The pouring rain and cold weather could not stop Andre Greipel (HTC-Columbia) from taking the win at the second stage of the 2010 Volta ao Algarve.

It did, however, slow him down. Greipel’s winning time of 6+ hours actually exceeded the scheduled finish by at least 75 minutes. The 207km stage race of the Volat ao Algarve is tough enough without the heavy rains making it worse. Most of the cyclists who finished the stage couldn’t muster the energy to give an interview, and it took only one look at their beaten-down faces to know that you shouldn’t dare.

However, Greipel’s victory apparantly gave him enough strength to take about the race for a few minutes. The first thing he mentioned was the weather. “It was horrible out there. If I’ve got a cold tomorrow I’ll know why.” Greipel added that he had asked his…

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At least a few Tour de France contenders are expected to be at the starting line in the Volta ao Algarve, which will begin on February 17 in the southern part of Portugal. We’ll be expecting twenty three teams to join in the race which will end in Portimao on Sunday.

The five-day stage race will include Andreas Klöden and Levi Leipheimer of Team Radioshack, together with Alberto Contador (Astana), their former teammate and current champion of Volta ao Algraveformer. Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d’Epargne) who just won in the Tour of the Mediterranean will also be taking part in the race.

Likewise, Christian Vande Velde of Garmin-Transitions will be joining the tour to Portugal and will lead his team all by himself since Bradley Wiggins, his former teammate has changed teams and is now with the British Team Sky.

Olympic gold medalist Samuel Sánchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) will also be there in preparation for…

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