Volta a Albufeira, Buenos Aires

Volta a Albufeira:

On Saturday and Sunday we are racing the "Volta a Albufeira" a tight, sinous and dangerous race, around the little "concelho" - something like a council, of Albufeira. The plus side to this race is it can be a lot of fun and the hotels are excellent. And it's only 30km away from home!

We want to win the race through sprinter Smauel Caldeira, so that's the plan as it stands. He had a very good "Volta ao Algarve" and it seems likely he could win it. Last year I came in 13th after gaining time by winning some intermediate sprints.

The full, detailed race route for all three stages can be found here:

http://www.ciclismodigital.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1726&Itemid=1

Vuelta a Buenos Aires:

This race has been canceled, I would guess it is another casualty of the credit crunch. Although so far cycling has come through relatively unscathed. Cycling lurches from crisis to crisis anyway.

Volta ao Algarve:

We had a suprisingly good Volta, 4th in the team classification, as the best Portuguese team. The race this year was bigger and much better than before, though falling a bit short of what it was talked up to be. Live TV and Eurosport never turned up. It was a shame because during such a glorious sunny week, with Tour de France Champion Alberto Contador in yellow at the end I can not think of any better way to promote a region supposedly renown for high end tourism and sports tourism. Infact that little race alone attracted throngs of people who would wouldn't be here otherwise. I think some large developments, and comerce could through a few euros to have the race pass... On TV, to millions across Europe.