Stage 4 & Final - Volta ao Algarve / No Tour for Wiggins?

The 2013 edition of the Volta Ao Algarve came to a end today with an individual time trial. Four Radioshack Leopard Trek riders, Jesse Sergent, Tiago Machado, Andreas Kloden and Jan Bakelants, were in the top 10, but it was hard to compete when World Champion Time Trialist Tony Martin blew everyone away by over a minute! Radioshack won best team, and rider Giacomo Nizzolo won the sprint jersey. I'd say this was a great race for Radioshack!

February 17, Stage 4: Castro Marim - Tavira (ITT) 34.8km

Martin wins time trial, overall at Volta ao Algarve

Reigning time trial world champion Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) stamped his authority on the Volta ao Algarve's final stage as the 27-year-old German scorched the 34.8km race of truth in 45:09 to win both the stage and the overall general classification. Such was the dominance of Martin's performance that his closest competitor, teammate Michal Kwiatkowski, ceded 1:07 to the flying German while Jesse Sergent (RadioShack-Leopard) notched the third best time at 1:15 down.

 
"I am really happy," Martin said. "I was really looking to have a good day, and I had a good feeling immediately this morning during the reconnaissance. The parcours was really hard, with a lot of technical parts and little climbs where it was necessary to relaunch the action every time. Fortunately, it didn't rain during the TT. It rained a little bit before, but it stopped before so we had good conditions on the course during the TT. I really pushed a lot, and everything was perfect. There was a perfect approach to the race, and the result was because of all of these things."

Kwiatkowski made it a 1-2 Omega Pharma finish for both the stage and general classification as well, finishing 58 seconds down on Martin overall.

 
"Today I liked this kind of parcours," said Kwiatkowski. "It was not one for the big gear — it was a bit more technical with a lot of shifting. I like that kind of parcours the most. I am very happy about the entire week, even on the climb yesterday. I saw the job I did in the last month to improve on the climbs pay off. I had good results at this race and I am happy about it."

Dutch time trial champion Lieuwe Westra (Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team) clocked the fourth fastest time, 1:16 down on Martin. Westra started the stage eight seconds ahead of Kwiatkowski and 17 seconds in front of Martin on general classification, but the Dutchman lost time to the Omega Pharma-Quick Step teammates. Westra would still finish on the final GC podium in third, however, with Kwiatkowski edging him out for second overall by just one second.

 
Overnight leader Sergio Henao (Sky) proved no match for the rouleurs on the Volta al Algarve's concluding time trial, losing 3:15 and the overall title to Martin, who started the day 28 seconds in arrears of the 25-year-old Colombian. Although Henao finished a respectable 14th in the final stage, beating the likes of French time trial champion Sylvain Chavanel by four seconds, he nonetheless dropped to 12th overall on general classification, 2:47 down on Martin.

The seeds of overall victory were sown by Martin the previous day, where he limited his losses to his GC rivals with an 11th place result on the Alto do Malhão summit finish, a stage won by Henao. With a stunning display of time trial prowess befitting the world champion, Martin quickly erased his general classification deficit to seal his second Volta ao Algarve overall win in three years.

"My condition is better than last year at this moment," said Martin. "I knew it was possible to not lose a lot of time from the best climbers, and my team and I made sure of it. I have to say this kind of race, with an uphill finish, a TT, and sprint stages in the beginning is perfect for me. It's the kind of race I like and I am always looking for.

"I hope this victory helps me and the team continue to get good results during the season. I'd also like to thank my team and my teammates. They really protected me and Michal for the entire week. With the bad luck of Cav in the sprints, we really focused on the GC and the TT. Fortunately, we were successful. This is not just an individual victory, but a team victory."

Stage 4 Results
1 Tony Martin (Ger) Omega Pharma-Quick Step 0:45:09
2 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Omega Pharma-Quick Step 0:01:07
3 Jesse Sergent (NZl) RadioShack Leopard 0:01:15
4 Lieuwe Westra (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 0:01:16
5 Jonathan Castroviejo Nicolas (Spa) Movistar Team 0:01:30
6 Denis Menchov (Rus) Katusha 0:01:32
7 Tiago Machado (Por) RadioShack Leopard 0:01:47
8 Rui Alberto Faria Da Costa (Por) Movistar Team
9 Andreas Klöden (Ger) RadioShack Leopard 0:02:04
10 Jan Bakelants (Bel) RadioShack Leopard 0:02:32 

 Final general classification
1 Tony Martin (Ger) Omega Pharma-Quick Step 15:36:26
2 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Omega Pharma-Quick Step 0:00:58
3 Lieuwe Westra (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 0:00:59
4 Denis Menchov (Rus) Katusha 0:01:21
5 Rui Alberto Faria Da Costa (Por) Movistar Team 0:01:26
6 Tiago Machado (Por) RadioShack Leopard 0:01:30
7 Jesse Sergent (NZl) RadioShack Leopard 0:01:40
8 Jonathan Castroviejo Nicolas (Spa) Movistar Team 0:01:45
9 Andreas Klöden (Ger) RadioShack Leopard 0:01:53
10 Rigoberto Uran Uran (Col) Sky Procycling 0:02:31

Despite different reports coming out every day, it appears that reigning Tour de France Champion, Bradley Wiggins is not planning on defending his Yellow Jersey. His goal this year is the Giro d'Italia instead:

Wiggins: "I never thought for one minute I wanted to do it all again"

Bradley Wiggins (Sky) headed home from the Tour of Oman slightly disappointed by his own overall performance in the six-day race but convinced he has done the right thing by choosing different objectives and choosing the Giro d'Italia as his major goal of the season instead of a second Tour de France.

Wiggins lost 1:21 on stage one after being blocked by a late crash. Wiggins did not have the form or ambition to take on Contador, Nibali and Evans after training and racing hard the week before Tour of Oman and so he did his bit to help Chris Froome win overall.

"I was quite tired when I got here, especially on the first day, and it has not really got any better," Wiggins conceded in an interview with written media present in Oman.

"I kind of stayed where I was on that first day. When you come into a race with [training fatigue, you never know if you fly off it or if you’ll be mediocre, and I’ve been pretty mediocre…."

Wiggins is not worried about his form or lack of early season results. His approach to the 2013 season is radically different to 2012. With the Tour de France finally on his palmares after four years of trying, Wiggins has set himself a new challenge for 2013. It is not about winning every stage race he rides, it is not about learning how to win the Tour de France.

Instead, he will target the Giro d'Italia, have a go at Liège-Bastogne-Liège along the way in late April and perhaps try to complete a Giro-Tour double if he recovers well and if Froome's ambitions do not get in the way.

Wiggins seems almost relieved not to have to return to Paris-Nice, the Tour of Romandie and the Criterium du Dauphine, knowing that anything less than another victory could be considered a disappointment.

"I never thought for one minute I wanted to do it all again. It was more like: ‘No way, I ain’t doing all that again’. But I’ll do something else which is completely different and a new challenge, that for me was the Giro and other races along the way.

"I didn’t want to lack motivation at Paris-Nice and have direct comparison with last year all the time. There was only one outcome unless I won it all again and that would have been to fail. I really wanted to avoid that. I didn’t want to put that pressure on myself.

"I’ve committed to a completely different programme this year by targeting the Giro. Last year was about gaining the confidence through the year that I could actually win the Tour de France. Now there's a much more looking at the bigger picture of the season.

"We've worked back from that, and this period of racing and training is pretty important. Everything this year has been shuffled forward. It’s what April and May were last year for the Tour. I spent most of early January and February in Mallorca. It’s not about results but about getting the work in."

Wiggins will soon head to Tenerife with several teammates for a key block of controlled training at altitude.

He first real test of his form and first real objective will be the Volta a Catalunya (March 18-24). He will study some of the key Giro d'Italia stages and ride the Giro del Trentino (April 16-19) before probably teaming up with Froome to target Liège-Bastogne-Liège (April 20) and then taper for the Giro d'Italia (May 4-26).

"I had five races before the Tour and have five this year. Liège is two weeks out from the Giro, so you should be pretty ready to go.

Weight is a massive thing for me and Liège is all about power to weight and fitness. I’m 82kg in the off season, 75kg now and 70kg at the Tour. It takes me a long time to get there, a lot of hard work. But the plan is to be ready to go, two weeks out from the Giro, and so Liège-Bastogne-Liège fits in nicely."

Emotion is the base line, all the rest is science

Team Sky gives the impression that it is driven by science, logic and a desire to produce results, with little room for emotion and improvisation. It is about hitting the right numbers and discovering marginal gains, being different and better to the rest of the peloton.

Yet Wiggins seems to need emotions to find his motivation and fire up his mojo. He's more attracted by the Giro d'Italia, with the screaming tifosi and iconic maglia rosa, than another tilt at the Tour de France.

"Emotion is the baseline, then the next step is to get the machine ready to do the job," he explained.

"I’d love to be able to do these incredible escapes in the mountain, but the reality is that I’m not that good a climber, so I have to work hard, be meticulous about what I do, and that’s made me incredibly successful.

"The Giro is special for me. It goes back to my childhood. It was one of the few races on TV along with the Tour de France when I was a teenager. I grew up reading magazines about it and the Giro was always stuck in my mind. I particularly remember Hampsten climbing in the snow (in the 1988 Giro, over the Passo Gavia). It seemed quite inspirational.

"The Tour of Italy's just a lovely race. It's the only race in cycling where they never really mention doping in the whole race. It's kind of refreshing in some way when you’re there, for the racing, because the people come out and watch the sport and idolize the racers.

"I said I’d never go back there in 2010 because it was so hard. But I’ve always had a love-hate with it and always had a soft spot for it."

No 'What If….?

Wiggins is preparing for the Giro d'Italia one step at a time. It's pointless to ask him what he will do and how it will affect him, or if he doesn’t win the Giro d'Italia. But the problem is that Wiggins doesn't do 'What if…?'"

"I don’t try and think 'what if?', especially post match. What if I die tomorrow? It means we won’t have to worry about the Giro, I never look too far ahead. I used to do that and worry. But really, it's just about taking one step at a time."  

This just isn't a good week for Team Sky

Flecha breaks hand in training accident

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/flecha-breaks-hand-in-training-accident)

Juan Antonio Flecha (Team Sky) has revealed that he had minor surgery on his hand last week after breaking it in a training accident near his home. The 34-year-old Spaniard, who has enjoyed a consistent start to 2012 after securing third place finishes at the Tour of Qatar and at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, is already looking ahead to getting back in the saddle and to making it to the start line of his favourite race – Paris-Roubaix on April 8.

“I broke a metacarpal in my hand while out training last week,” he told Team Sky’s official website. “The fracture was smooth and I was even able to ride home after I’d done it. I went into surgery on Thursday and they re-aligned the bone before fixing it with a couple of screws.

“In the time between picking up the injury and surgery I was able to keep working on the turbo and do core work in the gym, but since then I’ve not been able to do that as we didn’t want to risk stretching the wound, or getting it infected with sweat under the bandage. My bandage is coming off on Tuesday and I’ll be able to start my rehabilitation again straight after that.”

Flecha stated that his immediate race plans are up in the air and much will rest on his rehabilitation over the coming days. But in his own mind everything is still pointing towards Paris-Roubaix, where he has enjoyed consistent success over the years despite never actually winning the race. Flecha was a runner-up there in 2007, and has two third places to his name along with several other top ten finishes. Back in January he told Cyclingnews that it is the classic that he most wants to win before he hangs up his wheels.

"If everything goes well I should be able to make my return at Waregem [March 21], but obviously that’s dependent on what the doctor says," he said.

“I want to return there but it’s obviously dependent on my recovery. If things are not going well, riding the cobbles might not be the best idea right away, so we could even look at doing a race like the Criterium International [March 24-25] instead. I don’t think I will be at my peak condition at Flanders [April 1], but I will still give it my all, and then by the time Roubaix comes around I’ll be back to my best and able to give it a really good go.”

Froome hits pedestrian in Italian training accident

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/froome-hits-pedestrian-in-italian-training-accident)

Chris Froome of Team Sky has hit and seriously injured a 72-year-old pedestrian in a training accident in Italy, according to the Italian media. Both were taken to hospital, with Froome found only to have scrapes and bruises.

The elderly man is said to have suffered head injuries as well as facial contusions and abrasions.  While his life is not endangered, he is expected to be helicopered to another hospital for further treatment.

Police are looking into the accident to determine what happened and whether either party is at fault. Froome was training alone on Sunday morning when he hit the man, accoridng to sanremonews.it. He immediately called emergency services, and both were taken to hospital.

Froome, 26, opened his season at the Volta ao Algarve but had to abandon with a chest infection after the third stage.  He had been scheduled to start Paris-Nice, but had to miss it due to continued illness. He is not scheduled to ride in Saturday's Milan-San Remo.



Sky duo debuts...

Wiggins and Froome make season debuts in Algarve

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/wiggins-and-froome-make-season-debuts-in-algarve)

Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome began their racing seasons on Wednesday with the start of the Volta ao Algarve in Portugal. The Sky pairing are using the race to gauge their form after a break from racing stretching back to the Worlds last year.

On yesterday’s first stage Froome kept pace with the leaders while Wiggins lost a handful of seconds. However Sky’s Bobby Julich believes that the greater goal is to assess form as the team’s major goals come later in the season.

“It was the first race for a lot of guys,” Julich told Cyclingnews.

“It was a pretty brutal stage, difficult rolling course but a beautiful day in terms of conditions. Obviously not everyone can be in the finish on a stage like that but I’m really happy with how the guys rode. “

Wiggins’s race programme will mirror that to a number of his grand tour rivals with the British star aiming to peak at the Tour de France this year. Last year he arrived at the race in high form having won the Dauphine Libere, but crashed out of the race with a broken collar bone. He returned to fitness at the end of the year to podium in both Vuelta and Worlds.

“He’s been doing training blocks over the winter so it was his first race, as it was for Froome too. Everyone here is just looking to gauge their form and fitness. It’s not a WorldTour event but obviously everyone has worked really hard over the winter but they’re looking to see where they are against the other guys.”

Julich said that the team will target stage wins if the opportunities present themselves. With one uphill stage and a time trial set to decide the race, Sky has the weapons to potentially win two stages and the overall.

“If there’s an opportunity for us we’ll take it but it’s more about a form finding mission. We got one uphill finish and then the time trial which will be a test even though it’s longest one a lot of them will do for the next few months. They’ll try and make sure they have their position dialled in.”

“You don’t go to a race without trying to lave your mark, so we’re looking to the uphill finish and the time trial and we’ve got a really strong team here.”