The Algarve's Amaro Antunes, ranked 39th, was the best member of the National Team/Liberty Seguros in the third stage of Tuscany – Terra de Ciclismo, a link that witnessed the complete domination of the Italians, who got the first three places in the tirade and took charge of the individual general.
It was known that the 145,6 km stage, starting and finishing in Cavriglia, would be very difficult due to the high end, but the performance of the Italy team completely dynamited the race in the final ascent. The best on the journey was Manuel Bongiorno, followed by compatriots Fabio Aru and Mattia Cattaneo.
The transalpine festival allowed Fabio Aru to rise to first place in the individual overall. The second is Mattia Cattaneo, with the same time, and the third is the Belgian Tim Wellens, with 9 seconds. The best Portuguese is Amaro Antunes, 32nd, at 1m30s.
“The stage went smoothly until we climbed to the finish line. It was a very tough five kilometers, due to some ramps with 17 and 18 percent incline and due to the very strong pace of the Italians, which proved to be absolutely unbeatable”, describes national coach José Poeira.
“Amaro Antunes didn't manage to enter well placed on the climb and ended up giving way more than we expected. Now, it is not easy to think about discussing the general, we will try to move up in this classification and we will try to fight for the two remaining stages”, concludes the Portuguese coach.
Tomorrow the difficulties continue. The peloton will cover 146 kilometers, from Terranuova Bracciolini to Cortona, with the finish coinciding with a mountain count.
Classification
3rd Stage: Cavriglia – Cavriglia, 145,6 km
1st Manuel Bongiorno (Italy), 3h56m11s (Average: 36,988 km/h)
2nd Fabio Aru (Italy), at 7s
3rd Mattia Cattaneo (Italy), mt
39th Amaro Antunes (Portugal), at 1m37s
42nd Luís Afonso (Portugal), at 2m07s
53rd Fábio Silvestre (Portugal), at 3m05s
99th Rafael Reis (Portugal), at 15m13s
101st Ricardo Ferreira (Portugal), mt
General Individual
1st Fabio Aru (Italy), 11:10:12
2rd Mattia Cattaneo (Italy), mt
3rd Tim Wellens (Belgium), at 9s
32th Amaro Antunes (Portugal), at 1m30s
39nd Luís Afonso (Portugal), at 2m21s
45rd Fábio Silvestre (Portugal), at 2m58s
80th Ricardo Ferreira (Portugal), at 22m28s
99th Rafael Reis (Portugal), at 31m40s
Comments