The Basque Mikel Aristi (Euskadi Basque Country-Murias) won today the second stage of the Volta a Portugal Santander, which has a new leader, the Galician Gustavo Veloso (W52-FC Porto). The 198,5 kilometer stretch linked Marinha Grande to Santo António dos Cavaleiros.
The best cyclist of an Algarve team in this race was Vicente de Mateos (Aviludo-Louletano), who came in 5th place, with the same time as the winner. With this position in the stage, De Mateos also now occupies 5th place in the individual General Classification.
On the other hand, also Spanish Alejandro Marque, from Sporting-Tavira, who was 9th in the stage, rose to 6th place in the General.
As for the story of this run, the longest of the entire 2019 Tour, the race decided to sprint, at the top of a fourth-rate climb. Luís Mendonça (Rádio Popular-Boavista) was at the front of the race 300 meters from the finish, but Mike Aristi, coming from behind, overcame the Portuguese in the final meters, beating him by a second.
The third, at three seconds, was Gustavo Veloso (W52-FC Porto), who assumed the command of the individual general and therefore starts wearing the yellow jersey.
In addition to the slope of the access ramp at the finish, a fall on the head of the platoon caused "cuts" in the group, but the "Algarvians" Vicente de Mateos (Aviludo-Louletano) and Alejandro Marque (Sporting-Tavira) were not affected and cut the goal shortly after the stage winner.
The third stage, this Saturday, is expected to be hot. The weather promises temperatures between 30 and 40 degrees, on the 194,1 kilometer link between Santarém and Castelo Branco, through a flat route, suitable for long escapes and an arrival at the sprint.
1th stage classification:
1. Mikel Aristi, Esp (Euskadi-Murias), 4:50.05 hours (average: 41,057 km/h)
2. Luís Mendonça, By (Rádio Popular-Boavista), at 01 seconds
3. Gustavo Veloso, Esp (W52-FC Porto), at 03
4. Joni Brandão, Por (Efapel), mt
5. Vicente García de Mateos, Esp (Aviludo-Louletano), mt
6. Daniel Mestre, By (W52-FC Porto), mt
7. Edgar Pinto, Por (W52-FC Porto), mt
8. Marco Tizza, Ita (Amore & Vita-Prodir), mt
9. Alejandro Marque, Esp (Sporting-Tavira), mt
10. João Rodrigues, By (W52-FC Porto), on 08
(...)
15. Óscar Sevilla, Esp (Medellín), at 10
Individual General Classification:
1. Gustavo Veloso, Esp (W52-FC Porto), 9:44.43 hours
2. Mikel Aristi, Esp (Euskadi-Murias), at 03.
3. Jóni Brandão, By (Efapel), on 07
4. Daniel Mestre, By (W52-FC Porto), on 08.
5. Vicente García de Mateos, Esp (Aviludo-Louletano), at 09
6. Alejandro Marque, Esp (Sporting-Tavira), at 11.
7. António Carvalho, Por (W52-FC Porto), mt
8. Edgar Pinto, Por (W52-FC Porto), at 12
9. João Rodrigues, By (W52-FC Porto), at 14.
10. Óscar Sevilla, Esp (Medellín), at 17.
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