Amaro Antunes and Fábio Silvestre rose this Friday in the overall standings due to their good performance in the fourth stage of Tuscany – Terra de Cyclismo, a race that integrates the Under-23 Cup of Nations in cycling.
It was a hard journey of 146 kilometers, between Buongiorna da Terranuova and Cortona, disputed in heavy rain and won by the Australian Jay McCarthy.
The race was very busy, being animated by successive escapes, which did not resist, however, the pursuit of the strongest teams, aiming to discuss the stage, which ended on a high. Australian Jay McCarthy was fastest, against Swiss Patrick Schelling and Dane Valgren Andersen, second and third.
The Algarve's Amaro Antunes, ranked 20th, 31 seconds behind the winner, was the best member of the National Team/Liberty Seguros, rising to 21st place overall, 1m59s behind Italian Fabio Aru, who continues to lead the transalpine competition scoring for the Under-23 Nations Cup.
“It was a day of terror, it rained heavily and it was very cold. Amaro Antunes was on the run but after being reached, he still had the strength to hold out in the lead group, as did Fábio Silvestre and Ricardo Ferreira, who also resisted the difficulties well, losing only time on the last ramps", summarizes the national coach José Dust.
The race ends tomorrow with the longest of the stages, 167 kilometers connecting Greve in Chianti to Buonconvento. It is expected that it will be a very demanding ride, as in the last 100 kilometers you will cross six sectors of land – or mud, if the weather is rainy –, for a total of 45 kilometers on this floor.
Within the final sector, a mountain count is placed, on the way to the goal. “If it rains tomorrow, I don't know what it will be like, but instead of dirt it will be mud, which will make everything harder”, foresees José Poeira.
Classifications
4th Stage: Buongiorno da Terranuova – Cortona, 146 km
1st Jay McCarthy (Australia), 3h36m31s (Average: 40,459 km/h)
2nd Patrick Schelling (Switzerland), mt
3rd Valgren Andersen (Denmark), mt
20th Amaro Antunes (Portugal), 31s
28th Fábio Silvestre (Portugal), at 56s
31th Ricardo Ferreira (Portugal), at 1m12s
58th Rafael Reis (Portugal), at 7m18s
62nd Luís Afonso (Portugal), at 9m46s
General Individual
1st Fabio Aru (Italy), 14:46:45
2rd Tim Wellens (Belgium), at 9s
3rd Manuel Bongiorno (Italy), 19s
21th Amaro Antunes (Portugal), at 1m59s
31rd Fábio Silvestre (Portugal), at 3m52s
48nd Luís Afonso (Portugal), at 12m05s
58th Ricardo Ferreira (Portugal), at 23m38s
70th Rafael Reis (Portugal), at 38m56s
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