. Orozco | | 98. I. Seledkov | | CSC | | 101. R. Costa | | 102. M. Dueñas | | 103. I. Kovalev | | 104. B. Lima | | 105. E. Parra Bustamante | | 106. J. Perez Cuapio | | 107. M. Soler | | 108. E. Teruel | | Bpost | | 111. F. De Greef | | 112. S. Dillier | | 113. C. Gautier | | 114. M. La Lavandier | | 115. W. Maesen | | 116. S. Poulhiès | | 117. T. Stubbe | | 118. W. Van Den Eynde | | Rothaus | | 121. R. Ruijgh | | 122. C. Cucinotta | | 123. J. Novak | | 124. A. Passeron | | 125. F. Scheit | | 126. C. Van Heerden | | 127. D. Vesely | | 128. F. Willems | | Proximus | | 131. M. De Maar | | 132. J. Claes | | 133. K. De Weert | | 134. I. Kip | | 135. D. Kopp | | 136. J. Mouris | | 137. Y. Stoltz | | 138. M. Zenagui | | Koppert | | 141. J. Thomson | | 142. J. Dieteren | | 143. F. Goesinnen | | 144. A. Kamyshev | | 145. J. McCarthy | | 146. T. Slagter | | 147. J. Venter | | 148. P. Vlatos |
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| jph27 |
Posted on 15-06-2012 16:39
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This should be a great race, I'm looking forward to watching it played out. |
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| CountArach |
Posted on 15-06-2012 16:39
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I picked this when I thought I had VDB in my team so I am expecting nothing here. Gautier might be good for some stage hunting and De Greef for a decent GC place but I'm not expecting anything.
Castano to win it I think.
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| Mresuperstar |
Posted on 15-06-2012 16:41
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I really picked some stupid goals this year, It looks like I'm going to go 0/5 if I can't magically get a top 5. Only thing I'm looking forward to is if Kovalev can winning the opening prologue. After that Costa needs to be on steriods to get me my top 5  .
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| jack888 |
Posted on 15-06-2012 16:43
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We're back racing!
Krazzo wont hold his own for 11 stages, hoping for top 10 though, and keep an eye on Navarro or Orcozo for a sneeky breakaway win (or two  ) .
edit
Mresuperstar wrote:
I really picked some stupid goals this year, It looks like I'm going to go 0/5 if I can't magically get a top 5. Only thing I'm looking forward to is if Kovalev can winning the opening prologue. After that Costa needs to be on steriods to get me my top 5 .
Same with a lot of new teams last year (myself included). Hard to pick the right races when you've never seen your team race before! It will be easy to find cash next season when your wages basically half anyway.
Edited by jack888 on 15-06-2012 16:46
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Posted on 22-11-2024 01:32
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| cio93 |
Posted on 15-06-2012 16:58
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I'm really eager to see what Rolland can do here.
Obviously, stage 8 will be too hard to compensate the time loss there with the TT, but i only see about 5 guys that are surely in front of him overall.
The TTs are definately to his favour, Larsson and Sanchez should be the only real opponents for the longer one.
Jonathon Thire has his only chance as sprint leader this season in this race, but I only see him competing in stages 7 and 9, whereas Delage has a good shot at 2, 4 and 11 if the game recognizes his chances there.
Marinangeli should be the man to beat if it's more or less flat.
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| Christer |
Posted on 15-06-2012 17:53
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Hoping Paulinho can get something going here. He has a tendency to be good in his late season. I get the feeling of such, at least. So here goes nothing!
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| Levi4life |
Posted on 15-06-2012 18:22
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I was expecting more of a stacked field. I certainly wasn't expecting Eastman to be a contender for the win. More like a top 10. That said, top 5 is probably the best he can hope for.
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| SportingNonsense |
Posted on 15-06-2012 21:04
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Mresuperstar wrote:
Only thing I'm looking forward to is if Kovalev can winning the opening prologue. After that Costa needs to be on steriods to get me my top 5 .
Looks like Costa took steroids a day early 
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| Mresuperstar |
Posted on 15-06-2012 21:14
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Hurry hide the EPO, whoops I meant streaks, there on to us
That was just remarkable, now how long can Costa hang on to it.
Edited by Mresuperstar on 15-06-2012 21:15
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| Levi4life |
Posted on 15-06-2012 21:16
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Solid from Eastman and Brandt. Young Rider battle should be interesting.
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| jph27 |
Posted on 15-06-2012 21:17
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Mresuperstar wrote:
Hurry hide the EPO, whoops I meant streaks, there on to us
That was just remarkable, now how long can Costa hang on to it.
I've got a stash hidden away, if you want it for later in the week. Costa is doing well, but is it well enough?  |
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| CountArach |
Posted on 15-06-2012 22:14
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17" behind is better than I hoped for De Greef. Great ride by Costa.
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| Gustavovskiy |
Posted on 15-06-2012 22:14
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Great preview ember, this has all the ingredients for an awesome race. Although I was expecting, just like Levi, a much stronger field. I was hoping I could sneak LLS into the top10 but with this line up I believe he may be able to do a bit more, though I don't believe he's the no. 1 favourite as the startlist may suggest.
Anyway let's see how this pans out. Looking good for CSC so far.
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| dave92 |
Posted on 15-06-2012 22:18
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Good to see Kovalev and Busche make good starts. Castano may win out in a battle of consistency, but LLS will be right there with him. Should be nice to see Eastman gunning for a podium place.
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| Levi4life |
Posted on 15-06-2012 22:29
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I think the mountain stages won't be hard enough to put LLS in a sufficient hole, and he'll gain time in the TT and the hilly stages. He is top favorite for me. Larsson and Castano are two I would also tip for the podium.
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| roturn |
Posted on 15-06-2012 22:55
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Costa one of this season`s biggest surprises for me. He has good stats but is overperforming a lot imo.
I have no big aims for this race. Top10 would be great but hard. Maybe a stage win. Passeron in a break...again...hope so...
Also Cucinotta might have good chances in the sprints to get a podium here. But what am I talking about. Rothaus performing well in the sprints...no way. |
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| cio93 |
Posted on 15-06-2012 23:41
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Strong result for Rolland!
Now the focus is on not loosing too much time on the steep hill in stage 3, but the field doesn't look very strong. Maybe if the superior guys are gone in the sprint, the rest will be spread out wide enough for a 70 HIL to stay in touch. Positioning will be the key!
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| jack888 |
Posted on 16-06-2012 06:11
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Happy so far, good to see us in the break and placing high. |
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| ANFreeman |
Posted on 16-06-2012 10:19
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what an odd stage that was.
Not complaining though 
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