The final stage of the race, and still 7 riders are capable of taking overall glory based on the 20-12-8 bonus seconds available at the end of the stage.
Here is the current GC:
1
Emanuele Rizza
Die Berg Komt Er
12h50'17
2
Alex Ciocan
Mobil - Castrol Cycling
+ 8
3
Christopher Sutton
Risa - Ergon Cycling Team
s.t.
4
Mike Friedman
Ekspla-Cision Cycling Team
+ 12
5
Bruno Santos
Prio - Porto
+ 16
6
Tiziano Dall'Antonia
Mobil - Castrol Cycling
s.t.
7
Manuel Belletti
Magna-Ryanair
s.t.
As race leader and winner of the previous stage, Rizza is in the best position but if one of the other 6 wins the stage he will need to make the podium in order to win the race still. In what has been an open race so far, it is still all to play for.
And what effect can the final climb of the race have, coming close to the finish?
The breakaway is Demare, Villella and Cunha. Again the same teams and riders that have made the break all race long.
Demare > Villella > Cunha is the order that they cross all 3 intermediate sprints, as Frenchman Demare hints at what could be if he chooses to develop as a sprinter.
Previous stages have seen teams work together to chase the break, today it is all Die Berg Komt Er. Their sprinting trio of Rizza/Abakoumov/Duque stay out of it, but could their preparatory leadout train work be hindered now later on?
Last climb of the race, and nobody can stop Ilias winning the classification he has led from the start. Villella moves joint 3rd in that competition by winning the climb, while Cunha and Demare are two of 4 riders who will be joint 5th - earning themselves a solitary ranking point.
But as you can see, the peloton is near and soon the capture is made. The peloton has stayed intact over that climb too, so all sprinters are ready to go for the sprint, assuming they can get positioned.
Prio-Porto have gone for leadouts all week, and today is no exception. But joining them for the first time are Kenya Airways! Yes that's right, they are actually in this race after all.
Rizza and Van Loocke battle for the wheel of Santos, but while both end up dropping back a little - the race leader finds himself further 'back'.
Carvalho leaves Martins in place as final leadout but after Ghdamsi dropped away, Ghafari has brought Schinker into a leading position, followed by Friedman, Gavazzi, Sutton and Belletti.
Van Loocke, Nelson, Rizza, Dall'Antonia, Gajek, Crespo, Appollonio and Cardoso all appear to be part of the Prio train, with Ciocan back here too.
Further back is Silvestre, which could lose him his best Young riders jersey to Nelson. He tries to rectify this by being the first to sprint, but such a long sprint is unlikely to work out for him - especially as he is hardly gaining much.
Martins kicks on up front, leaving Ghafari for dust.
Nelson can't catch a train it seems - whether his own or another. He has let the gap go, so only Van Loocke is following Prio as they turn into the final kilometre.
Santos makes his move. He has had the pace on previous stages but lacked the acceleration to get the jump on the rest but now that is less important as Martins has delivered him into a big gap on the rest of the field.
Perfect position for Van Loocke as Portugese squads Prio and Adira aim for a 1-2 finish - but Van Loocke just cannot hold Santos' wheel!
Carvalho and Ghafari remain 3rd and 4th as the sprint behind stutters a bit to get going. Sutton is leading the charge with Rizza on his wheel. Irvine, Nelson and the Ekspla duo are well placed while Schinker to his cost is nowhere near his leadout man.
It's a dominant stage win for Bruno Santos, and the Portugese crowd join in his celebrations. Will the GC follow?
Van Loocke has faded but Sutton and Irvine are still going strong. 3rd is within the grasp of Rizza though, and that's all he needs - while 2nd for Sutton would actually put the Aussie on the same time as Santos.
And 2nd is exactly what Sutton gets - but what about 3rd?
Irvine has pulled off a very impressive sprint to take 3rd. He denies Rizza the overall victory, as one Portugese squad helps another. Santos has had better finish positions than Sutton, and is therefore the winner of the Volta ao Alentejo! Rizza will slip to 3rd overall then, while the time bonuses give Irvine 8th in GC.
Friedman is 5th on the stage and also 5th overall, while Belletti takes 6th on the stage, 7th overall.
8th for Duque confirms him as best of the non-time bonus earners for 9th overall. Behind him on the stage and also overall is Nelson. The ANC-Halfords rider also takes the best Young rider jersey away from Silvestre, who finished down in 26th.
Gavazzi completes the Top 10, while it is a big fail for Kenya Airways despite at least trying this time. Schinker disappeared at the end, leaving Brammeier to be their best finisher in 11th.
Worst stage of the race for Mobil as Ciocan and Dall'Antonia finish 12th and 13th. But still 4th and 6th overall make for a good result.
Santos of course won the Points jersey as well as the overall, while the best team were Die Berg Komt Er.
