We're heading for Portugal, where the NCs will be held around (and up) Alto de Malhao - featuring a 202km hilly road race with a hilltop-finish. No question, it's a perfect profile for the puncheurs to shine.
Two local teams (Prio, Adira) will hope for some success on home soil, with Prio-Porto as the most promising team (separated into 3 groups with 17 riders in total).
Prio's Mendes should also be amongst the top-favorites, accompanied by Costa (CSC), Paulinho (WWE), Rodrigues (Prio) or maybe Silva (Mobil).
The two local teams set the agenda already early into the race, a 3-men-breakaway went clear right from the start:
Ferreira (Prio)
Santos (Prio)
Antunes (Adira)
So the three biggest teams (in numbers) got a rider into this group, leaving Prio's first (and smallest) group (3 riders) alone back in the bunch.
It's a tough situation, but the peloton (32 riders) tries to get the chase working:
The big guns themselves (Costa, Silva, Fonte) lead the bunch into the final 40km, accompanied by Prio's remaining group, and the gap is at 3'10"..
This may put some pressure on all three Prio-squads now: Antunes soloes away from the two Prio-riders in the leading group and goes for a solo-attempt with 16km to go!
The peloton still tries to narrow the gap, which is down to 2'35" in the meantime..
But the higher pace in the leading group makes it a tough challenge for the pack: the gap goes up to 3 minutes as the escapees enter the final 3km-climb!
Antunes still maintains a 20"-gap on the Prio-duo and it looks like those three riders will battle for the victory..
At least the top-favorites give it a late and desperate try now on that climb:
Paulinho
Costa
Silva
Mendes
Livramento
attack each other with 2.7km remaining, but the gap to the solo-leader Antunes is still at 2'30" and therefore out of reach..
Back to the front, where the Prio-duo tries to fight their way back to Antunes with the finish line approaching!
Empty-handed attempt though, as Amaro Antunes secures himself and his team a great victory in Portugal's NC road race!
Bruno Santos and Ricardo Ferreira closed up to him on this final metres, but couldn't challenge for the line honours.
1'25" later Rui Costa and Jose Mendes complete the Top-5! So the top-favorites failed to control this race (or at least to do it right in time).
A maybe dissapointing race for Prio-Porto: 3 riders in the Top-5, but no victory, plus the smaller local team Adira taking out the race.. could have went better.
Top-favorite for the flat TT will be Rui Costa (CSC), who should be motivated after the bad timed pursuit and fail in the road race.. most dangerous challengers will be Oliveira (Prio), Fonte (Privatbank), Paulinho (WWE) or Silvestre (Adira).
So again a chance for either Adira to make it a double or Prio to at least grab one title on home turf...
Fabio Silvestre (Adira) is one of the first favorites to hit the road and his new BT is quite dominant:
beating Paulinho (WWE) by 32" to take the provisional lead, this is quite a sign of strength!
Cesar Ander Fonte (Privatbank) is next in line.. he's a few seconds behind Silvestre at the split.. and..
2nd so far! No chance against Silvestre, finishing 18" slower and maybe losing all hopes for a podium.
But it ain't looking good for both, as the "final" split times see both being more than 20" in arrears on a strong duo:
Oliveira (Prio) surprisingly had the fastest split, leaving Costa (CSC) 5" behind! A thrilling battle, but who will have the better second half?
Nelson Oliveira crosses the line first and he sets the new BT, beating Silvestre by 37" for a comfortable lead! The pressure is on Costa now..
You can't say he did not try, but top-favorite Rui Costa hasn't his best day - or it's simply the other way round and Oliveira having his best possible legs:
Costa finishes 11" behind Oliveira! A stunning performance for a quite important win. So both local teams grab a title each.
Portugal, where the NCs will be held around (and up) Alto de Malhao - featuring a 202km hilly road race with a hilltop-finish. No question, it's a perfect profile for the puncheurs to shine.
