Volta ao Algarve

Stage 1:  Faro/Algarve Stadium to Albufeira, 157.5km/97.8mi

By Cathy Mehl

The 36^th Volta ao Algarve kicked off the beginning of the spring racing season on Wednesday for Team RadioShack.  Lining up on the roads of Southern Portugal, 175 riders from 22 teams joined Levi Leipheimer, Andreas Klöden, Geert Steegmans, Tiago Machado, Sérgio Paulinho, Grégory Rast, Sébastien Rosseler, and Tomas Vaitkus in the quest for the first team win of the season.  Despite an all-star list of sprinting talent that included our own fast men racing beside the likes of Thor Hushovd (Cervelo) and Robbie McEwen (Katusha), the victory went to non-sprinter Benoît Vaugrenard of  Francaise des Jeux.  Vaugrenard attacked in the final kilometer and was able to maintain his power to the finish line, holding a three-second advantage over the field.  Joan Horrach (Katusha ) and André Greipel (HTC-Columbia) slotted in for second and third place. Vaugrenard tops the general classification by seven seconds and will wear the leader’s jersey for Thursday’s stage 2.

A crash at 10km to go took down Team RadioShack’s Tomas Vaitkus. Tomas was able to finish the stage but suffered severe pain in his shoulder and was taken to the hospital by the team doctor where further evaluation was needed to determine his status.  But as we all know, Tomas is a tough guy and will be lining up on Thursday, telling us, “I’m ok! No pain, no game!”  Vaitkus took a stage win in Algarve in 2008 but suffered bad luck in last year’s edition that set up a rough Spring plagued by injuries for the popular Lithuanian rider.  No other Team RadioShack riders were involved in the crash.

An attack after 8km of racing formed the break of the day. It consisted of four riders and included Pedro Lopes (Centro de Ciclismo de Loulé – Louletano) and Jérôme Baugnies (Topsport Vlaanderen).  The foursome worked consistently together and gained an advantage of more than seven minutes.  HTC-Columbia had designs on the sprint finish for their man Greipel and rode at the front to bring the gap down.  With 17km to go only Lopes remained out of the pack and 3km later the peloton was all together, setting up drive to the line.  Defending champion Alberto Contador (Astana) attacked but Vaugrenard geared up and rolled over the champion to take the victory in the opening stage.

In addition to the crash, the road closure near the finish was barely made in time, causing concern about rider safety in the run to the line.  In general the finish was considered unsafe and many of the top sprinters held their own safety as top priority in this early season race and did not aggressively contest the sprint.

Stage 2 tomorrow is the longest in the five-day race as the peloton travels 207.5km/129mi from Vila do Bispo to Lagos.  The stage profile’s several climbs look tough enough to break up the group if a bold rider attacks and holds on all the way to Lagos.

Beyond the Finish Line: The Estádio Algarve is a small football (soccer) stadium that seats just over 30,000 visitors.  The stadium is home to several Portugese football teams and has hosted music festivals and concerts as well as being converted to a rally car track in 2007.  It is considered a model stadium for its size.

 

Top Ten Results

1 Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux 4:10:42
2 Joan Horrach (Spa) Team Katusha 0:00:03
3 André Greipel (Ger) Team HTC - Columbia 0:00:05
4 Matthiev Ladagnous (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux
5 Nick Nuyens (Bel) Rabobank
6 Wouter Weylandt (Bel) Quick Step
7 Rui Costa (Por) Caisse d'Epargne
8 Heinrich Haussler (Ger) Cervelo Test Team
9 Samuel Sanchez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
10 Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Cofidis Credit En Ligne 

 

Team RadioShack on Stage 1

26 Levi Leipheimer (USA)
29 Gert Steegmans (Bel)
40 Tiago Machado (Por)
45 Andreas Klöden (Ger)
78 Sebastien Rosseler (Bel)
88 Gregory Rast (Swi)
91 Sergio Paulinho (Por)
182 Tomas Vaitkus (Lit) 4:26

 

General Classification after Stage 1

1 Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra) Française des Jeux 4:10:32  
2 Joan Horrach (Spa) Team Katusha 0:00:07  
3 André Greipel (Ger) HTC-Columbia 0:00:11  
4 Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) Française des Jeux 0:00:15  
5 Nick Nuyens (Bel) Rabobank    
6 Wouter Weylandt (Bel) Quick Step    
7 Rui Costa (Por) Caisse d'Epargne    
8 Heinrich Haussler (Ger) Cérvelo Test Team    
9 Samuel Sanchez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi    
10 Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne

Team RadioShack on General Classification

28 Levi Leipheimer (USA)
31 Gert Steegmans (Bel)
42 Tiago Machado (Por)
47 Andreas Klöden (Ger)
80 Sebastien Rosseler (Bel)
90 Grégory Rast (Swi)
93 Sergio Paulinho (Por)
182 Tomas Vaitkus (Lit) 4:36