Volta a Portugal Feminina – Cofidis
Volta a Portugal Feminina – Cofidis, DAS-Hutchinson-Brother UK go in search of sun and a camisa amerala!
The Volta a Portugal Feminina – Cofidis is a five day stage race that was run as a UCI 2.2 event for the first time this year. Twenty-one teams, seven of which were UCI Continental, were entered, including DAS-Hutchinson-Brother UK.
The Volta a Portugal Feminina – Cofidis started in the north of the country at Vila Nova de Guia, before heading south to the finish in Lisbon. Running from from 3-7 July the riders would cover 442.9 kilometres on their way to the final TT.
DAS-Hutchinson-Brother UK
DAS-Hutchinson-Brother UK took a seven-strong team to the race they were;
We spoke to some of the riders to see how their Volta went. Firstly we spoke to Robyn Clay who suffered a serious crash at the Cyclis Classic back in May. Despite breaking a collar-bone and four vertebrae, just over a month later she won a stage of the CAMS-Ronde van Wymeswold.
Robyn from the National Champs, via grand prix crits, to a four day stage-race, any culture shock or jet lag?
No jet lag or culture shock, but as soon as we got there I was struggling with the heat. I’ve stayed in rainy England all season – other than racing abroad – so the heat was definitely a shock to the system!
The Volta is a recent UCI race (4th edition, first as a UCI 2.2) how was the organisation?
I thought the race was organised brilliantly, of course I can’t see what went on the behind the scenes, but from a rider’s perspective it was fantastic, I felt in very good hands.
Was it good to see the sun again! Looking at the video and photos, you were racing under blue skies. Were the temperatures a problem?
The sun was lovely and although I found it really difficult under race conditions it was definitely nice to be somewhere sunny. I massively struggled with the heat for the first two days in particular and also slightly on the third day, which really affected my performance and meant I just had to focus on being a good domestique for my teammates for the stage race, but I enjoy doing this at times too!
How’s the form coming after your crash earlier in the year, do you feel you’ve fully recovered?
My form post crash was back up to scratch coming into the final stages of Portugal and I was really pleased with how much progress was made. Sadly I came down with illness after Portugal, I think a mixture of potential heat stroke during stage-2, five hard days of racing and then a late flight home in a busy airport caused this, but that’s sport sometimes.
Fourth on the final stage was a great performance, what was your race highlight?
I’m really pleased with fourth in the time trial, I felt as though I just kept getting stronger throughout the stage-race and to top it off with 4th on a borrowed time-trial bike that I haven’t really ridden since last year meant a lot to me.
Thanks Robyn, we’ll have more from other team riders soon. All photos and video courtesy of the Federação Portuguesa de Ciclismo.
