Elie Gesbert : "good memories from Algarve"
Élie Gesbert returns this season to the Volta Ao Algarve, which he won in 2021 with a victory on the last day of the race in this increasingly popular competition.
“The Volta Ao Algarve leaves me with a good memory with my stage success in Malhão in 2021, after a season that was difficult for me. Winning this race did me a lot of good, and allowed me to put all the problems I had encountered behind me. I’m going back to Portugal this season. We will be two climbers this year, with different ambitions because of the presence of Warren in our team, but I will want to do well on the finishes that can suit me whatever role I am given. We’ll have to see how the cards are dealt within the team for this competition. It will also be my comeback race after the Tour Down Under. I had to absorb the time difference, so it remains to be seen how my legs will be in Portugal this week”.
“I will compete for the third time in the Volta Ao Algarve. It is an event that I like and that corresponds to my characteristics. I like the way of running there, the roads are beautiful. There is a time trial proposed, on a good distance for me. I have twice finished in the top 10 in the general classification in this race, and my objective will be to aim for a good place in the final classification of this race, which is registered in the ProSeries but has a start-list worthy of a UCI WorldTour race.”
“We can notice that season after season the Volta Ao Algarve attracts more and more teams and big names in professional cycling. It is a beautiful stage race at the beginning of the season, balanced in terms of the course offered with two days dedicated to sprinters, two others for climbers, with difficult profiles, and a time trial of more than twenty kilometers. Hugo Hofstetter will be our sprinter, we can bet on Thibault Guernalec for the general classification with this rather long time trial. The Volta Ao Algarve is a race in which he has already obtained two good general classifications, and for the stages dedicated to climbers our assets will be Warren Barguil and Élie Gesbert, who had the pleasure to win on these roads two years ago”.