Magnus Sheffield proved to be the only one capable of approaching Remco Evenepoel in the Volta ao Algarve time trial. The American cyclist from INEOS Grenadiers was 17 seconds behind the World Champion, taking second place in the day’s classification.
“I’m disappointed, but I think it’s a good form of disappointment,” The 21-year-old cyclist guarantees: “We’ll keep working hard and try to beat Evenepoel next time,” Sheffield confessed after the race to the CyclingProNet website.
Challenging the champion
The 21-year-old stated that he believes he has the necessary skills to challenge Evenepoel in this time trial. “I think this was a unique circuit, with a lot of ups and downs. It wasn’t a time trial that benefited a specific type of cyclist. We saw a lot of strong time trialists here, but Remco’s race was impressive,” he considered.
Revealing that he has a special liking for this type of test, Sheffield said: “I really like it. Through the process, at least. On the bike, it’s a lot of suffering, so I don’t necessarily take advantage of that.”
“But it’s very rewarding to focus on something, fine-tune the details and work through the process. I have been training a lot for the time trial, so I wanted to perform well here. I was close, but I still wasn’t good enough.
Focusing on the Olympic Games
This year, Sheffield has several objectives related to the Time Trial. “The World Championships in Zurich is certainly a big goal for me, but especially the Olympic Games. I want to position myself on the American team.”
“The Games only happen once every four years, so this is a really, really big goal for me. This also applies to the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.”
Competition with Filippo Ganna
Within the INEOS Grenadiers are other great time trialists, such as Filippo Ganna. “It creates a good form of competition. We motivate and challenge each other. A few weeks ago we were in Denia, where we were training together.”
“For a guy like Tom (Pidcock), a general classification racer, it’s really important to focus on Time Trial races. So it’s not just important for pure Time Trials.”
Despite the natural frustration at not achieving victory, Magnus Sheffield left the Volta ao Algarve with a feeling of achievement. The 21-year-old cyclist guarantees: “We will keep working hard and try to beat Evenepoel next time.”