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Cervelo's Heinrich Haussler takes stage 1 in Portugal while Garmin's Will Frischkorn grabs the mountain jersey.
Contador here to stretch his legs
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Racing is clicking into gear all over Europe and several big names are revving up their 2009 racing legs at this week’s Volta ao Algarve over the green hills draped along Portugal’s southern Atlantic Coast.
The five-day race marks the season debut for triple-crown winner Alberto Contador (Astana), who admitted he’s here only to stretch his legs.
Others top riders putting to test their early season form in Wednesday’s 173.6km first stage from Albufeira to Olhao were Damiano Cunego (Lampre), defending champion Stijn Devolder (Quick Step) and trackie-turned-roadie Theo Bos (Rabobank).
Heinrich Haussler (Cervélo TestTeam) easily out-kicked Dennis Van Winden (Rabobank) to take a confidence-building win while other top sprinters, such as Robbie McEwen (Katusha) and Gerard Ciolek (Milram), finished out of the top 10.
“The sun’s shining, so it’s a perfect race day for me,” said Haussler, a German who was raised in Australia. “We were pretty lucky there weren’t more attacks. The break went away early and we chased it down and we won. Not a bad way to start things off.”
The win comes on the heels of Thor Hushovd’s dramatic victory at the Tour of California, giving the new Cervélo squad a win on two continents.
It’s the first on the year for Haussler, who’s overcoming a string of injuries and looks to be stepping up ahead of the important spring classics.
“It’s always good to win early in the season. I’ve worked hard over the winter and the form is good,” Haussler said. “This is good to win ahead of the races that are big for me this year, like Milan-San Remo, Paris-Nice and the spring classics.”
The five-day Algarve race started under bright sunny skies, with temperatures nudging into the high 60s, no clouds and a slight tailwind coming off the sparkling Atlantic Coast to drive home the pack.
Bos, who took a win in a Sunday criterium to officially open his road career, couldn’t match the high speeds at the end of the stage and lost contact, finishing nearly three minutes off the back.
Nabbing some quality podium time was Garmin-Slipstream’s Will Frischkorn, who worked into the day’s main breakaway and then led the way over the first of two third-category climbs to snag the best climber’s jersey.
“The move went away really quick. I guess I had too much espresso in the morning,” Frischkorn said as he was getting wiped down at the finish line. “It was me, a Rabobank guy and four Portuguese. I knew it was going to come down to a sprint, but it’s a good way to start the week.”
Frischkorn leads a strong Garmin-Slipstream team that also includes David Millar and Danny Pate, two riders who could do well in GC with a long, 33km individual time trial looming on Saturday.
“This week could be good for us. Millar and Pate could do well in the overall, we have Julian (Dean) and Hans (Dekkers) for the sprints,” he said. “We have a good chunk of our classics team here. It’s nice to be racing here in Portugal. It’s the only place in Europe20with sun right now. I’m just glad I’m not in California.”
Frischkorn can sleep well. Forecasters are calling for sun and moderate temperatures all week.
The 35th Volta ao Algarve continues Thursday with the hilly 183.5km second stage from Lagao to Lagos. The stage tackles three third-category climbs, but nothing too extreme to slow down the sprint-hungry bunch. A steep run into Lagos, with the final 2.4km on a rising finish to the line, could make for an interesting finale.
