Ryan Mullen will get his first opportunity at taking a
result against the clock this year when he lines out at Volta ao Algarve
starting on Wednesday.
It will be the Irishman’s first time to race with new
team mate Vincenzo Nibali who joined the ranks of Trek-Segafredo, from
Bahrain-Merida, during the off season.
Mullen’s opportunity will come on the final stage when
the riders face a near pan plat 20.3km TT starting and finishing in Lagoa.
The same TT has featured in the race in recent years and
when Mullen rode it in 2018 he finished 14th after puncturing just 2km into his
effort.
Last season he rode the race again and took 4th in the
test behind Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ), Søren Kragh Andersen (Team Sunweb) and
Yves Lampaert (Deceuninck-QuickStep).
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Küng returns this year as does Lampaert and with the likes of Remco Evenepoel (Deceuninck-QuickStep), Geraint Thomas and Rohan Dennis (both Team Ineos) and Paddy Bevin (CCC Team), to name but a few, in the field Mullen will have his work cut out for him.
Still, the Irish rider is world class against the clock and will fancy his chances against anyone in the field over what is a mostly flat and technical course.
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While he has already had one outing against the clock this year, at Etoile de Bessèges (2.1), the lumpy course there was not best suited to him.
This time around at Volta ao Algarve the TT stage is on
the final day; next Sunday.
His team will back new signing Vincenzo Nibali and Il Lombardia champion Bauke Mollema for the overall.
“We’ll be in Portugal with a strong and well-equipped
team,” said team director Steven de Jongh. “For Nibali and Mollema, we’ll see
day after day how much their current form allows them to lead with the first.
“We’ll have an eye also on the classification and, considering the level of our competitors, I think a top-five placement can be a concrete goal, maybe even something more.
“For the sprint stages, we’re going to play our chances
with Theuns and Stuyven. For the final time trial, it will be interesting to
see Nibali race with the Trek Speed Concept for the first time.
“And with Mollema and TT specialist Mullen, we can
guarantee a good team performance. We want to give continuity to the good start
of our season by aiming for a stage success.”
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