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8000 Watt Kämna Is Back | Vuelta a Andalucia Stage 5

byKārlis Ozols
February 20, 2022
3 minute read

It was a day for the breakaway as Bahrain-Victorious were trying to secure the GC win for Wout Poels in the last stage of Vuelta a Andalucia, hoping for an easy day. German Lennard Kämna launched an attack on the last climb and no one from the breakaway could follow him. Meanwhile, Wout Poels secured the yellow jersey, winning overall in Andalucia.

Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta Ciclista Del Sol Stage 5 2022 Profile By La Flamme Rouge

Many riders wanted to be in a breakaway today as it was a perfect chance to get a stage win with Bahrain’s lack of desire to pace. In the middle of the stage, the original breakaway was caught after Caruso paced too hard on the climbs. With 50 km to go an 18-man group went clear with Alessandro Covi, Simon Clarke, Emanuel Buchmann and other riders that yesterday lost hopes in GC by losing 7 minutes to the leaders.

Chiclana de Segura – Spain – cycling – Wout Poels (NED – Bahrain Victorious) pictured during Vuelta a Andalucia – Ruta Del Sol 2022 – 68th Edition – stage 5 from Huesa to Chiclana de Segura (167,1 km ) – Photo: Luis Angel Gomez/Cor Vos © 2022

On the final climb, Chiclana de Segura, there were multiple attack by riders in the breakaway. Bora-Hansgrohe in the group had two good climbers – Emanuel Buchmann and Lennard Kämna. With 3.4 km to go Kämna attacked. Before his attempt, Buchmann was setting a pace in the group to make the race harder. Kämna was so strong that no one could bridge to him, just like when he gapped Carapaz in the Tour de France 2020. He switched on to time-trial mode and soloed to an impressive victory. Behind him, Italians Lorenzo Fortunato and Alessandro were trying to catch him, they even worked together.

Chiclana de Segura – Spain – cycling – Lennard Kamna (GER – Bora – Hansgrohe) pictured during Vuelta a Andalucia – Ruta Del Sol 2022 – 68th Edition – stage 5 from Huesa to Chiclana de Segura (167,1 km ) – Photo: Luis Angel Gomez/Cor Vos © 2022

Kämna was too strong (perhaps because he can do 8000 watts), taking his fourth professional win. The first three victories were in World-Tour races. In 2021 Kämna won Volta a Catalunya stage 1, but after that he raced only Volta ao Algarve in May and took a break to recover from health problems. In 2020 he won stages in Criterium du Dauphine and Tour de France, showing great potential. It looks like in 2022 he is back in his best form as one of the best hilly breakaway riders in the world.

Chiclana de Segura – Spain – cycling – Lennard Kamna (GER – Bora – Hansgrohe) pictured during Vuelta a Andalucia – Ruta Del Sol 2022 – 68th Edition – stage 5 from Huesa to Chiclana de Segura (167,1 km ) – Photo: Luis Angel Gomez/Cor Vos © 2022

Meanwhile, in the peloton Bahrain-Victorious was controlling the situation until the last climb. Miguel Angel Lopez was the biggest threat to Wout Poels in GC, and Harold Tejada from Astana started pace to make the race harder. Later, Lopez launched an attack, but it was cut short as the TV director chose to show the situation in the breakaway. Lopez was caught.

After that, young INEOS climber Carlos Rodriguez tried to attack, but he was closed by Cristian Rodriguez, who was trying to defend his 3rd place in GC. Bahrain-Victorious did not need to do anything. The last attack in the group was from Simon Yates, who finished first from the GC leaders. Surprisingly, Lopez’s climbing legs were not good on stage 5 and he even lost time to Wout Poels, who looked strong today and won his 2nd GC of his career at age 34. In the off-season he did not have a contract for a long time and he extended with Bahrain-Victorious for a year.

Chiclana de Segura – Spain – cycling – Cristi‡n Rodr’guez (ESP – Totalenergies) – Wout Poels (NED – Bahrain Victorious) – Miguel Angel Lopez (COL – Astana Qazaqstan Team) pictured during Vuelta a Andalucia – Ruta Del Sol 2022 – 68th Edition – stage 5 from Huesa to Chiclana de Segura (167,1 km ) – Photo: Luis Angel Gomez/Cor Vos © 2022

Cristian Rodriguez finished 2nd in GC as he took three seconds from Lopez, who at least saved a place on the podium. Another great performance by 21-year-old Carlos Rodriguez. He finished 4th. The strongest climber, Simon Yates was only 5th as the course did not suit with no big mountains close to the finish.

Should Philipsen Be Relegated? | UAE Tour Stage 1

byKārlis Ozols
February 20, 2022
3 minute read

The world’s best sprinters are back in the Middle East, fighting in the UAE Tour. Jasper Philipsen won stage 1 in a chaotic sprint after deviating to the right side and closing the door for Dylan Groenewegen. The stage profile was completely flat and suited for sprinters, with no turns of note in the last 50km.

UAE Tour Stage 1 2022 Profile By La Flamme Rouge

Literally nothing happened until the last few kilometers. Riders during the stage were not afraid to show TV cameras how bored they were. Tour de France winner Tadej Pogačar even poured water on his teammates, Rafal Majka’s, bum. The last 60 kilometers of the stage were in a straight line and LR is not paying me enough to watch riders do 90 watts on the flat for four hours to tell you about it.

Pogačar trying to entertain himself

The TV breakaway was caught with around 19 km to go as the team trains started to assemble and pace hard, gradually increasing the speed with 5 km to go, fighting for a better position for their sprinters.

Jasper Philipsen (Belgium / Team Alpecin Fenix) – Dylan Groenewegen (NED – Team BikeExchange – Jayco) pictured during UAE Tour 2022 – 4th Edition – stage 1 from Madinat Zayed to Madinat Zayed (185 km) – Photo: Luca Bettini/RB/Cor Vos © 2022

The sprint field level in the UAE Tour is unbelievably high. Mark Cavendish, Sam Bennett, Jasper Philipsen, Elia Viviani, Dylan Groenewegen, Arnaud Demare, Pascal Ackermann and many more good sprinters. From A-class sprinters only Caleb Ewan, Jakobsen and Merlier are missing. Ewan was supposed to sprint here, but chose in the end to stay in Europe, perhaps due to COVID-19. UAE-Emirates picked Fernando Gaviria, but the Colombian caught Covid for the third time, and he was replaced by Pascal Ackermann. This possibly is the strongest sprinters field we will see in 2022 as even the Tour de France might not have this depth of sprinters.

Amazing performance from Jonas Rickaert, Jasper Philipsen’s lead-out man

The MVP of the day was Jasper Philipsen’s lead-out man Jonas Rickaert. Alpecin-Fenix waited for the last moment to bring out their sprinter. Even with 1 km to go Philipsen was 8-10 riders deep in the peloton drafting. Only in the last moments Rickaert started to go to the front of the peloton and guided Philipsen, who was right behind him. It took him only 15 seconds to be in the perfect position, leaving Philipsen behind Pascal Ackerman’s wheel.

Philipsen launched his sprint and behind him was Dylan Groenewegen, who was ready to pass him from the right side, but Philipsen deviated from his lane to the right side and completely shut down the door.

Philipsen deviated to the right side

Groenewegen for a brief moment needed to stop pedaling as he was very close to the barrier and overlapped with Alpecin-Fenix rider’s back wheel. Philipsen won the sprint, but Groenewegen behind him was visibly frustrated. This time the Belgian sprinter was not relegated, but with a stricter commissaire the outcome could possibly be different. In this early season Maximiliano Richeze in Tour of Oman stage 6 and Jordi Meeus in Volta ao Algarve stage 1 were relegated for less severe moves.

Sam Bennett in his first race in 2022 finished 2nd. He returned back in the off-season to Bora-Hansgrohe, whose lead-out train is not as strong as Quick-Step, his former team, but Danny van Poppel did a good job leading out Bennett today. Talking about Quick-Step, Mark Cavendish finished only 16th. He stopped pedaling after he knew that he was not going to win and did not want to risk it in a chaotic sprint.

Stage 2 is another chance for sprinters. There are 4 flat stages for fast guys in the UAE Tour.

UAE Tour Stage 2 2022 Profile By La Flamme Rouge

Evenepoel Monster Time-Trial | Volta ao Algarve Stage 4

byKārlis Ozols
February 19, 2022
3 minute read

Remco Evenepoel again proved that he is a world class time-triallist, winning the decisive Volta ao Algarve stage 4 time-trial by a whopping 58 seconds over Stefan Küng – one of the best TT riders in the world. The Belgian now has over a minute lead over his closest rider in the GC, Ethan Hayter. The 32.2 kilometres long course was hilly that suited Evenepoel perfectly.

Volta ao Algarve Stage 4 2022 Profile By La Flamme Rouge

Evenepoel was a big favourite for the stage, but no one expected him to beat Küng by almost a minute. He also won the Volta ao Algarve ITT in 2020, beating Rohan Dennis, then the ITT World Champion, by 10 seconds in the hilly 20.3 km ITT as well as Küng by 19 seconds. Evenepoel’s win was even more impressive considering he was the only rider to average not just over 50, but over 51km/h on the course.

Remco Evenepoel (Belgium / Team Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) pictured during stage 4 of the 48th Volta Algarve from in Tavira (32,2KM) – ITT – tijdrit contre le montre Zeitfahren – Photo: Roberto Bettini/Cor Vos © 2022

Küng’s results in time-trials have been impressive in the last few years. 1st in European Championships in 2020 and 2021, 3rd and 5th in World Championships respectively in 2020 and 2021, and 4th in Tokyo Olympics in 2021. However in the big races he always seems to come up against someone just that bit better, such as today or Pogacar in the Tour de France Stage 5 time trial.

Stefan Kung (Swiss / Team Groupama – FDJ) pictured during 85th Tour de Suisse (2.UWT) – Stage 1 (ITT) from Frauenfeld to Frauenfeld (10.9KM) – photo PdV/PN/Cor Vos © 2021

David Gaudu lost his leader’s jersey, but by the French climber’s previously low standards his time-trial performance was impressive. He finished 9th, losing to Evenepoel by over 2 minutes and to his teammate Küng only by 1 minute and 11 seconds on this long TT.

Stage 5 will be the last day of Volta ao Algarve, ending with the Alto do Malhão climb of 2.6 km at 9.5%. In 2016, Alberto Contador did 7.74 w/kg for 6:48 on this steep hill. Evenepoel’s lead in GC over his closest competitors is impressive, but he might be isolated early if other teams like INEOS or FDJ try something because Evenepoel’s only climbing domestique is Louis Vervaeke at this race. Even so, it is difficult to imagine Evenepoel losing over 60 seconds on a parcours such as this.

Volta ao Algarve Stage 5 2022 Profile By La Flamme Rouge

Watts

According to a strava file that Remco Evenepoel uploaded after the time-trial, he averaged 392 watts for almost 38 minutes in his extremely aerodynamic TT position, which is outrageous. There has been speculation about his current weight, and it is hard to guess how heavy Evenepoel is right now, given that he can produce these incredible performances on that flat in both TT and road races (WC ITT bronze, Druivenkoers) but has struggled to replicate that dominance uphill (Valenciana, Lombardia).

Evenepoel’s w/kg in Algarve time-trial with different weights

  • 6.32 w/kg if 62 kg
  • 6.22 w/kg if 63 kg
  • 6.13 w/kg if 64 kg

Whatever his weight exactly is, Evenepoel’s w/kg output in this time-trial was extremely high for time-trial standards, considering that riders ordinarily lose some watts trying to get in the most aero position compared to their road bike watts. It is curious that Evenepoel did not reach this kind of power on the Maigmo Tibi climb in Valenciana, where he completely blew up chasing Vlasov.

Remco Evenepoel (Belgium / Team Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) pictured during the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana 2022 – stage 3 from Alicante to Antenas del Maigm— (155.1KM) – Photo: Luis Angel Gomez/Cor Vos © 2022

The difference between time-trials and road races is that before a climb riders already have accumulated a lot of fatigue, which might be the reason why Evenepoel cannot perform that well on finish climbs as compared to a fresh effort in the time trial.

Quintana Sets A New Best Performance Of 2022

byKārlis Ozols
February 19, 2022
2 minute read

Nairo Quintana is on fire in the early 2022 season, performing well once again in the French February warm-up races. On stage 2 of Tour des Alpes Maritimes et du Var Quintana attacked early on Col d’Eze, producing 6.78 w/kg for 14:07. This is the best climbing performance so far in 2022 by any rider.

Col d’Eze is short and not steep, with 6km of false flat downhill to the finish it was a tall order for Quintana to win.

Saturday’s effort from Quintana is amongst his best ever, as you can see in the graph below.

Lanterne Rouge x Cycling Graphs, 2022 performances in green

Although, the Colombian climber’s level is not yet as high as in the early 2020 season, where he destroyed everyone on the shorter and shallower side of Col d’Eze (7.5 w/kg for 9:25) and Chalet Reynard (6.67 w/kg for 28:12). A week ago in Tour de la Provence Quintana on Montagne de Lure did 6.06 w/kg for 32:44.

Nairo Quintana (Colombia / Team Arkea Samsic) pictured during 7th Tour de la Provence (2.Pro) – stage 3 from Manosque to Montagne de Lure (166.1Km) – Photo: William Cannarella/Cor Vos © 2022

Lotto-Soudal puncheur Tim Wellens also did a great performance on Col d’Eze (6.66 w/kg for 14:18). He opted to pace the climb steadily, knowing the crest was far from the finish, whereas Guillaume Martin tried to hold Quintana’s wheel and blew up. Wellens later caught Quintana in the false flat section after Col d’Eze, they rode together to maintain the gap to the other GC contenders, and then Wellens easily won the sprint as expected. Wellens is always good in the early season, which he proved once again with maybe his career’s best ever climbing performance.

La Turbie – France – cycling – Tim Wellens (BEL – Lotto Soudal) – Nairo Quintana (COL – Team Arkea Samsic) pictured during Tour des Alpes Maritimes et du Var 2022 – 54th Edition – stage 2 from Puget Theniers to La Turbie (145,3 km) – Photo: Tommaso Pelagalli/LB/RB/Cor Vos © 2022

Compared with other 2022 climbing performances, Quintana is above everyone with his Col d’Eze watts. It is the closest one to the nuclear level trendline. It is important to mention that the race was not easy before they reached Col d’Eze, which makes Quintana’s effort even more impressive. Some data suggest that riders in the peloton before the climb did 14.29 kj/kg/h for 3 hours and 45 minutes, which is quite hard (more about kj/kg/h), although we have not yet collated enough files to be certain that it was over 14kj/kg/h for nearly four hours.

Lanterne Rouge x Cycling Graphs, best performances of 2022

It is great for fans that Quintana’s form is approaching his top level once again and there is a high chance he will be attacking at the front of the race in the upcoming hilly Faun-Ardèche Classic on 26th February or in Paris-Nice that will start on 6th March with Primož Roglič and Aleksandr Vlasov on the start list, and has the hard summit finish to Turini on Stage 7.

What was Lutsenko Thinking? | Vuelta a Andalucia Stage 4

byKārlis Ozols
February 19, 2022
4 minute read

It was an exciting day in Andalucia. The race exploded early on the biggest climb, destroying Alessandro Covi’s GC hopes with the best climbers in the race going clear in a 14 man group. Chaos erupted in the last 20 kilometres, with Wout Poels going solo with Alexey Lutsenko, surprisingly winning the two up sprint after Lutsenko made some decisions that will surely upset his Astana teammate Miguel Angel Lopez.

Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta Ciclista Del Sol Stage 4 2022 Profile By La Flamme Rouge

The race exploded early on Alto del Purche (6.8 km, 9.1 %) where the GC riders went full-gas after Bora-Hansgrohe paced the early slopes.

llustratie pictured during Vuelta a Andalucia – Ruta Del Sol 2022 – 68th Edition – stage 4 from Cullar Vega – Baza (165,6 km) – Photo: Luis Angel Gomez/Cor Vos © 2022

The race leader, Alessandro Covi, was dropped and could not follow the 14-man group of GC favourites. In the group was Lopez, Lutsenko, Tejada (Astana Qazaqstan), Sosa (Movistar), Yates (Bike Exchange – Jayco), Landa, Haig, Caruso, Poels (Bahrain-Victorious), Vansevenant (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl), Cepeda (Caja Rural – Seguros RGA), Rodriguez (Total Energies), O’Connor (AG2R Citroën), and Rodriguez (INEOS Grenadiers).

UAE try to pace in vain for Covi, with the GC favourites ahead

Almost every big team was represented in the leading group, and UAE-Emirates could not bring the group back for Covi with little support. Israel Premier-Tech and Lotto-Soudal helped them as their respective GC riders Simon Clarke and Steff Cras were also back in the peloton.

The action in the leading group started with 25 km to go when Caruso attacked. Bahrain-Victorious had four riders in the group and they could afford to race more aggressively using their numbers. Caruso’s move was quickly shut down by Astana.

Then Lopez’ Astana teammate Lutsenko attacked with 20 km to go and started chaos on a false flat section. Bahrain-Victorious marked his move with Caruso, and O’Connor quickly joined them. Simon Yates, who had no teammates, after sensing that this might be a dangerous move, quickly bridged to the leading trio and a brief moment later tried to attack. Yates’ move was closed by O’Connor. The tempo was so high that Sosa struggled and was dropped. Lopez clearly was not happy with Lutsenko’s attack and closed the gap to his teammates group. Both groups were together again and for a brief moment slowed down. Sosa was dropped again, sitting in no man’s land.

Lutsenko attacks, joined by Caruso and O’Connor

Immediately after he had been closed by Lopez, Lutsenko attacked again. This time Poels from Bahrain-Victorious marked him rather than Caruso, with Haig of Bahrain always sitting in the wheel of Lopez. As both an Astana and Bahrain rider had gone clear, only riders with no teammates were left to chase in the group behind, with no immediate coordination to chase apparent and Astana and Bahrain-Victorious rider at the front slowing everything down even more. O’Connor was not happy and attacked whilst Simon Yates was trying to cajole Christian Rodriguez of Total Energies to chase. The Australian of AG2R attacked again, but was chased down by Caruso and then Lopez who continued to pace despite his teammate Lutsenko being in the first group.

Lutsenko attacks again, joined by Poels who is ahead of him on GC. Lopez chases behind.

Meanwhile Lutsenko and Poels continued to exchange turns in front, with a lead of 30 seconds. Lutsenko pacing with Poels, despite Poels being just behind Lopez on GC and above Lutsenko on GC, made absolutely no sense. There was a minor amount of cat and mouse as they arrived to the finish, with Poels launching his sprint first with Lutsenko on his wheel. Despite being the underdog in the sprint, Poels was able to beat Lutsenko who could not even draw level with him, taking both the stage and the leader’s jersey going into tomorrow.

Wout Poels (Netherlands / Team Bahrain – Victorious) – Alexey Lutsenko (KAZ – Astana Qazaqstan Team) pictured during Vuelta a Andalucia – Ruta Del Sol 2022 – 68th Edition – stage 4 from Cullar Vega – Baza (165,6 km) – Photo: Luis Angel Gomez/Cor Vos © 2022

The group behind finished 18 seconds later and fortunately for Astana, there are no bonus seconds in this race which Poels could have profited from. The peloton with Covi lost around 7 minutes.

Stage 5 will decide everything on GC. It will finish with the Chiclana de Segura climb of 6.4 km at 5.6%, with the last 1.4 kilometers being around 7.5 % gradient. After the disaster today for Astana, it is the chance for Lutsenko and the team to make it right for Lopez, who looks the strongest uphill in this race. Whether he can gain 10 seconds on Poels on these gentle gradients with Bahrain’s strong team is another question.

Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta Ciclista Del Sol Stage 5 2022 Profile By La Flamme Rouge

Nothing Can Stop Fabio Jakobsen | Volta ao Algarve Stage 3

byKārlis Ozols
February 18, 2022
3 minute read

Another great day for the Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl sprint train in Volta ao Algarve Stage 3. The Belgian team delivered Fabio Jakobsen to the finish in a good position, with the Dutchman unstoppable on the slight uphill rise despite the dangerous Tim Merlier in his wheel, taking his fourth victory of the year.

Stage 3 was over 200 kilometres long and made for sprinters with a few rolling climbs but nothing serious near to the finish. It was the last chance for sprinters to get a win in Algarve, with the time trial tomorrow and puncher finish on Sunday evening.

Volta ao Algarve Stage 3 2022 Profile By La Flamme Rouge

It was a calm and classic sprint day, with Alpecin-Fenix, Quick-Step and Cofidis all offering up domestiques to control the breakaway for their sprinters Merlier, Jakobsen and Coquard. Quick-Step easily have the most powerful lead-out train here, with Merlier’s top last man Jonas Rickaert riding in UAE Tour this weekend for Jasper Philipsen.

Evenepoel Remco (BEL) of Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Teampictured during stage 3 of the 48th Volta Algarve from in Almodovarto Faro (211,4km) ) – Photo: Peter de Voecht/PN/Cor Vos © 2022

Quick-Step brought their train forward as usual in the last 3 kilometres after the breakaway had been caught. Fabio Jakobsen’s last lead-out man in Algarve is Bert Van Lerberghe who, before opening up his sprint, looked back to see if his teammate was on his wheel, perhaps remembering the stage Senechal won in the Vuelta last year where Jakobsen shouted to Senechal that “if you don’t look back you are no leadout.”

Jakobsen allowed Cofidis sprinter Bryan Coquard to sneak in behind Van Lerberghe. In this way Dutchman had another lead-out man, perhaps conscious of the uphill rise to come and not wanting to go too early.

The situation after Van Lerberghe starts his lead-out

When Jakobsen opened his sprint with ~200 meters to go, his acceleration on the false flat finish was incredible. He quickly flew past Coquard whilst Alpecin-Fenix leader Tim Merlier was boxed-in on the right side of the road. Jakobsen was so strong that a better position probably would not have allowed Merlier to win this stage anyway.

Jakobsen took the stage, with Merlier sitting in his draft for the entire last 100 metres, but unable to do anything about it.

Jakobsen Fabio (NED) of Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team – Tim Merlier (Belgium / Team Alpecin Fenix) pictured during stage 3 of the 48th Volta Algarve from in Almodovarto Faro (211,4km) ) – Photo: Peter de Voecht/PN/Cor Vos © 2022

Arkea-Samsic sprint duo Hugo Hofstetter and Clement Russo finished 5th and 6th, but both received 0 UCI points because this is not a one-day race. Only the top three positions get points but as they say, practice makes perfect.

Tomorrow will be the most important day for GC riders. The 32.2 kilometre time-trial is unusually long for a one week-stage race. Remco Evenepoel will be the favourite but Brandon McNulty, Ethan Hayter, Stefan Küng, Tobias Foss, Kasper Asgreen should be the ones to challenge Evenepoel tomorrow for both the stage and GC (in the case of McNulty). It will be interesting to see how many minutes the leader David Gaudu will lose to the time-trial specialists, as he is set to ride for GC in the upcoming Tour de France, where time trial proficiency is vital.

Volta ao Algarve Stage 4 2022 Profile By La Flamme Rouge

An American Star Is Born | Vuelta a Andalucia Stage 3

byKārlis Ozols
February 18, 2022
4 minute read

An unexpected day in Andalucia. American talent Magnus Sheffield had a chance to go for his own results after his INEOS teammates Carlos Rodriguez and Jhonatan Narvaez crashed in a hectic final 3 kilometres. The 19-year-old rider used the disruption in the group to go solo after the chaotic day in Vuelta a Andalucia Stage 3, which contained a few bigger hills before a false flat finish.

Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta Ciclista Del Sol Stage 3 2022 Profile By La Flamme Rouge

Despite the parcours suiting the few sprinters in the race like Biniam Girmay, the race blew up with 35 kilometres to go when UAE Emirates set a high tempo on the last shallow uncategorized climb (3.4 km, 6.2 %). This show of strength back-fired for UAE, who only have five riders at this race including the leader on GC Alessandro Covi, when Lennard Kämna attacked and they could not respond.

Covi’s last men pace the climb before Kämna exposes their weakness

It is around a year ago that Kämna attacked on an up and down day in Catalunya from a strong breakaway to take a stage win and already he looks to be in good shape. The peloton was in shambles after Mikel Landa, Simon Yates, Miguel Angel Lopez and other big riders started to go full-gas on the 7% gradient, sensing an opportunity to put Covi under pressure and take time on GC. A lead group was formed with Lopez, Landa, Dunbar, Vansevenant, Simon Yates, O’Connor and Cristian Rodriguez.

Simon Yates counters, joined by Landa, Dunbar and O’Connor

Movistar did not have a rider in the leading group and they chased back this dangerous group with the GC favourites. The race leader Alessandro Covi (UAE Emirates), who for a brief time was isolated, was lucky that Movistar did not have a rider in the leading group.

Later, Bahrain-Victorious with Landa and Caruso, who had lost a few minutes in previous stages, worked very hard in the leading group trying to maintain the gap to the second group, despite no climbs remaining and no major GC contenders being behind them. Bahrain went all-in for Wout Poels (13th in GC, +0:16) and Jack Haig (4th, +0:10), with INEOS later taking when Landa and Caruso had pulled off with a few kilometres to go. Unfortunately, with 2.5 km remaining, whilst Eddie Dunbar was drilling it on the front through a right hand corner, INEOS riders Carlos Rodriguez and Jhontan Narvaez, crashed, with Haig and Sosa caught up.

The crash opened a chance for attackers. Kämna used this chaos and attacked but blew up quickly, paying the price for his earlier effort. Magnus Sheffield, who had been closing the German on the front of the peloton, noticed he had a gap to his back wheel because he had pulled so strongly. The 19-year-old American wisely put his head down and committed to the solo last kilometre move. Once again, Lopez was left to close gaps on his own, with no Astana teammates willing to pace for him (Lutsenko was in the group), but for the sub-60 kg Lopez head to head against the powerful Sheffield, this was never coming back.

Sheffield drops the group of his wheel, going solo for the dub

Sheffield won with a 3 second lead over the group. A very impressive performance by the new INEOS recruit, who has a contract with the team until 2024. Already at the 2019 World Championships in Harrogate he showed great power in the juniors race, finishing 3rd, after doing significant domestique work for his teammate at that time, Quinn Simmons, the eventual winner.

Australian Simon Clarke, who desperately searched for a contract in the off-season, finished 2nd. He already has earned 170 UCI points for Israel-Premier Tech in 2022 before February is over. Despite rolling across the line some time later, Haig, Sosa, Pozzovivo and Rodriguez were all credited with the same time as the main lead GC group, as they had been caught up in a crash with less than 3km remaining.

Stage 4 will be another rolling day in Andalucia, where everything can happen. The 169.5 kilometer stage chould be a bunch sprint, but there is a good chance it can finish like the stage today, particularly if Bahrain and other teams want to improve their GC positions.

Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta Ciclista Del Sol Stage 4 2022 Profile By La Flamme Rouge

Crashes in Anti-Climatic Finish | Volta ao Algarve Stage 2

byKārlis Ozols
February 17, 2022
4 minute read

Volta ao Algarve stage 2 ended with a bunch sprint on the Alto da Fóia climb of 7.7 km at 6.1%, after the headwind on the climb neutralised attacks from big riders and teams. It seemed that Sergio Higuita would take the victory, but in the last corner the Colombian champion clashed with Tobias Foss, causing both of them to crash. In the end Groupama-FDJ rider David Gaudu was able to take the stage, after teammate Kung had worked hard for him on the climb.

Volta ao Algarve Stage 2 2022 Profile By La Flamme Rouge

Before the stage, Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team lost Tim Declercq, who did not start due to gastrointestinal problems. It was a big loss for the team as Declercq can work all day at the front of a peloton and control a gap to a breakaway. Stage 1 winner and the leader of the race, Fabio Jakobsen took over some of Declercq’s duties on a stage where Evenepoel had won on the same finish back in 2020.

The race leader Jakobsen working at the front

In the middle of the stage there was a crash with the camera not picking up the exact cause. Ion Izagirre and Lars Van Den Berg were the most heavily impacted and both abandoned (a big loss for Cofidis who would have been relying on Izagirre’s GC points here). Thomas Pidcock was also involved, and it took a while before he was back in the peloton.

Everyone was waiting for the final climb. INEOS put their mountain train with Tullett, Thomas, Castroviejo, Van Baarle, Martinez at the front to control the pace on the penultimate Picota climb, but it did not mean that the tempo was high. INEOS had multiple options – fast finishers Ethan Hayter, who won on Alto da Fóia in 2021, and Thomas Pidcock, who is very fast but had just suffered in the crash. Taking into account that Fóia is a shallow climb (7.7 km, 6.1%) and there was a headwind, it was expected that there would not be a high pace or significant time gaps between the favourites.

INEOS mountain train

After INEOS finished the job, Louis Vervaeke paced for some time for his leader, Remco Evenepoel, who would have preferred the climbs done at a higher tempo. At this moment, with three kilometers to go on the final climb, the group was still big, including rouleurs like Connor Swift holding on.

Stefan Küng pacing for David Gaudu

Then the unexpected happened. Küng rode at the front of the peloton for a couple of kilometers giving all that he could offer for his team’s Groupama-FDJ leader David Gaudu. Küng in 2021 won the GC of Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana, which was rescheduled in April due to Covid. The big Swiss time trial specialist showed that he can climb well for a big rider on these moderate gradients, but perhaps he has cost himself some later positions in GC, given the 32km time trial later on that he will be a major contender for. After Küng finished his turn with 1.1 km to go, Portuguese conti rider Frederico Figueiredo (Glassdrive Q8 Anicolor) attacked into the headwind. He reminded cycling fans that Portugal is full of climbing talent on a day where W52’s leader Neves struggled.

No one wanted to chase him. Figueiredo lost 3:31 yesterday due to a crash in the peloton, which meant he was not a threat in the GC, but the stage win was up for grabs. INEOS eventually put Dylan van Baarle at the front to ensure that Ethan Hayer still had a chance to win. Figueiredo was caught with 350 meters to go by Martinez, who was leading out Hayter.

Figueiredo gets caught by the peloton

The final was chaotic. Young Astana rider Samuele Battistela attacked after INEOS ran out of men to pace, with Brandon McNulty and the other riders following his move to the left which shut down the way for Remco Evenepoel, who had already started to sprint and needed to brake to avoid crashing.

Riders then needed to take a 90 degree turn right before the finish that created a dangerous situation where Sergio Higuita tried to overtake Tobias Foss mid corner and they both crashed (see the picture below). Foss left a lot of space to overtake him on the left side, but Higuita tried to get close as possible to Foss and did not want to go around outside, whilst Foss seemed to drift to his left to make matters worse.

Foss and Higuita crash in the final straight

David Gaudu used this opportunity and won the stage. If Higuita had taken a wider line, he probably would have won stage two as he clearly was the fastest in the final meters. Despite his early attack, Battistella finished second, again proving that he can climb well. Last week on the Tour de la Provence queen stage he finished 1:27 behind Nairo Quintana on Montagne de Lure.

Tomorrow there will be a rolling stage for sprinters that ends with a slight uphill rise that improves chances of winning for Ethan Hayter, but Fabio Jakobsen, Alexander Kristoff and Tim Merlier still will be the favorites to take the victory.

Volta ao Algarve Stage 3 2022 Profile By La Flamme Rouge

Rising Italian Star | Vuelta a Andalucia Stage 2

byKārlis Ozols
February 17, 2022
4 minute read

Young Italian Alessandro Covi attacked early once again on the finish climb in Vuelta a Andalucia stage 2, taking his second professional victory of the young season.

The 151.5 kilometer stage ended with a 3km, 5.9% climb, but the hardest was the last part (600 m, 11.1%), which included a brief 100 metre cobble section. The finish was slightly different from the 2021 edition, where Ethan Hayter won a stage in Alcalá la Real, but still one which suited puncheurs such as Cosnefroy, Serrano and Girmay.

Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta Ciclista Del Sol Stage 2 2022 Profile By La Flamme Rouge

It was a sleepy race until the final kilometres, with the breakaway controlled much more aggressively by Bora-Hansgrohe, Vlaanderen-Baloise and Intermarché than yesterday. There was a crash in the peloton with 27 km to go, but it did not influence the race massively, except for Astana’s leader Miguel Angel Lopez needing a bike change.

A crash holds up Lopez, who cuts open his knee and has to change bikes

The big teams today were patiently waiting for the finish and only assumed position at the front of the group as they approached the finish, with Landa nowhere to be seen but Bahrain bringing Poels and Haig forward with Caruso. INEOS’ young British talent Ben Turner did a great job at the front once again, looking like a fantastic rouleur signing and Luke Rowe 2.0.

INEOS and Bahrain move to the front for Rodriguez and Haig

The pace was so high that many riders, including Herregodts, were dropped on the shallower section of the climb with 2 km to go.

The leader of GC Rune Herregodts dropped from the peloton 2 km to go

The action started in the last kilometer where Bahrain-Victorious rider Wout Poels (former winner of Liege-Bastogne-Liege in 2017) attacked, but he did not get far from the peloton, with Narvaez of INEOS closing him down. Bahrain-Victorious have brought to Andalucia a stacked team with GC riders like Mikel Landa, Jack Haig and Damiano Caruso and they can afford to race more aggressively with multiple strong options on these uphill finishes. UAE rider, Alessandro Covi, countered after Poels was caught – he was the fastest from the peloton in stage 1 behind the breakaway, attacking early seems to be his preferred strategy.

Covi counters Poels, with no one immediately responding

Miguel Angel Lopez, the winner of Vuelta a Andalucia 2021, and Gonzalo Serrano tried their hardest to catch Covi. After taking a 90 degree turn, Lopez and Serrano, who were teammates last year at Movistar and both won a stage in this same race in 2021, bumped into each other. Serrano was leading the group through the narrow road and took first position through the corners – opting to ride diagonally to the right side of the road almost closing Lopez into the barriers in slow motion. Superman Lopez had little choice but to throw an elbow into his former teammate, sending Serrano flying the other side of the cobbled road, almost causing Haig to crash who slowed to a stop.

Serrano cuts across the road, with Lopez giving him the big don’t argue

We will never know if Serrano holding up Lopez made the difference, but Covi kicked on strongly as the cobbles ended, with a seated surge over the crest to take an extremely impressive victory after his big effort yesterday and against strong riders like Lopez and Haig.

Covi wins the stage ahead of Lopez and Sosa

Five days ago he won a one-day race in Murcia and it looks like this might be a breakout year for the 23-year-old Italian. Lopez finished second, while Serrano was only twelfth after taking an elbow from the Colombian, his teammate Sosa the best Movistar rider in third.

The finish was too hard for puncheurs Biniam Girmay Hailu and Benoit Cosnefroy, who both finished outside of Top 15, but were one of the favorites for the win. Their respective teams Intermarché – Wanty – Gobert Matériaux and AG2R Citroën were seen at the front of the peloton throughout the day. Girmay in January won a one-day race in Mallorca, beating Giacomo Nizzolo, Michael Matthews and Pascal Ackerman in a bunch sprint on the flat. Perhaps the young Eritrean has focussed more on his sprint in the off-season so he can win races suited to bunch sprinters, and has lost a bit of his uphill punch.

Tomorrow might be an excellent chance for Intermarché to get a win for Girmay as the hilly stage looks more suited to fast finishers that can get over the early climbs like Matteo Trentin, Gonzalo Serrano, and Sep Vanmarcke.

Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta Ciclista Del Sol Stage 3 2022 Profile By La Flamme Rouge

Quick-step’s Train Blows Intermarché Away | Volta ao Algarve Stage 1

byKārlis Ozols
February 16, 2022
4 minute read

Crosswinds and crashes influenced the outcome of Volta ao Algarve stage 1 as well as some riders’ prospects for GC. Quick-Step AlphaVinyl again proved why they are the best sprint team in the world, lighting up the final 3 kilometres with their strong train, including GC favourite Remco Evenepoel. Dutch sprinter Fabio Jakobsen duly delivered his third and the team’s sixth victory of the young 2022 season in this rolling stage.

Volta ao Algarve Stage 1 2022 Profile By La Flamme Rouge

With Intermarché, Quick-step and Alpecin-Fenix all bringing their top sprinters, Kristoff, Jakobsen and Merlier, along with strong rouleurs, this stage was likely to end in a sprint despite the climbs along the way.

There were multiple big crashes in stage 1. The first was with 38 kilometres to go, which happened at the back of the peloton and did not affect the majority of World Tour teams at the front. Unfortunately for W52/FC Porto and José Neves fans, the Portuguese champion, who did 6,88 w/kg for 19:42 in 2021 in a hill climb ITT (earning him a spot in the LR top 10 nuclear performances of 2021 video), was caught up in the crash with his teammates.

A big crash with 38 km to go, number 245 Neves took a long time to get started again

Due to the crosswind, there was a blistering pace at the front of the race at the same time as this crash, with speeds sometimes reaching over 60 km/h. French puncheur Warren Barguil surged at the front of the peloton for no particular reason, to the chagrin of Quick-Step and Intermarché who were doing the lion’s share of the pacing.

Barguil trying to escape from the peloton

The biggest moment of the race happened with 12 km to go, when Alpecin-Fenix drilled it at the front, trying to thin out the group for their sprinter Tim Merlier. Behind them there was a crash in the peloton right after a narrow bridge. This showed exactly why front position is extremely important at these moments and how positioning in dangerous stages as a GC rider is equally as important as great climbing or time trial ability. The wind continued to blow and even sprinters took their turns in the peloton that was thinned down to ~35 riders after to the crash.

Alpecin-Fenix drills at the front. Behind them there is a crash in the peloton

Quick-Step waited until late in their typical fashion, using Asgreen as fourth last man before Evenepoel (Asgreen was third last man, going from 1600m to go in the Tour de France). With the powerful Dane accompanied by Declercq, Lampaert, Van Lerberghe, Evenepoel and Vervaeke they were able to rip the race to pieces for Jakobsen. Evenepoel previously in February showed in Valenciana that he is very powerful on flat sections in the lead-out. He repeated his heroic efforts at the end of Algarve stage 1, once again putting Lampaert into difficulty on his wheel whilst Alpecin-Fenix lost contact with the entire Quick-step train.

Remco Evenepoel pacing like a mad man

The pace was so high that there was opened a small gap between the four Quick-Step riders and the peloton that was in shambles. At this moment there was a possiblity for the Quick-Step riders to let go of the wheel of Evenepoel but it seemed that the plan was 100% to ride for Jakobsen in a sprint.

The gap between the Quick-Step riders and the peloton

The action did not end there as the young Dutchman from Trek-Segafredo, Daan Hoole, tried to attack before a roundabout. Lampaert of Quick-Step quickly hopped on his wheel and drafted Hoole into the last kilometre, extending their gap over Alpecin-Fenix and Intermarché behind them, with only Jordi Meeus from Bora-Hansgrohe able to make it onto Jakobsen’s wheel.

Daan Hoole (white jersey) drilling at the front

Before the finish, Quick-Step and Jakobsen were in perfect position while the other sprinters were back in the peloton that was a few meters behind them. In the final straight on TV it was possible to see that Evenepoel was as riding as hard as possible at the front of the second group, seemingly bringing Merlier back to Jakobsen’s group.

However with Jakobsen being dropped off with 200 metres remaining with only Meeus on his wheel, the conclusion was a formality – Jakobsen winning easily by a few bike lengths.

Fabio Jakobsen (Netherlands / Team Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) pictured during 48th Volta ao Algarve em Bicicleta stage 1 from Portimao to Lagos (199.1KM) – photo PdV/PN/Cor Vos © 2022

Bora-Hansgrohe sprinter Jordi Meeus finished 2nd but was relegated to 22nd position after the commissaires decided he had closed Kristoff towards the barriers, even though Meeus was following the draft of Jakobsen. Evenepoel finished 7th with the same time as Jakobsen and was the highest from climbers. In the first group with Evenepoel finished the majority of other GC contenders like Mcnulty, Foss, Martinez, Pidcock, Hayter, Higuita, Ion Izagirre and Gaudu. Geraint Thomas and Jay Vine lost 7 seconds.

Stage 2 will finish with Alto da Fóia (7.7 km, 6.1%) offering a chance for climbers such as Gaudu, Higuita and Evenepoel to win the stage. Evenepoel won on this climb in the 2020 edition of Algarve, where a statute of his finishing pose was later erected. The climb is not steep and it will be interesting to see what the Belgian and other GC riders will do on it, with only small gaps possible and a 32km ITT to come.

Volta ao Algarve Stage 2 2022 Profile By La Flamme Rouge

LR and Benji are recapping every stage of Algarve and Andalucia this week. Listen in to today’s episode where they discuss the Meeus relegation in detail, as well as who they expect to come out on top tomorrow.