This Monday, the Algarve's Ricardo Mestre (W52-FC Porto) won the 29th Jornal de Notícias Leilosoc Grand Prix. Joni Brandão (Efapel) won the last stage, 187,2 kilometers, between Porto and Gondomar, but Mestre and W52-FC Porto managed the advantage to take the final yellow jersey.
The final rides of the Jornal de Notícias Grand Prix «were exciting, with multiple attacks from the start, but with the W52-FC Porto, demonstrating confidence in Ricardo Mestre's abilities, having the cold-bloodedness and tactical capacity to hold the yellow shirt», highlights the Portuguese Cycling Federation (FPC).
The Porto team controlled the race, putting António Carvalho in the most dangerous movements of the hard and mountainous phase of the trip, serving as a brake on the onslaught of Efapel, Sporting-Tavira and Rádio Popular-Boavista. This made the only escape with some margin
happen after the second flying goal, with 120 kilometers covered.
That flight brought together five elements at the head of the race: António Gómez (Rádio Popular-Boavista), Tiago Machado and Álvaro Trueba (Sporting-Tavira), Jesús del Pino and Filipe Cardoso (Vito-Firense-PNB). With the advantage of the quintet approaching three minutes, W52-FC Porto set to work and reduced the difference.
According to the FPC, “the fatigue accumulated by a stage of successive attacks reduced the main group to 16 elements. Then, Efapel, which had already managed to get Joni Brandão to win the two flying goals, with a 6-second bonus, took over the head of the group in the yellow jersey, toughening the race to prepare for a last onslaught by Joni Brandão».
That was what happened. The leader of the team from Ovarre fired 2 kilometers from the finish, on the most demanding ramps to approach the finish. Joni Brandão passed António Gómez, the last resistant in the breakout, and crossed the line isolated, registering his third consecutive stage victory. The Spaniard from Rádio Popular-Boavista still got second place, at 6 seconds. Daniel Silva, also from Boavista, was third, at 8 seconds, the same disadvantage registered by Ricardo Mestre, fourth. The Algarve thus defended the first place.
Ricardo Mestre finished the 29th Jornal de Notícias Grand Prix with 20h33m24s of race, 36 seconds less than Joni Brandão, second placed, and 59 less than Alejandro Marque (Sporting-Tavira), third.
“We knew it would be very difficult. The team and I did what we could, attacking the race from kilometer zero. We weren't afraid to face the race with a winning mentality. Thanks to my teammates who worked and battled all day, trusting me 200 percent. I don't live obsessed with one race a year. Whenever I run, I try to be at an acceptable level», said Joni Brandão, at the end of the tirade.
For the FPC, «the triumph of Ricardo Mestre demonstrates that cycling is the most individual of collective sports. W52-FC Porto was the team that played the best “stone” on the race board, launching Ricardo Mestre for the escape that would be decisive – in the first sector of the third stage – and the Algarve proved to be the strongest of the eight runners who, in that run, gained more than two minutes of advantage in the middle of the pack. From then onwards, the white and blue players withstood the responses of the entire competition to win this Grand Prix for the fifth consecutive year».
«It was a very difficult victory, because Joni Brandão proved to be very strong. I am fortunate to be in the best team. My teammates and I managed to control the race. All stages had important moments, but the double sector stage was the
more decisive», recognizes Ricardo Mestre.
In addition to the individual victory, W52-FC Porto won by teams. Joni Brandão won the rankings of points and flying goals. Bruno Silva (Efapel) was the best climber and Rafael Lourenço (UD Oliveirense/InOutBuild), eighth overall, takes home his youth jersey.
Tiago Machado was the most combative of the last journey.
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