Hello to everyone and welcome to the 11th and closing stage of the 2019 Volta a Portugal! After a huge mountain stage yesterday, it will be up to everyone individually to show what he's got left in the tank after 10 hard days of racing.
Today's 20.5km time trial is mostly flat, but there will be a bit of climbing until just after the intermediate time check, taken after 9.9km in Fermentelos. The route is basically South-North and back, with some extra turns inside the town towards the finish line. The wind shouldn't be a factor today, and it's even sunny again!
The race will take place in and around Viseu, a town with 100,000 inhabitants, about 100km South-East from Porto. Traces go back to the Castro culture (end of the Bronze Age), and the inhabitants resisted the Romans for quite a while before finally suffering the same fate as most other settlements.
A school for painters was founded in the 16th century, making Viseu the home of many famous artists in the 16th, 17th and 18th century. Nowadays, the textile industry and furniture manufacturing are among the most important commercial sectors - and there's of course the Dão wine, produced in one of Portugal's oldest established wine regions.
But instead of wine, we'll definitely have some champagne after this stage, when we'll know the final outcome of this year's edition of the Volta a Portugal.
Let's talk about the current GC situation first. Included are the Top 20 ITT riders and the GC Top 20 - only two riders actually make it on both lists. But let's have a look:
GC
Time
Rider
TT
---
GC
Time
Rider
TT
188
+ 3h12'51
Predatsch
77
19
+ 7'47
Preidler
58
187
+ 2h49'25
Vassdal
76
18
+ 6'33
Skujins
59
186
+ 2h36'33
Hamza
76
17
+ 6'22
Laengen
76
184
+ 2h21'18
Yatsevich
80
16
+ 6'16
Bobridge
77
178
+ 1h59'49
Korsaeth
77
15
+ 5'22
Bakelants
66
171
+ 1h45'40
Golovash
78
14
+ 4'48
Carapaz
72
169
+ 1h41'07
Van Niekerk
76
13
+ 3'52
Bongiorno
68
165
+ 1h36'26
Fominykh
77
12
+ 3'28
Ji
69
141
+ 1h18'21
Zakarin
75
11
+ 3'28
Oomen
72
109
+ 48'28
Ramos Ticona
75
10
+ 3'12
Chiarello
73
108
+ 48'26
Kneisky
76
9
+ 2'49
Talansky
72
96
+ 40'24
Ignatiev
78
8
+ 2'36
Kirsch
71
80
+ 34'01
Goncalves
78
7
+ 2'17
Schelling
72
78
+ 33'06
Roe
75
6
+ 2'11
Tvetcov
74
63
+ 28'06
Gallopin
75
5
+ 2'09
Konig
74
43
+ 17'37
Dennis
78
4
+ 1'30
Monsalve
72
35
+ 13'47
Canty
75
3
+ 1'24
Padun
65
33
+ 13'20
Sepulveda
75
2
+ 1'15
Bennett
65
20
+ 9'23
Areruya
64
1
41h02'41
Meintjes
71
First of all, we see that on the last 5 places of the GC, we have four ITT specialists - and especially Yatsevich, who would stand above the rest if this was a one-day race. Let's see how all of these riders, who definitely suffered a lot yesterday, can perform today.
We can also note that the Top 19 seem to be set; even though being very bad against the clock, Preidler and even more Skujins already have a decent gap to P20, whereas Areruya will have to fight harder to stay inside.
And even the Top 10 seem to be somewhat unreachable for those outside, given their ITT skills. The only one who might make it on a great day would be Oomen - let's see.
But then, as we already said yesterday, the race for the spots behind the very probable GC winner Meintjes is wide open. Monsalve definitely is the favorite for 2nd, but at least up to Schelling in 7th, everyone could fancy their chances.
Before we definitely jump into the race, let's have a look at who the bookies believe to come out on top today: They think that yesterday's stage shouldn't have an impact at all, as they see Yatsevich on top, ahead of Ignatiev and prologue winner Dennis. Goncalves, Bobridge and Kneisky are next. The winners of the last two days, Laengen and Gallopin, round off the list along with Golovash and Predatsch.
And the latter, holding the red lantern after Boudat missed out on the time cut yesterday, is about to open this final stage. Let's go!
With Vassdal, Hamza and top favorite Yatsevich, three other strong riders start their race soon after.
Predatsch sets the first mark on the intermediate time check: 16'06". Let's see how long that stands...
Vassdal doesn't come too close, losing already 14".
Hamza then makes it an early double lead for T-Mobile, losing just 5 seconds to his teammate.
But all of this is obsolete as Yatsevich sets a clear new best time: 15'47", 19 seconds faster than Predatsch.
The latter reaches the finish line in the meantime and sets a first mark of 28'53".
Vassdal wasn't able to gain back some time on the second section, instead losing another 12".
Algerian ITT champion Hamza, here riding through the last chicanes with the launch pad right ahead, does much better: 7" is his deficit.
Korsaeth has had a decent start, setting the 2nd time in Fermentelos. He's just 1" behind Yatsevich's time.
And the Russian champion has extended his lead on Predatsch further, lowering the German's mark by 33". 28'20" is the new best time!
Korsaeth is approaching the finish line already - he was just 1" back at the time check, let's see if he can gain that one back! 28'15" ... 28'16" ... 28'17" ... 28'18" ... 28'19" ... 28'20" ... 28'21" ... the clock finally stops at 28'24", which is 4 seconds behind Yatsevich and a comfortable 2nd place so far. Well done!
Wow, that's a benchmark on another level! Golovash bests Yatsevich's intermediate time by 15", setting the mark to 15'31"!
Compared to this, Thomas' 40-second deficit seems like a whole lot, but he actually ties Hamza for 5th at the half-way mark.
Morne Van Niekerk does even better, losing just half as much - 20" behind Golovash means 4th place - just 5" behind the 2nd place, though.
And this time is matched by Mano, who's just a few milliseconds slower and takes 5th at the time check.
Kazakh ITT champion Fominykh then sets a slightly disappointing intermediate time: + 35", which is only 6th place so far.
As expected, we have a new leader! Golovash adds 6 more seconds to his advantage over Yatsevich, meaning he sets a best time of 27'59", being the first rider below 28 minutes.
Thomas continued his good ride and loses a total of 1'03". This is worth 6th place currently, 3" behind Hamza whose intermediate time he matched.
4th at the time check, Van Niekerk targets the 28" gap between 3rd and 4th at the finish line - and he easily gets that 4th provisional place. A 34" deficit means 9" behind 3rd, 19" ahead of 5th.
Mano posted the same intermediate time as the South African - but he lost 4" to the former on the final section. 5th place for him.
Meyer is the next to post a decent intermedate time: 6th place, 26" back.
Meanwhile, Fominykh struggled on the second half of the race as well, finally getting a below par 6th place, 52" down.
6th he was at the time check, 6th he is at the finish line: Meyer loses 42" and misses out on the provisional Top 5 by 3".
Top 5 is probably not a goal of sprinter Harrison, but 7th (+ 28") at the intermediate time is a decent performance.
Even better is former KoM leader Pszczolarski, who loses 16" and posts the 3rd intermediate time! 1" behind Yatsevich, 1" ahead of Korsaeth - it'll be a tough fight for the provisional stage podium!
That's quite a surprise! Kanerva loses just one tiny second on Golovash's time and takes 2nd in Fermentelos - can he pull that one through?
Harrison seemed to be rather empty on the second part of the race, losing almost 40" on this section. With a total deficit of 1'04", he just misses out on the provisional Top 10.
And then we have a new best time at the intermediate time check! Aydar Zakarin overtakes Schachmann even before that mark and posts a time of 15'23" - 7" faster than Golovash.
Pszczolarski had a really strong first half, posting the 3rd intermediate time (he's now dropped to 5th) - but the way back to Viseu wasn't as great. He takes provisional 6th, 42" back.
And now we hear the home crowd cheering up as Vilela passes the time check - 2nd place for the Portuguese, only 6" down! But that's just one second ahead of Golovash and two on Kanerva, so he'll have to keep the pace high!
Kanerva is precisely the next to reach the finish line - but apparently he literally blew up on the second half. He was just 1" behind Golovash at the time check, and now he's 22" behind, which is "just" the 3rd place for the moment.
But probably not for long, as we now have half-way leader Zakarin approaching the finish line - but just like the Finn before him, he struggled on the second half, losing 15" to Golovash on that section. All in all, that's 2nd place for him, 8" slower than the fastest time.
And Vilela shares the same fate, to the big letdown of the local fans. He matches Kanerva's time, but slips in just behind the Finn in 5th place, 22" down.
The next decent intermediate time is posted by Daniel, but in 5th place he's already 21" behind Zakarin. However, the Russian didn't have a good second half of the race, as we saw just before, so maybe he can could move up some spots?
However, as with some previous riders, the exact opposite happens. Daniel finishes 32" down on 7th place.
Indonesian ITT champion Manulang posts the next promising intermediate time, taking over 5th place from Daniel, but 10" faster. 11" is his current deficit.
And Manulang pushes even harder on the second part of the race, gaining two spots to take provisional 3rd at the finish line! 18" behind Golovash means he beats stage favorite Yatsevich by 2 seconds, so the Russian definitely won't make it on today's stage podium.
Then, we have a very surprising intermediate time - so surprising the cameras at the time check didn't even catch Buchmann, who's 6th with a 20" deficit! The strong puncheur definitely showed his strength on the uphill section - what about the downhill?
Fernandes is a much better time trialist than the German - but the hilly terrain doesn't suit him well, obviously. Only 11th place for the Portuguese, 24" back.
As expected, Buchmann suffered more on the tempo rider part of the race, dropping to 10th at the finish line (+ 38"). Still, he beats quite many supposedly stronger time trialists; it's surely a good ITT for him.
Greater things can definitely be expected from Ramos Ticona - and the Bolivian champion delivers so far: 3rd place at the time check, only 6" behind Zakarin, and 1" ahead of current race leader Golovash.
And yet another good intermediate time is set by Kneisky, who takes 7th, 16" behind.
Here we have yet another Portuguese rider in Rodrigues - hard to overhear the crowd as he rides past! His split time is, let's say, second tier. He is 9th, losing 21" so far.
But he soon drops to 10th, as Vlasov reaches the intermediate time check - posting the best time so far! He's one second faster than Zakarin, setting the new reference mark to 15'21".
After Fernandes posted the 12th time of the day so far (+ 39"), it's now Ramos Ticona coming in - and the Bolivian defends the 3rd place he already had at the split time, 13" behind the still leading Golovash.
Kneisky is the next to complete his race - and boy, did he speed up! He jumps up to 4th, missing out on the provisional podium by just 3 seconds!
Rodrigues comes after him - but the Portuguese did it the other way round, dropping to 14th (+ 39"). But now, we have half-way leader Vlasov coming in - and he didn't fade, on the contrary! He sets the new best time, which is 27'51", therefore 7" faster than Golovash!
But he has hardly crossed the line as we get a new best split time, set by Dulanjana: 15'16", which is 4 seconds faster than Vlasov!
As about half of the riders have passed the time check by now, let's have a look at the current standings in Fermentelos:
1.
Dulanjana
15'16"
6.
Golovash
+ 14"
2.
Vlasov
+ 4"
7.
Kanerva
+ 15"
3.
Zakarin
+ 6"
8.
Manulang
+ 18"
4.
Vilela
+ 13"
9.
Kneisky
+ 23"
5.
Ramos Ticona
+ 13"
10.
Buchmann
+ 27"
Ignatiev is the next at the time check, and he makes it three Russians in the Top 10, posting the 7th time (+ 14").
And then we already have Dulanjana approaching the finish line. He had a 4" advantage - how much if this is left, if any? 27'45" ... 27'46" ... 27'47" ... 27'48" ... 27'49" ... 27'50" - we have a new best time again! Dulanjana saves just one second on Vlasov to take the lead in this race!
Let's do some book keeping at the finish line, too:
1.
Dulanjana
27'50"
6.
Kneisky
+ 24"
2.
Vlasov
+ 1"
7.
Manulang
+ 26"
3.
Golovash
+ 8"
8.
Yatsevich
+ 29"
4.
Zakarin
+ 16"
9.
Kanerva
+ 30"
5.
Ramos Ticona
+ 21"
10.
Vilela
+ 30"
Ignatiev only loses 6" on the way back to Viseu, resulting in a total deficit of 20" and currently 5th place, making it 4 Russians in the provisional Top 10!
And this quota might even be improved soon, as Shalunov posts the second intermediate time! He matches his teammate Vlasov's time, 4" back - meaning that Tinkoff riders now take 2nd, 3rd and 4th at this point!
But Omarsson does even better, making it a joint lead for Valio at the time check, matching Dulanjana's time for 1st!
But then, Portugals biggest hope today, national ITT champion Goncalves, decides that it's time to get things straight - and he literally smashes the best intermediate time by an amazing 23 seconds! He even does the first part of the race in less than a quarter of an hour: 14'52". Be prepared for a lot of noise once he'll approach the finish line...
That same finish line is crossed next by Shalunov, who was second by the time he reached the time check - but he seems to have imploded on the second part. Only 8th place for him, 25" down. But he still makes it 5 Russians in the provisional Top 10!
But that won't hold for long, with Goncalves being on fire today. The same might be said of Roe, who flew across the first kilometers as well, losing only two seconds on the Portuguese's mark!
Omarsson, who tied current leader Dulanjana at the intermediate time check, wasn't able to pull through until the line, finally losing 11" and even just falling off the provisional podium. 4th place for him.
And now, its getting really noisy out here, as Goncalves is on his last meters - and he takes the lead after an amazing ride! He sets the bar really high, with a time of 27'18" - 32" faster than Dulanjana! The home crowd's hope of a home win definitely lives on - maybe more than ever!
But the next to reach the finish line is Roe, who was just 2" down in Fermentelos! How did he handle the way back, being clearly less comfortable on downhills than Goncalves? Well, he definitely did well, but not quite as fast as Goncalves, losing 9" more. Still, it's a comfortable 2nd place for him, 11" back. And it's the start of Bennelong's attack to win the team standings.
Ioannidis then posts the 8th intermediate time, 33" back - which, by the way, is just 10" off 3rd place...
Gallopin, winner of the 9th stage and listed among today's favorites, takes over this 8th place - which is rather disappointing for him. He's 31" off Goncalves's time.
Another rather positive surprise is Ho, who matches Ioannidis's mark and slips into the Top 10 by taking the 9th place in Fermentelos.
There are no notable times at the time check, so let's directly look at how this trio did in the second half of the race. First is Ioannidis, who gets 8th place again, with a total deficit of 51".
Gallopin had a good ride on the final section, climbing up a spot to finish 7th, 43" back.
Ho already posted the same intermediate time as Ioannidis - and he does it again on the finish line! 51" behind Goncalves and a few milliseconds slower than the Greek means provisional 10th place.
Prologue winner Dennis is one of the last stage win contenders out on the road - but he already loses 25" on the first 10 kilometers! Well, his recovery definitely isn't the best, and that might really hurt him today. 5th place for him.
We then have a new 3rd place, as Sepulveda crosses the line in Fermentelos with a 21" deficit. It's what you'd call "best of the rest", as Goncalves and Roe are still far ahead at this checkpoint.
And now we're starting our coverage of the GC Top 20 riders, with Areruya just having started his race. He's probably the only one being at risk of dropping out of these spots, given his (lack of) TT skills.
Dennis' second section was definitely better than the first one, as he loses just 4 more seconds to take provisional 3rd at the finish line, 29" back. It's still not a great result for him, but it should at least help his team get the win in the team standings.
It might be recovery - or any other skill - that slightly advantages Sepulveda over Dennis - by a tiny second, actually. The Argentine takes over 3rd place, 28" behind Goncalves who definitely pulled off a huge ride today!
Something that can't be expected of Preidler, as he's one of the bottom 15 time trialists. Still, he should be able to keep his Top 20 GC result.
And as we now really have just the Top 20 riders left, let's take another look at the current standings:
Fermentelos, 9.9km
1.
Goncalves
14'52"
6.
Dennis
+ 25"
2.
Roe
+ 2"
7.
Shalunov
+ 28"
3.
Sepulveda
+ 21"
8.
Vlasov
+ 28"
4.
Omarsson
+ 23"
9.
Zakarin
+ 30"
5.
Dulanjana
+ 23"
10.
Gallopin
+ 31"
Viseu, Finish (20.5km)
1.
Goncalves
27'18"
6.
Vlasov
+ 33"
2.
Roe
+ 11"
7.
Golovash
+ 41"
3.
Sepulveda
+ 28"
8.
Omarsson
+ 44"
4.
Dennis
+ 30"
9.
Gallopin
+ 44"
5.
Dulanjana
+ 32"
10.
Zakarin
+ 49"
Skujins is the next rider out on the road, currently 18th in the GC. He isn't a good time trialist, either, but he's likely to not lose any spots nevertheless.
Gaining a spot or two must be the goal of yesterday's winner Laengen, being among today's favorites again. You can see that he's wearing the KoM jersey by mistake, but the organizers unfortunately weren't able to provide one for the "true" KoM leader/winner Chernetskiy in time.
However, overtaking Bobridge might be a hard task, as the Aussie is on the favorites list in his own right.
Bobridge and Laengen are actually still in the fight for green, as they're 17 and 18 points respectively behind Meintjes - first or second place would be needed for this, though.
Meanwhile, Areruya is the first Top 20 rider setting an intermediate time - not a good one, as he already loses 1'17" at this point.
But he's still more than half a minute faster than Preidler, who's already 1'53" down.
Laengen is definitely on track for a third straight Top 5 stage result, posting the 4th time so far. But with a 22" deficit, the green jersey seems to be out of reach.
Just for completion, Skujins, who'll soon be passed by the Norvegian, has already lost 2'11" at this point!
And Bobridge probably haves to bid goodbye to his green jersey hopes, too, as he's already 26" down, which is the 8th place in Fermentelos so far. Which means that he's already lost 4" on Laengen, who was 6" behind him pre-stage!
One of these two might actually get a Top 15 GC result, if they manage to pass Bakelants. The Belgian puncheur loses 58" so far, which is about half of his advantage.
A much better time is then surprisingly posted by Carapaz, who gets the 3rd intermediate time, 14" behind Goncalves! But he'd have to gain almost a minute on his closest rivals to improve on his 14th GC position.
But Carapaz should actually have some real chance to overtake at least Bongiorno, as the Italian surely isn't among the best time trialists. But he does pretty well, losing 39" in Fermentelos, posting the 21st time.
Even better does Ji, who crosses the line at the time check in 13th position, 31" behind Goncalves.
Oomen finally is definitely the best time trialist of this trio, and is on his mission of winning the white jersey - but he looks really, really bad, actually posting the worst time of these three riders. He already loses 45", meaning he's even dropped behind Ji, who he was tied with pre-stage.
And here are the final 3 riders before we'll really focus on the GC podium fight. Chiarello comes first, and he'll try to defend the final Top 10 spot. He's on a good way to do so, posting the 4th intermediate time, 20" down. He extends his advantage on Oomen and Ji, who are 11th and 12th in the GC.
Talansky had 23 seconds on the Brazilian pre-stage, and although he loses 3 of them on the first half of the race, he looks safe to defend his 9th position. He's currently 7th, 23" back.
Kirsch has a margin of only 13" on the American, and 6" are already gone. 14th time for him, 29" behind Goncalves.
And we now have the first Top 20 rider reaching the finish line - and Areruya defends his position by 9" on Chernetskiy, meaning he'll keep the 3rd place in the U25 standings, too. His time - 2'12" back - isn't good, but it's good enough.
Preidler is next, and as expected, he posts an even worse time. The German loses 3'16" today - but he still holds a 32" margin on Areruya and takes the provisional GC lead.
As we already mentioned earlier, Laengen is having a really good race and has left behind Skujins, so he's the next to finish his race. He's aiming at the provisional stage podium, and he has to beat Sepulveda's time of 27'46" for this... 27'40" ... 27'41" ... 27'42" ... 27'43" ... 27'44" ... 27'45" ... 27'46" - he exactly matches the Argentine's time, but apparently was a few fractions of a second faster, taking indeed 3rd place! Another strong performance, for the third day in a row - hats off!
And of course, he takes the provisional GC lead.
Next at the finish line is Skujins, who posts the 10th to last time today: 163rd place, + 3'39". But as crazy as it sounds, he defends his GC position with that!
Bobridge is about to seal Bennelong's win in the team standings, given that his teammates are 2nd ( Roe) and 5th ( Dennis) so far.
At the time check, he only had 2" left on Laengen, how did he do on the way back? He'll need a time of 27'52" to keep his GC position... 27'44" ... 27'45" ... 27'46" ... 27'47" ... 27'48" - he finally just loses 2" on Laengen and keeps his 16th GC place - still hoping to overtake the next rider on the road...
Let's take a quick look at the podium contenders, who are all out on the road - or about to take off - right now. Schelling should only have outside chances, being 53" behind 3rd place and a slightly weaker time trialist than the next two riders.
One of these next riders is Tvetcov. The Romanian, one of the best sprinters among the strong climbers, has definitely exceeded all expectations so far. Given his ITT strength, gaining 47" on Padun in 3rd place could be absolutely doable - it would really be an amazing result!
Konig is even two seconds closer to the podium, and he matches Tvetcov's time trial skills. It doesn't seem probable that both of them could get a GC podium - they'd have to overtake Monsalve for this - so we can expect a hard battle between these two!
And here is the said Monsalve, a former race leader, who seemed to be invincible - before he cracked on the final meters of stage 8. Now' he'll try to still pull off a podium - but 2nd will probably be the best he could get. He needs to gain just 6" on Padun and 15" on Bennett - and he's definitely the better time trialist than both of them. But we still have a race...
And Padun has shown yesterday that he's a true racer. Yes, he may lack some pure TT skills, but his fighting spirit has already brought him far - on the provisional podium - can he hold on today?
Bennett has been one of those riders you'll almost never see attacking, but he consistently was among the best on every stage. Can he reward himself and his team with a podium here, or will his ITT skills make him drop?
But one man just stands above the rest: Meintjes has got an advantage of 1'15" on Bennett, and with the South African usually being stronger against the clock, he should really have this one in the bag. Still, it's going to be a though final 20 kilometers after 10 days of racing - can he really hold on?
It's started raining now - and that may well reflect Bakelants's feelings when crossing the line. Not only will his team lose the team standings on this final day, but with the 58th time of the day (+ 1'36"), he drops behind Bobridge and Laengen in the GC.
Carapaz had a surprisingly good first section, posting the 3rd time, and he's now looking to step onto the provisional stage podium! The reference mark for this is still the same, 27'46". It would really be a surprise to see him taking this spot, so let's see if he does: 27'40" ... 27'41" ... 27'42" ... 27'43" - that's it! He bests Laengen's time by 3 seconds and takes this 3rd place - probably one of his best time trials ever!
Of course, he takes the provisional GC lead from Bobridge - but he needs 56" on Bongiorno to gain a spot.
But that won't happen. Even though Bongiorno doesn't have the best of days, he "only" loses 1'09" in total, meaning 44" on Carapaz, taking over the provisional GC lead.
Now, let's have a first look at the podium battle. Schelling seems to be definitely out of it, as he doesn't pull off the extraordinary race he'd need to make it happen. He sets a solid 12th intermediate time, 28" back.
But this can be done better - much better - as demonstrated by Tvetcov, who posts the 3rd time! He's 13" back and is definitely in the mix for the podium!
Meanwhile, Ji completes his Volta a Portugal as well, with a decent provisional 20th place. He loses 56", meaning he was faster than Bongiorno and is the new provisional GC leader!
Konig was just 2" ahead of Tvetcov before this stage - and as he loses 2" to the Romanian on the first half, they're now completely level as we head onto the final 10km of this race! By the way, it's a very good 5th place at the time check for the Czech.
Oomen was aiming for the white jersey - and maybe even for still entering the GC Top 10 - but he really didn't find his legs, losing 1'16" on Goncalves' best time that still stands. This means that the Dutchman loses one spot to Ji, but he fends off Bongiorno.
We're getting closer and closer to the final podium decision in this race, as Monsalve reaches the split time. But he looks tired, and already loses 25" on that first section. 12th place for him.
Chiarello held the final Top 10 spot pre-stage - and he at least defends that position! Although his way back from Fermentelos wasn't great, he posts the provisional 10th time of the day, 33" back. He needs to gain 23" on Talansky to move up to 9th - let's see.
But first, we have U25 leader Padun posting a split time. As expected, it isn't a good one, though. He loses 57", dropping already behind Monsalve in the GC.
Talansky loses some more seconds on Chiarello on the final 10 kilometers - but with a total deficit of 40", he easily defends his 9th GC position.
Only two riders are missing in Fermentelos, the first of which is Bennett. The Kiwi definitely isn't a good time trialist, either, but he does much better than Padun, losing only 36". He still is 2nd in the GC at this point, but with a really tiny margin...
Kirsch is the next rider finishing his race. He had 13" on Talansky pre-stage, so he has to post a time of 28'11" to keep his 8th place... 28'05" ... 28'06" ... 28'07" ... 28'08" ... 28'09" ... 28'10" ... 28'11 - he gets exactly the same final time as Talansky, and the milliseconds rule in the Luxembourger's favor! That was close!
And here we have the final rider crossing the line in Fermentelos, posting a very good 6th intermediate time, 19" back!
As all riders have passed this mark, let's have a look at the virtual GC at this point:
1.
Meintjes
41h17'52"
6.
Tvetcov
+ 2'05"
2.
Bennett
+ 1'32"
7.
Schelling
+ 2'26"
3.
Monsalve
+ 1'36"
8.
Kirsch
+ 2'46"
4.
Padun
+ 2'02"
9.
Talansky
+ 2'53"
5.
Konig
+ 2'05"
10.
Chiarello
+ 3'13"
As suspected, Padun has dropped off the podium and will probably lose two more spots to Konig and Tvetcov, if he doesn't find something special on the final meters.
However, Bennett is still looking really strong and has even been able to fend off Monsalve so far - let's see if he can continue this until the finish line!
Behind, it looks rather improbable by now that Konig and Tvetcov could still attack the podium spots - but who knows? 30" aren't that much after all...
And considering just the stage results, it seems like the home crowd indeed gets a home win on the final day, as none of the riders still out on the road even came close to Goncalves!
Schelling finishes a rather anonymous Volta a Portugal, but at least he defends his solid 7th GC position. Today, it's a provisional 15th place, 48" behind his teammate Goncalves.
Now, all eyes are on Tvetcov, who posted the best intermediate time of those who are still missing at the finish line. The home crowd can take a deep breath, as he clearly misses out on the best time, too, but is still fighting for stage and GC podiums!
For the stage podium, he'll need to match Carapaz' time of 27'43", and the clock's ticking... 27'35" ... 27'36" ... 27'37" ... 27'38" ... 27'39" - he does it! With a 21" deficit, Tvetcov takes provisional 3rd place of the day!
Konig was his closest rival both in the GC and the time check standings. He'll need a time of 27'41" to defend his 5th place in the GC, and 27'39" for a stage podium: 27'35" ... 27'36" ... 27'37" ... 27'38" ... 27'39" ... 27'40" ... 27'41" ... 27'42" ... the clock finally stops at 27'47", which is provisional 7th on the stage, and which means that he loses a spot to the Romanian in the GC.
And now it's Monsalve coming in - the Venezuelan didn't really look good on the first part already, and his time seems to be far off what he should be capable of normally. He finally loses 47" on the best time, meaning 26" on Tvetcov - but this still allows him to take the GC lead by a 15" margin! Only three riders left, and he needs to overtake just one to get a GC podium!
Padun seemed to have just nothing left after his big effort yesterday. With a final time of 29'00", he not only drops behind Monsalve, but all the way down to 5th, right behind Schelling, whose final time he actually ties. Two riders to come, so that should make him 7th in the GC - which is a great performance, of course, but still a huge bummer if you're on the podium pre-stage...
Bennett had a strong showing on the first part of the race, but he had only 4" of advantage left on Monsalve. And given that Tvetcov is just 15" behind the Venezuelan at the finish line, let's see if the Kiwi even drops off the podium.
He needs a time of 28'20" to defend his 2nd place, and 28'35" to remain on the podium... 28'15" ... 28'16" ... 28'17" ... 28'18" ... 28'19" ... 28'20" ... 28'21" ... he stops the clock at 28'27", meaning he drops behind Monsalve, but Bennett takes 3rd place in the Volta a Portugal! Congratulations!
But even if the fight for the remaining podium spots was tough, Meintjes never was in danger of losing this race today. Although he drops from 6th at the time check to 13th at the finish line, he is the clear and well deserved winner of the 2019 Volta a Portugal!
We'll have a closer look at the final standings in a moment, but first let's join the home crowd to celebrate their big hero, today's stage winner Goncalves!
And here he is! Portuguese ITT champion Jose Goncalves dominated today's race and wins the closing stage 11" ahead of Timothy Roe, for whom this is an amazing result as well. 3rd place goes to Serghei Tvetcov, but the Romanian doesn't seem to be very happy with this result - understandibly; had he been 8" faster, he'd have been on the GC podium, too.
Let's take a look at today's Top 20:
1.
Jose Goncalves
27'18"
11.
Alexander Vlasov
+ 33"
2.
Timothy Roe
+ 11"
12.
William Chiarello
+ 33"
3.
Serghei Tvetcov
+ 21"
13.
Louis Meintjes
+ 33"
4.
Richard Antonio Carapaz
+ 25"
14.
Andrew Talansky
+ 40"
5.
Vegard Stake Laengen
+ 28"
15.
Oleksandr Golovash
+ 41"
6.
Eduardo Sepulveda
+ 28"
16.
Ingvar Omarsson
+ 44"
7.
Leopold Konig
+ 29"
17.
Tony Gallopin
+ 44"
8.
Rohan Dennis
+ 30"
18.
Yonathan Monsalve
+ 47"
9.
Jack Bobridge
+ 30"
19.
Patrick Schelling
+ 48"
10.
Sachin Dulanjana
+ 32"
20.
Aydar Zakarin
+ 49"
Laengen indeed makes it the 5th straight stage Top 5 - which is especially remarkable after yesterday's solo win.
3 Bennelong shirts in the Top 10 definitely is a huge team result, too - which leads to the desired outcome, as we'll see later.
But first, it's time to celebrate overall winner Louis Meintjes! The South African took the yellow jersey on the 8th stage, with an amazing sprint up the final hill, and showed no sign of weakness on the remaining stages. On the contrary, he extended his lead yesterday, getting a margin of more than a minute to have a rather calm day today. Congratulations to him and his team cycleYorkshire, who must be extremely happy about this points haul in the promotion fight!
2nd place goes to Yonathan Monsalve. The Venezuelan looked like the probable race winner until that 8th stage, where he first had a poor positioning and then cracked in the end to lose the yellow jersey. Furthermore, he couldn't capitalize on his superior climbing skills yesterday, as Meintjes just was too strong and didn't let him go. He saved what could be saved today, getting a well deserved 2nd place - and definitely a needed one for Farfetch Pro Cycling!
Whereas the Top 2 were already on these spots in the preview - although in reversed order - George Bennett definitely is a surprising name to be found on the podium. But the Kiwi simply always hung on with the best, therefore not losing a lot of time on the hilly and mountain stages. But it took a really strong time trial today to save that podium spot by a mere 8" on Tvetcov. On the other hand, he's just 7" behind Monsalve, but I guess he'll be more than happy with 3rd!
As we already mentioned, 4th place goes to Serghei Tvetcov, who showed a strong race and capitalized on his good sprint skills more than once. He overtook Leopold Konig on this final stage; the Czech ends up in 5th place.
They are followed by Patrick Schelling on 6th and U25 winner Mark Padun on 7th place, who have the same time, with the Swiss being a few fractions of a second faster after 11 days of racing.
8th goes to another former race leader, Alex Kirsch, 9th to Andrew Talansky - both of them having the same final time, too - and the Top 10 are rounded off by William Chiarello, representing the local Berg Cycles team.
And Louis Meintjes not only takes the overall win, but he wins the points jersey, too. As in the GC, Yonathan Monsalve takes 2nd place here as well, but he's tied with Vegard Stake Laengen, who had three amazing days in a row now. Jack Bobridge didn't quite live up to his potential in today's ITT, and finishes 4th, together with Sergey Chernetskiy.
Unfortunately, the organizers still haven't been able to get their KoM standings right, and so we once again have this picture of Sergey Chernetskiy in the "wrong" jersey from two days ago - apologies for that. He wins the KoM jersey, totalling the same amount of points as Sebastian Henao, who's further behind in the GC and therefore officially in 2nd place. The podium is completed once again by Vegard Stake Laengen, who won all his points yesterday.
Mark Padun would definitely have preferred getting a GC podium out of this race - but at least he easily takes the U25 jersey. He wasn't the clear favorite pre-race, but especially on the last days he really dominated Sam Oomen, who finishes 1'38" behind. Joseph Areruya adds a 3rd place in the youth standings to a great race for Xero.
And finally, Bennelong - Mitchelton did what everyone expected: they turned a 17" deficit into a 1'36" advantage and are the winners of the team standings!
Indosat Ooredoo - ANZ, who took over the standings yesterday, had no worries securing at least the 2nd place, and they did so ahead of Team Popo4Ever p/b Nemiroff.
And that's it. 11 long days of racing have finally come to an end. We've seen a lot of action with strong climbers winning hill-top finishes, puncheurs giving away stage wins to breakaways, and we finally have a well deserved winner in Louis Meintjes! Congratulations to all those who won something here, and maybe let's see you again in a year!
Volta a Portugal 
