Sérgio Ribeiro (Efapel-Glassdrive) won the 22nd edition of the classic at Restaurante Alpendre in the sprint, the third scoring event for the Elite and Sub-23 Portugal Cup. The triumph earned him a rise to the top of the overall rankings, in the elite category.
This was the third competition counting for the Cup of Portugal and took place between the Alpendre Restaurant and Vila Nova de Cacela, over a distance of 158,3 kilometers. On the road for several years, this was another edition of the Troféu Restaurante Alpendre, to which Rogério Domingues has been giving life for 22 years.
In a lively dispute to the sprint, at the end of the 150,5 kilometers that linked Tavira to Cacela, Sérgio Ribeiro was the fastest, beating the man of the house, Samuel Caldeira (Carmim-Prio-Tavira), who had to make do with the second position.
The third was Hélder Oliveira (Onda-Boavista). Sérgio Ribeiro assumed the leadership of the Portuguese Cup, in the elite category, taking the lead in the trophy he won last season. Caldeira is second, just eight points, and Hélder Oliveira is only ten, in third place.
“We didn't look at ways to achieve our goals, as did Tavira's team, which provoked a beneficial war for the show. In the end there was a well-fought sprint. I won, but if it were Samuel, I would have been well delivered”, said Sérgio Ribeiro, just before stepping onto the podium.
The best under-23 in this afternoon's race was Nuno Meireles (Mortágua), but the regularity of Rafael Silva (Liberty Seguros/Feira/Specialized) earned him the maintenance of the leadership of the youngest overall.
The Alpendre Restaurant Trophy was quite tactical, as there was a rivalry between Efapel-Glassdrive and Carmim-Prio-Tavira on the road. In the first half of the race, a group of nine units left the peloton, with the Spaniard Raul Alarcón (Efapel-Glassdrive) being the most enterprising of these escapes, distancing himself from the others and traveling dozens of kilometers alone.
In the platoon, the Tavirenses took over the pursuit, even ending up sending down the two cyclists they were taking in the intermediate group.
The entry in the third third of the race, gave other protagonists to the Classic of Restaurante Alpendre. Two cyclists from Louletano/Dunas Douradas, Victor Valinho and António Olmo, started by joining Alarcón and then leaving him behind, leading the race as a duo, but they also succumbed to the acceleration of the peloton already within the final ten kilometers.
The end of the race had great emotion. Carmim-Prio-Tavira protested the arrival, alleging an irregular sprint by Sérgio Ribeiro, but the college of commissioners did not accept the arguments of the Algarve.
Rui Vinhas (Louletano / Dunas Douradas) took advantage of his participation in the first escape to win the title of best climber, while teammate António Olmo used the second escape of the day to snatch the jersey from the mobile goals. Loulé's team triumphed collectively.
The Tour of Albergaria-a-Velha, to be played on the 17th of June, is the next stage of the Liberty Seguros Elite and Sub-23 Portugal Cup.
Complete classifications of the XXII Trophy Restaurante Alpendre here:
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