February 20, 2004 – Canada's Michael Barry's season has begun again, once more at the Portugese race the Tour of Algarve. Barry had a chance share some of his thoughts on the race so far. Here's what he had to say.

Stage 1: Albufeira-Albufeira, 145 km Well, my first race is under the belt. It wasn't bad, but it's always a bit of a shock to the system when you follow the first breakaway of the season; same goes for your first hill. But, we have a good team here, with Lance, Floyd Landis, George Hincapie, Victor Hugo Pena, Benjamin Noval, Jose Azevedo and Daniel Rincon. A lot of people have been asking about the new jersey. I think it was time for a change. We have a few new sponsors as well that the jersey needed to accommodate. I think our new jerseys look much better, stand out more in the group and look good in photos as well. They've got a retro/classic look which is a nice change from all of the other teams' splashy coloured jerseys.

1. Alberto Benito (Spa) Antarte-Rota Dos Moveis 3.27.50
2. Candido Barbosa (Por) L.A. Pecol
3. Angel Edo (Spa) Milaneza-Maia
4. Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Cofidis
5. Martin Garrido (Arg) Barbot-Gaia
6. Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Cofidis
7. Pedro Lopes (Por) L.A. Pecol
8. Pedro Soeiro (Por) Carvalhelhos-Boavista
9. Nuno Marta (Por) Wurth/BOM Petisto
10. Bas Giling (Ned) Rabobank
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35. Michael Barry (Can) U.S. Postal Service

Stage 2: Castro Marim-Portimao, 182.0 km

Candido Barbosa scored a win for the locals. He's Portugese and rides for L.A. Pecol. Today's stage was crazy sketchy at the finish with a lot of bumping and grinding. But I finished up there and felt pretty good. The new guys are fitting in well and seem to be adapting to the new environment too. My roommate is Benjamin Noval, perhaps the biggest most muscular Spaniard in the peloton. He's a good guy. I am learning more Spanish and he is learning more English. Johan Bruyneel (USPS Director) deliberately puts the non-English speaking guys with the English-speaking guys so that they can learn at a faster pace.

1. Candido Barbosa (Por) L.A. Pecol 4.46.13
2. Alberto Benito (Spa) Antarte-Rota Dos Moveis
3. Stuart O'grady (Aus) Cofidis
4. James Vanlandschoot (Bel) Relax-Bodysol
5. Jukka Vastaranta (Fin) Rabobank
6. Martin Garrido (Arg) Barbot-Gaia
7. Angel Edo (Spa) Milaneza-Maia
8. Bas Giling (Ned) Rabobank
9. Sven Renders (Bel) Jong Vlaanderen 2016
10. Geert Steurs (Bel) Jong Vlaanderen 2016
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39. Michael Barry (Can) U.S. Postal Service

Stage 3: Lagoa-Lagos, 180 km

Today's stage was hard from the start with several climbs, one quite long and steep and into the fog, then back down to the rain. All the climbs came in the first hours of the race so the race was controlled and we knew it would finish in a bunch gallop to the line. The rain factored into the race with slippery roads and crashes. In the final, Floyd (Landis) and I had a good line in the bunch and he hit the front with about 1km to go. The sprint came around him; someone hit him and he crashed and almost skidded across the line. I was hit with about 50m to go from someone coming from behind as well, (perhaps the same guy?) and managed fifth. The race is really going to come down to the TT tomorrow and the hill top finish on Sunday, as we knew it would. Floyd and Victor (Hugo Pena) are both feeling good so they have been protected through the week for the TT. I imagine we'll see Lance go pretty darn quick as well.

1. Martin Garrido (Arg) Barbot-Gaia 4.36.59
2. Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Cofidis
3. Candido Barbosa (Por) L.A. Pecol
4. Marc De Maar (Ned) Rabobank
5. Michael Barry (Can) U.S. Postal Service
6. Jacek Morajko (Pol) Antarte-Rota Dos Moveis
7. Pedro Soeiro (Por) Carvalhelhos-Boavista
8. Jukka Vastaranta (Fin) Rabobank
9. James Vanlandschoot (Bel) Relax-Bodysol
10. Geert Steurs (Bel) Jong Vlaanderen 2016