The final stage is a 16km individual time trial which has attracted the best Ctour time triallists to Portugal. We have numerous close battles on general classification but they come later there is a lot of interest in an early starter today as Mikhail Ignatiev
goes round the course.
The Russian was a faller on stage two and after two days finishing well back clearly has saved something for today as he blasts well clear of the earlier checks.
The defending Algarve champion will defend not his overall race title but will certainly be a contender for todays stage. His check after the opening hillyish 6 km was 8.14 and at the finish he was clocked at 21.58.
We need a reference point so we check three other well known testers some way back on GC
William Bonnet
Maciej Bodnar
and Michiel Elijzen
Whilst Unicredit and Venchi can claim to have had pretty good Algarve races, for Bpost it has been yet another fairly disappointing race. They will be concerned going into the cobbled season and the news isn't much better here as none of the three can match Ignatievs speed.
team
name
1st
2nd
1
Ignatiev
8.14
21.58
2
Bonnet
8.19
22.07
3
Elijzen
8.19
22.11
4
Bodnar
8.24
22.21
So the Russian has produced something for his T.CS Bank squad who will later be looking closely to see how Kirylenka does on GC. Other classification battles have largely been decided with the points looking pretty secure on the back of Sergio Marinangeli
The former Gazzetta Della Sport Bennati lead out is enjoying a new lease of life in Venchi Procycling and whilst is missing the winner's podium is proving a consistent rider. The King of the Mountains is on the shoulders of Stage 2 winner Jordi Grau
A real breakaway expert from Unicredit is Spaniard Grau, certainly he has a sense of what it needs to be part of a successful breakaway.
Soon attention turns to General Classification squabbles first we have a while group of riders including mountains king Grau at 100 seconds back from current leader Sanchez Gil
9
Lars Petter Nordhaug
Aker Solutions - Bergans
+ 1'37
10
Ben Hermans
Team Rothaus - Aegon
+ 1'40
11
Gustav Larsson
Aker Solutions - Bergans
s.t.
12
Francis De Greef
Team Bpost
s.t.
13
Florian Morizot
Focused Cycling
s.t.
14
Jordi Grau
UniCredit
s.t.
15
Andrei Kunitski
Team Rothaus - Aegon
s.t.
16
Jurgen Van Goolen
Pokerstars.com
s.t.
The best testers from these prove to be Van Goolan
Morizot
and Larsson
Van Goolan and Morizot go through the first check in a decent 8.19, but Larsson is superb clocking 8.08 a full six seconds quicker than Ignatiev!
Amazing first check time:
1
Larsson
8.08
2
Ignatiev
8.14
3
Bonnet
8.19
4
Elijzen
8.19
5
Van Goolan
8.19
6
Morizot
8.19
7
Bodnar
8.24
Also on the course straight after are two riders at 77 seconds back and indeed two favourites for the stage:
7
Kristjan Koren
California Giant Berry Farms-Specialized
+ 1'17
8
Kai Reus
VolksWagen - Siemens
s.t.
Reus cannot quite match Larsson's early pace but is quicker than Ignatiev with 8.11.
Koren manages to slip into second at the first check with 8.10!
1
Larsson
8.08
2
Koren
8.10
3
Reus
8.11
4
Ignatiev
8.14
5
Bonnet
8.19
6
Elijzen
8.19
7
Van Goolan
8.19
8
Morizot
8.19
9
Bodnar
8.24
Ignatiev looks resigned at the finish to not winning the stage but he hangs around to see how his teammate Vasili Kiryenka
is doing as he sits 6th on GC at 1.03.
Kirylenka has matched Larsson's first split with 8.08 excellent rider from the Belarusian!
The GC men are beginning to come home now as we get the very highest on GC starting. Van Goolan just edges ahead of Morizot with 22.20 compared to 22.21. Larsson though unsurprisingly trumps them all and Ignatiev too as he sets possibly a stage winning 21.54!
1
Larsson
21.54
2
Ignatiev
21.58
3
Bonnet
22.07
4
Elijzen
22.11
5
Van Goolan
22.20
6
Morizot
22.21
7
Bodnar
22.21
The 3rd and 4th place on GC are Pieter Weening
and Giovanni Visconti
The Unicredit riders are proving target practice for the riders behind with Visconti at 55 seconds and Weening at 31 seconds. Visconti is a reasonable chrono man whereas Weening is a bit more limited.
First check Visconti 8.25
Already behind Kirylenka then for Visconti after only 6 kilometres.
First check Weening 8.32, it's a bit more encouraging for Weening who had more to spare.
Finally we have the two GC men Lars Boom
and Luis Leon Sanchez Gil
separated by those 27 seconds.
Boom is not disappointing as he goes joint fastest at the first 6km check with 8.08, Sanchez Gil though does very well to clock 8.12. Boom needs something sensational here.
The top 12 times at the first check:
1
Larsson
8.08
2
Boom
8.08
3
Kiryenka
8.08
4
Koren
8.10
5
Reus
8.11
6
Sanchez Gil
8.12
7
Ignatiev
8.14
8
Bonnet
8.19
9
Elijzen
8.19
10
Van Goolan
8.19
11
Morizot
8.19
12
Bodnar
8.24
It means Sanchez leads Boom by 23 seconds, Weening by 51 seconds, Kiryenka by 59 seconds, Visconti by 1.08, Koren by 1.15, Reus by 1.16, Larsson by 1.36.
Reus may have expected something a bit better here, but after fading a bit on the final hill of stage 3 he isn't quite on top form and finishes a second slower than Koren on 22.02 and 22.03 respectively.
Both do overtake Franco Pellizotti
who slips below Larsson by the end of the day but ahead of Van Goolan and Morizot.
Kiryenka finishes faster than Reus and Koren though with 21.59 as all three overtake Weening (22.53) and Visconti (22.38). Visconti just holding ahead of Larsson but behind his teammate.
The best finishing times before the last two home then:
1
Larsson
8.08
21.54
2
Ignatiev
8.14
21.58
3
Kiryenka
8.08
21.59
4
Koren
8.10
22.02
5
Reus
8.11
22.03
Boom now thunders down the straight.
It's brilliant he has pulled out all the stops to clock 21.48! That's six seconds quicker than Larsson.
Massive pressure on Sanchez Gil... he sprints desperately.
He clocks a highly impressive 22.04 just one second slower than Reus conceding just 16 seconds of his 27 second advantage to Boom. Cerne can celebrate a home tour victory! Boom a highly impressive 2nd place ahead of a battling Kiryenka and testers Koren and Reus.
