Gerald Ciolek was the winner of this Saturday's Volta ao Algarve stage, in a very disputed run, in which his team, Omega Pharma-QuickStep clearly won in the strategic plan. The 4th stage of the competition, of 186,3 kilometers, which took place between Vilamoura and Tavira, was very exciting and was decided in the final stage, as two kilometers from the finish line the peloton was compact.
Even so, during almost the entire stage, a group of ten cyclists led an escape, but never managed to distance themselves in a decisive way in the peloton.
In the end, it was the Omega Pharma-QuickStep athletes who managed a throw that allowed two of their cyclists to occupy the top two positions. The podium was completed with Heinrich Haussler from Garmin-Barracuda.
Finishing the stage at home, Samuel Caldeira from the Carmin-Prio team managed to secure the 11th place in today's race. Henrique Casimiro and David Livramento, also from Tavira's team, achieved 35th and 36th position, respectively.
In the overall standings, Richie Porte continues in the yellow jersey, despite not having been among the top ten to cross the finish line. Sky's Australian rider was always at the front of the pack, who chased the top finishers to the finish.
In the second and third place overall there was an exchange, with Rui Costa (Movistar) moving to second and the also Portuguese Tiago Machado (RadioShack-Nissan) taking the opposite path. Both athletes are just 12 seconds behind the first place, with Rui Costa gaining 2 seconds from the leader and Machado keeping his distance in relation to yesterday's stage.
Thus, tomorrow's time trial of 25,8 kilometers between Lagoa and Portimão assumes a decisive character, with two Portuguese still able to take home the trophy.
Already decided, is the King of the Mountain of this edition of Volta ao Algarve. Sérgio Sousa (Efapel-Glassdrive) won the general classification of climbers. Today, when passing through Barranco do Velho, Jan Bakelandts (RadioShack-Nissan) secured the best mountain time of this stage, followed by Greg van Avermaet (BMC) and Bjorn Leukemans (Vacansoleil).
In the Metas Volantes, the final victory of Raul Alarcón of Efapel-Glassdrive was also confirmed. Today's Volantes Goals competition was won by Jan Bakelandts, who also won on the mountain, followed by Mikael Cherel (Ag2r la Mondiale) and Matthew Bush (RadioShack-Nissan).
Ratings:
4th Stage: Vilamoura – Tavira, 186,3 km
1st Gerald Ciolek (Omega Pharma-QuickStep), 4h35m01s (Average: 40,645 k/h)
2nd Matteo Trentin (Omega Pharma-QuickStep), mt
3rd Heinrich Haussler (Garmin-Barracuda), mt
4th Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky), mt
5. Francesco Lasca (Caja Rural), mt
6th Koldo Fernández (Garmin-Barracuda), mt
7th Kris Boeckmans (Vacansoleil-DCM), mt
8th Anthony Ravard (Ag2r), mt
9th Gianni Meersman (Lotto-Belisol), mt
10. Michael van Staeyen (Topsport Vlaanderen-Mercator), mt
General Individual
1st Richie Porte (Sky), 18:29:42s
2nd Rui Costa (Movistar), 12s
3rd Tiago Machado (RadioShack-Nissan), 12s
4th Johnny Hoogerland (Vacansoleil-DCM), 34s
5th Jurgen van den Broeck (Lotto-Belisol), mt
6th Wouter Poels (Vacansoleil-DCM), mt
7th José Mendes (LA-Antarte), 45s
8th Andrew Talansky (Garmin-Barracuda), 48s
9th Gianni Meersman (Loto-Belisol), at 49s
10nd Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-QuickStep), 50s
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