Remco Evenepoel wins the Volta ao Algarve but loses two stages – Domestique Cycling Podcast

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The peloton raced around Portugal to get in the perfect shape for the big goals later this season. Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) was the big favourite for the overall win, and he delivered. With a stellar indivual time trail, the World Champion left the opposition behind by a mile. But it weren’t all smiles as Daniel Felipe Martinez (BORA-hansgrohe) outsprinted his competitors on two occasions, showing he enjoys his new team environment. And what about Wout van Aert (Visma | Lease a Bike)? As you can see, a lot to review, enjoy the Volta ao Algarve recap thanks to this new Domestique Cycling Podcast episode!

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I’ve Got The Spar the sickness there be twins in my brain the AO bullet special rco AO did it again after an impressive time trial with a huge chain ring he finished it off in the final stage only six days till the opening weekend so VTA oar was

The perfect preparation for a lot of riders let’s review last weeks of racing action I’m joined once Again by Ethan hi mate how are you hello I’m very good thanks having me on again it was a nice weekend let’s dive right into it shall we yeah let’s dive

In first stage stage for the sprinters but it’s it was a stage with over 2,000 altitude meters so it was quite a tough terrain certainly in the first half um of the stage can you take us through um the last C the last 2K um how it

Developed and what were your things you saw and not noticed it was a lot of chaos it was a big split wasn’t there in The Paton um a lot of riders got dropped before as well which I noticed the chaos but into Mar did a perfect job really I

Think with chuda as well chuda could have won if they didn’t mess it up my opinion yeah they messed it up with um in the stage they went for they went for Tron um but he they messed up in the last on the last roundabout if I recall

Correctly but my surprise of that day or surprise maybe was large Boven because he was held up by the lead out um from herbin T the the rider who eventually won the stage but L Boven had the speed to finish certainly on the podium and

Maybe battle t for the stage win I don’t know if if you saw it the same way I saw it the same way as well I also seen it that Tyson could have really lost as well he got really boxed in what kind of Rider is large Boven

Because the guy came from uh Jimbo visma development team last year now um came into Al in the king a world tour Squad and gets a lot of chances already in two down under he’s you can see him as a real Sprinter but he’s not a climber either what kind of guy is

He is like our favorite word last week Enigma you can’t really choose a specific one can you he isn’t really he’s like a Punchy guy he’s like a kind of like Groves I’d say maybe somewh along those lines where they have insane fatigue resistance yeah it’s I like the guy the

Guy is just he he comes out of nowhere um within the dvo team last year had to do a lot of dirty work in the peltin um just yeah riding at the front of the bunch crawling back the Breakaway but right now he gets his chance and he

Proves his his word so I love to see it one last thing maybe for the first stage AR no dear um ARA did an awesome job positioning him but then they screwed up um in the last K as well um dear didn’t have pretty good legs either and he

Seemed like he faded quite early in his Sprints what do you expect further on from dear because he always writes some Classics as well um he doesn’t seem in the perfect shape right now does he have to worry at this point um mid-February I would say mid-February

That’s not where really peing for are you let’s be honest yeah I’d say yeah Peak for the classics and then all do you i points that need is where he should be shining after the first stage um designed for the fastman um the second stage was designed for the GC man the

Climbers it was a stage that ended on alto de Foya um a pretty nice um Ascent to finish a stage on it was a stage with a total of over 3,000 altitude meters so once again it was not too tough but still all those efforts were in the legs

Before they started the final ascent and then wow Daniel Filipe Martinez did something huge it was a amazing effort I just love it how everyone was just talking about Remco Remco Remco including us on the podcast before and then Martinez just goes poof it was so insane like rco starts

His Sprint um way too early but actually instead of Martinez doesn’t sit in the draft of rco he just rides next to rco and just punches it to the line without having to sit on his saddle the guy was insanely strong and we will talk about

Him later in this review he did it again in the last stage but damn inos let let him go to Bor and he already proves that he’s more than just an average flam h if anyos have really messed up in my opinion let him go there yeah we he was quite inconsistent

His last years um with inas he was quite good in certain stages but then he faded or had it off day but right now he proves that he is very strong um in the span of five days um he’s a good second stage he wrode a decent individual time

Trial he won the last stage it’s yeah is there something wrong with um training with it within Inus because a lot of riders are leaving the indas grenadiers um back in the day days when it was team Sky they were the the team to beat and right now they are all they

Lose their talent and it seems like the guys that are leaving the squad are performing very good um in another team maybe it’s like a toxic environment maybe as well because I seen as well another article this week on gcn that literally T irman was saying the biggest

Come and get me play to all the worldt teams I don’t know if anyone’s read it but he was just saying basically that he didn’t like it anyos in kind words it’s very weird because they have uh an awesome history with Chris f with Bradley Wiggins but they are completely

Outdone by the teams like fisma bike like UAE team m and yeah they are now Magnus Sheffield is their GC hope uh I have to be honest it’s quite a Pity to see Sheffield as a a grand tour of a general classification writer I liked him more as a classic Rider but

Nonetheless Sheffield isn’t the guy that’s gonna beat a Pacha a vinard an even a pool in a grand tour or in a general classification in a stage race in my opinion there’s not going to be many people though let’s be honest who are true going to be being

There another lovely site in the second stage was Tao higen hard or whatever you have however you pronounce it the guy it was awesome to see him back um on the bike in a professional race um within his new College little track and I think we can both say he performed very strong

And he performed above expectations certainly above my expectations to say he not run a bike in a race nine months and to go and get seventh beating po who we got here beating wild as well specifically up that type of finish where is a favorite it’s quite impressive yeah when we saw

That uh final Ascent on alto deoya there was a lot of wind there was there were even some doubts to to cancel the last two case um but still they they did all the the whole climb but that last K when L was at the front and it was like a

Sort of echelon um an uphill Echelon because we saw W um drop out because he was right in the gutter and just couldn’t keep up with the pace anymore that turn from Londa was impressive and it shows a bright future for the for AOL to have such a luxury domestique that

Was what I was about to say Landa a quick step with r that looked really promising in my opinion for the future and if he performs like keeps performing like that then there’s a real bad on yeah the squad in general um in Al Garf was very strong so quickstep went

Um to the Portuguese stage race with their grand tour Squad and they showed they were ready um for the tour um the third stage um the second and last chance for the fastman um it’s it was always the question is W fard going to Sprint yes or no um there are

Always people who say he’s going to rest up for the individual time trial he’s going to rest up for the GC he’s going to rest up for the classics and all sort of other things that people mention but the guy decided in the last five case to join this Sprint and he

Casually beats um everyone yeah the beat Tyson mayor of Olivera came second he just literally got it to Perfection when he sprinted just I was like 150 M or something like that before the finish and took the air and went bang didn’t they brought him into the the perfect position because

Because of all of that rumors all that stories no one was really looking at him and it was all about herbin t um Ruby Olivera Meer Hofer but no one thought about W vanard until he was in the perfect position and launched his Sprint with 150 meters to go it was yeah an

Impressive Sprint um I think it’s a boost for his confidence ahead of the umop news blood um on Saturday yeah definitely definitely kudos to my H as well um he worked for trentin in the first stage he got his own chance in the third stage um getting on the podium and

He has a very strong um start of the season um starting in Australia if I recall correctly um the guy is a bit the same maybe as L Bowen I I don’t see him as a real Sprinter but more as a guy who has a very strong punch and who can survive

Um quite a tough parkour yeah that’s that’s a good comparison in my opinion as well he was also very strong last season if I remember at the start he won the K Evans Ocean Road Race so yeah he’s going to be one to watch in my opinion

For these races coming up he’s next in omet newsl yeah oh is he is he lining up in omope blood yes oo that’s actually quite entertaining it’s an entertaining name because I don’t know how his results were in previous Classics and previous Seasons but it seems like he has um a

Very good Fitness at this point and he can maybe do a ballerini if the weather conditions are the same probably the weather conditions aren’t going to be the same but that’s for theop news block preview later this week but then we’re into the penultimate stage already of this onewe stage race

Um the individual time trial 22 kilomet um from alua to alua um the pelan wasn’t there to party but was there to suffer on a time try bike and we mentioned in the preview that did this would be the deciding stage um in Al Garf and yeah it was deciding Remco

Eveno lined up um at the start with a huge chain ring and the guy just yeah it I saw a lot of performances from even pool on the time Tri back and on the road bike and still when you see him on that time Tri bike just pure raw power it’s insane it’s

Literally like a bullet train this just you sit there and you go no one can even come close to him on the time sh which is crazy maybe tling but yeah he’s just crazy beating Kung as well by 30 seconds who is a TT specialist it’s 30 seconds on an effort

Of 27 minutes that’s extraordinary but I saw a tweet from uh our domestique colleague derer Los mentioning he pushed 6.7 watts per kilo during that effort on a Time Tri back so into that at tucked position 6.7 watt per kilo um I sometimes try to do

Some efforts on my indoor bike um on Swift and to reach 6.7 watts per kilos you don’t want to see my face when I do such efforts that’s going to be you in the M if you if you manage to even get a sniff of that for even like a minute

Basically he’s doing it in a tucked position for 27 minutes ah extraordinary another the ganner as well beating him by nearly a minute it yeah then another surprise for me isak delor and Fort so the guy can’t only climb can’t only surprise uh sprinting palatin but he can time trial as

Well yeah that’s what I think people were looking out for really if he could time trial because in his Juniors not really he’s done what’s he got here prologue he did in the in the check race 56 15 F the ti cycling tour time trial so yeah the UA setup must be very

Good did he already have the the special handle boss the the personalized handlebars like um yeah even a pool a GH has I I didn’t really watched it to be honest I custom extensions I don’t remember anymore I’m trying to remember now as well yeah because I saw an article on

Gcn on Eurosport um and they were linking it linking it with Kean Brooks um that he wasn’t able to get that custom extensions when he was at borans but I don’t recall if it was the bike from isak Del Toro that they were talking about or that it was the bike

From someone else it may I think no it was the bike from Theo hegen har or Heen har you have to pronounce that name the last time the next time how how you say it too but like Teo he had to custom extensions so that shows that little track believes um in

The Grand Tour and that Theo has um he didn’t perform that strong in the individ individual time trial but I think when he gets back into his racing Rhythm a bit more and he when he writes three four five more time TR that he will do a bit better um again he will

Not be competing with an a a pool but if he stays as close as possible a lot can happen in a grand tour yeah that’s what he needs to do to really get the moues up on the TT I think because it’s not going to be be gra is it so yeah yeah

True other things that you saw in the results of the individual time travel that he sa damn that’s impressive or that’s disappointing tratnik I see there’s a guy on Twitter who really believes in like GC tratnik uh he got 10th so yeah that’s impressive for him

As well yeah I uh I saw that as well um where did Tom Pitcock finish 26th on 1 minute 30 he mentioned he worked on his time trial during winter because he has GC Ambitions losing 130 on even pool um in a 22 kilometers time tral um James Shaw

Um Sten is beating him far it’s I’m not convinced yeah it’s not looking good but from one but as well D 19th that’s not bad from him as first season in team this Spike madoo 15th yeah it is A and P hes is a perfect Bridge towards the final stage stage

Five um finish on alto the malha why is it the perfect Bridge um a lot of people will say well he was part of the visma bike plan when w fard when w fard attacked with a little less than 40 Cas to go he just went all he just

Went all in and yeah to see where he he could get maybe he could win the GC even but it was mainly preparation L preparation for k um in my opinion but still haanes didn’t awesome job pacing vanard towards the the front group at the time uh with James Shaw in there and

Hey join fard um but before the the second Ascend of all to the Mala they were caught because sudall quickstep um did an awesome job they didn’t Panic they just um yeah the Gap was 140 at the one moment but the Portuguese time gaps um aren’t very reliable

But 140 and just um nox katano L um brought that down um and W fard Healey and others were caught um at the start of the climb of Alto de Mal how did I saw a comment on or live threat on X saying that vanard his form isn’t

Good do you have an an answer on that or yeah he I’d say i’ partially agree with it in my opinion he just has looked a bit cooked in a in especially stage two he looked a bit cooked there but as long as he’s fighting for

The classics that’s as a fan of his that’s what I’ll be happy about he starts um his classic season in six days with the envelope um do you expect him to to win it is he the top favorite for omo when we saw how his performances in

Alar after the performance of alar i’ go with tracknick in my opinion yeah yeah who won the stage on alto de Mala you already said it Daniel Felipe Martinez he was able to beat them Graven pool once again in a head-to-head Sprint Pitcock did a very strong

Performance um on alto de maloa as well he was able to stick relatively close to the to the two um protagonists of algar in the interview afterwards eveno said he had to do his last 30 case on the Big Chain ring he wasn’t able to get on the

Small chain ring anymore and it killed off his legs um he said he could have won the stage without that issue a lot of doubts and a lot of criticism again on X because of that interview why because he’s not able to say congrats Danny Martinez for the amazing

Performance and he was more talking about his own issues and that he could have won it are people watching too closely to everything that ramu says or mentions or what’s the problem because yeah he says it and he could have said congrats Martinez but that interview was taken

Five minutes 10 minutes after the finish so why does he get so much hate and keeps on getting so much hate I I don’t understand I it’s it comes with success already doesn’t it let’s be honest just people hating on you a lot if you keep on winning and people just nitpick

Things to find out but his attitude did that is what makes him the one of the best in you know just like picking out little issues which affected them and it’s like the mentality you need that’s what you see in all of the good Sportsmen Around The World Isn’t it just that mentality

Of um for yourself yeah he has the the winner Instinct the Killer Instinct and everything has to yeah to move because he wants to reach his goal and yeah I I appreciate the guy he like three four five years ago um early of his career he was a completely different

Person he was quite arrogant then he did things on the bike that’s not really acceptable but he developed so much the last two years that yeah I don’t understand why he gets so much hate um all the time everything every time he mentions something there are people

Complaining about rco but still he won the general classification um yeah just lining it up with the perfect individual time Trail and then finishing it off in the fifth stage and finishing second just behind Danny Martinez another surprising that last stage for me was Christian scaroni um I

Was looking at at him on some some betting sites um for stage five because he was performing very strong um he was tent in stage two I think uh and I saw he was he had yeah he was valued quite High I think it was uh out of 100 um if I recall

Correctly um 33 for top three um he finished fourth but scaroni 27 years old an Italian for from aana 26 years old sorry were you expecting him to be so close um to the podium um today not really at all I was not expecting it I know of scaron specifically because of

One person um Joshua KH on Twitter his favorite scaron is his favorite Rider so anytime I see scaron I always think of him but um sure he’s very happy with a fourth place here yeah and I’m sure do so the general classification the top five um rpool

Wins in front of Danny Martinez um then Yan tratnik finishes the once week stage race in third very strong performance by the Slovenian fourth Ben Healey um fifth T AR ton arensman arensman finishing fifth um but in a quite Anonymous way he didn’t really stand out for me yeah he was just

There followed Wheels he was suffering a lot um I noticed that that he tried to stick to um the big group but think finishing fifth isn’t um isn’t bad for his first stage race of the Season then another interesting name in the top 10 GC is Stefan Kung

Ninth I mentioned that on the live Fred on stage two St said stepan Kong is still and I was like huh how’s he still here and then 5 seconds later we got dropped a bit but to get nine his and Morado as well it’s nice to see him

There the oldest looking young man you will ever see stepan Kung is ready for the classics he’s ready for is I think it’s going to he’s going to be one to watch as well all right that was our small review of uh alar or anything you want to add

Um to this review before we go into the outro um that’s it really give us something tasty uh other than to check out one Rider that we we are all interested in Johannes Co the K Chronicles that’s live on X right now people can get a good

Insight into him because he is going to be one to watch I’m going to keep saying want to watch the Riders but that guy definitely is because he his potential is crazy good he’s the next Superstar for Scandinavian cycling for sure noran cycling specifically I think it could be uh the climbing

Ability I still I I saw that article um mentioning that Kristoff story that it was phenomenal for him that Kristoff was working doming for him in that climbing stage in Oman that’s so nice to read because that guy is still so young and he’s able to write with one of the the biggest

Cyclists in his country um ever so that’s so beautiful to see and that shows that those young guys it’s they are aren’t all like an AO or a Pacha they are only 18 and they are riding with people they looked up to when they were a kid so that’s I think

That it also shows um the kind of like role model that Kristoff is they mentioned all the little details he’s giving all the classics Riders and things like that and he’s just such an inspiration to all the Riders around them yeah all right one last thing um there is another episode coming on

Domestic racing podcast and omope with newsbot preview probably coming online um around Wednesday so make sure to tune in for that one as well and otherwise I would say it’s a wrap for today’s domestic podcast a big thank you to our audience for tuning in if you enjoyed

The episode consider supporting us on Kofi the link is in the description and if you’re on YouTube hit subscribe and turn on notifications we appreciate your support and look forward to seeing you next time see you later thank you I’ve Got The Spar the sickness there’s the twins in my brain