The Algarve rider João Rodrigues (W52-FC Porto) won today the fourth stage of the 81st Tour of Portugal Santander, 145 kilometers between Pampilhosa da Serra and Alto da Torre. Gustavo César Veloso (W52-FC Porto) was second and beat his direct opponents.
Vicente de Mateos (Aviludo-Louletano) was 5th, despite a collision a few meters from the finish with Edgar Pinto, and with that position in the stage, the cyclist of the Algarve team rose to 3rd place in the General Classification.
Jorge Piedade, sports director of Aviludo-Louletano, highlighted, in statements to RTP, the "great job" done by the team in Serra da Estrela and recalled that Vicente De Mateos "had bad luck when Edgar fell on him and made him lose some time". "We did everything to win," he assured. "We are going to fight until the end", announced the technical responsible for the Algarve team.
The main candidates were slow to move on the final climb and others were the protagonists in the first half of the ascent. Aviludo-Louletano courageously took over the race. He started the peloton right out of Covilhã and, 15 kilometers from the finish, launched Luís Fernandes to head the race. From behind, from a group with an oscillating composition, several men were trying to “jump”, always with the leaders waiting.
Rádio Popular-Boavista was dissatisfied throughout the climb and David Rodrigues embodied the combativeness of Boavista, attacking 4 kilometers from the end, passing by Luís Fernandes, to take the head of the race solo. It would have been reached shortly afterwards, in the first move by Joni Brandão, who tested his opponents with 3 kilometers to go.
David Rodrigues tried a few more times, but it would be Efapel to launch the discussion of the stage, in the last few hundred meters. Henrique Casimiro accelerated, but João Rodrigues responded to triumph, with Gustavo Veloso right after, at 1 second. Joni Brandão was third, at 5 seconds.
The end of the stage was also marked by a clash between Edgar Pinto (W52-FC Porto) and Vicente García de Mateos (Aviludo-Louletano), who delayed the Spanish a little, but left the Portuguese way behind, having fallen and stayed with the broken bike.
Everything remains open in the general accounts, but Gustavo César Veloso pedaled like a giant to conquer the Volta a Portugal. In the stage that, theoretically, would be more difficult for his characteristics, the Galician increased the difference against his rivals.
Gustavo Veloso is therefore still wearing yellow. The second is teammate João Rodrigues, at 13 seconds. Vicente García de Mateos is in third, at 20 seconds. Two men from Efapel follow, Joni Brandão, at 27 seconds, and Henrique Casimiro, at 40.
In the top 10 of Geral, there is also Luís Fernandes (Aviludo Louletano) who is precisely 10th and who today finished the draw in 7th place.
The stage started off busy, due to the fight for the mountain jersey and the combativeness of Rádio Popular-Boavista, which placed two men in the main group of fugitives of the day: Luís Gomes and Pablo Guerrero. This group was also formed by Antonio Soto (Equipo Euskadi), Mathias Reutmann (Swiss Racing Academy) and Domingos Gonçalves (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA).
The presence of Domingos Gonçalves left the peloton on alert, which is why W52-FC Porto took up the pursuit with courage, keeping the fugitives close at hand, in order to avoid surprises in the approach to the decisive stage of the stage. The difference rarely exceeded two minutes. The Minho of the Spanish team still started the climb isolated, but did not resist the pace imposed by Efapel and Aviludo-Louletano.
Before the rest day, scheduled for Tuesday, the peloton will complete, this Monday, the fifth stage of the competition, a journey of 158 kilometers between Oliveira do Hospital and Guarda. The goal coincides with a third-rate mountain prize, but the nerve-racking moment may be a little earlier, on the second-rate climb, 9,1 kilometers from the finish.
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