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After the WorldTour level started to become unstable, Intermarché-Circus-Wanty 2022 is well over their weight, and this trend only intensifies in early 2023, as Recosta Already looks like an inspired signature.
The former world champion has gone two seasons without a title and won just two in the past six years, but he has now won three in the past month and leads the standings. Algarve trip.
Costa has struggled to rediscover his 2013 Midas touch, culminating in a Fiorentina’s rainbow jerseybut he seems to have found rich form at 36.
After winning the Trofeo Calvia at Challenge Mallorca, then a stage and a whole At Volta Valenciana, he was third overall in the Algarve, finishing third on Foia’s first summit finish and gaining extra seconds on an elite late breakout on stage 3.
“The year started well. I felt really good and my result was perfect. So now I’m very happy with how it all went,” Costa told cycling news.
The Portuguese driver, who started his career at Movistar, has spent the past six seasons with the Emirates team and three before that with the actually earlier Lampre- Team Merida.
In what could be the last contract of his career, he opted to sign with Intermarché, a team that seemed out of place at WorldTour level in 2021 but now looks like a management-smart team, Work wonders with limited resources.
“In fact, the team is great, the working environment is great. I’m really enjoying it and we’re all very motivated,” Costa said.
“It’s a smaller team, but I’m not saying it didn’t run well. There might be less pressure, but the goal is still there. We’ve got to fight, we’ve got to do great things.”
Costa is reluctant to compare his current form to previous stages of his career, arguing that the main reason for his recent success is the freedom he has found in his new surroundings.
He joined the UAE in their first year, but the team has grown into one of the leading WorldTour forces, with two-time Tour de France winner Tadej Pogačar among many other proven race winners.
“In the UAE, I was a little restricted,” Costa said. “The change in the team brought me new opportunities and with that came new motivation.
“The situation has always been there. The only problem is in the UAE, it’s a different program, a different role. I have my little chances, but I usually end up with ‘capos’ of the team, like Pogačar, [João] Almeida, [Juan] Ayuso. This robs me of the chance to fight for my goals.
As for what those goals are, Costa is not limited to them.
“Stages, GCs, classics,” he said, whose race plans in the spring will include the Drôme and Ardèche Classics, Trofeo Laigueglia, white roadArdennes Classics and Tour de France.
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