The last stage of the Volta a Portugal was always likely to be decisive and since the first 7 stages have only yielded a 54-second gap between 1st and 16th it will certainly be so.
Stage 8 is by far the hardest stage of the race. While it covers 172k the real action is packed into the second half. Prior to that the riders will tackle two sprint points, a Cat 3 and a Cat 4 climb. After the second sprint point, with 89k to gom things get harder. Immediately after that sprint the riders will start a succession of 3 climbs that cover the remainder of the race. First an HC climb, then after the descent a Cat 1 climb, then a short descent, and then another Cat 1 to the finish on the Serra da Estrela. None of the climbs are very steep but they are all long, 60 of the final 89k will be uphill.
Rodrigues and Galta, and who sit 1-2 on GC, show up as the top favorites along with 5th placed Madrazo. The next man on the favorites list is Aular who won this stage last year. He is currently 15th on GC so will need to gain time if he wants to match his 5th overall from last year.
Given the nature of the stage and that the first Cat 3 is just 7k into the stage the attacks start from the get go. Sosa is the first rider on the road as they reach the top of the climb. He is a real threat for the KOM jersey as he started the day just 9 points off the lead and this climb gives him 6 of them as the rest of the points are taken by Schelling and Brkic, neither of whom have scored before. KOM leader Chiu is also in the group but he isn’t able to match the more serious climbers. The last rider in the front group is Mohoric. They have 53 seconds on the peloton where the chase is being led by Binance. In between is a group of 3 riders including Zumer, Debesay, and Power.
With 15k gone the 8 mentioned above come together and the peloton lets them begin to extend the lead. King Power have 2 again but San Marino is not represented today.
At the first sprint with 28k gone, Mohoric attacks early and grabs the points. Smart move by him he is now 3 points off the lead for the points jersey. If he can do the same at the second sprint point, he will have a shot to win that jersey, depending on who wins the stage. The break now lead by 2’40.
Mohoric also wins on the Cat 4 with 135k to go. He is a long way back in the KOM competition so that seems unnecessary but maybe he is betting on himself to score lots of points later. Zumer and Debesay take the remaining points meaning Zumer takes over the virtual KOM lead. (28-27 over Chiu). If the break doesn’t score at the top of the HC climb that could be decisive. Right now, the break is being kept on a tight leash by Binance, they have just 2’43.
100k to go for he peloton, Binance with the whole team on the front although all the work is being done by Oliveira. He has not been slacking, the break's lead has never reached 3 minutes and right now it is just 2’25. In 9k they will reach the second sprint point and the racing will begin in earnest.
Mohoric mistimes his sprint at the sprint point and only gets 2nd which gives him just a 1-point lead. That should be enough unless Galta wins the stage. The climb is 27k at 5.1%, that includes a descent about half way up which is followed by the hardest parts of the climb and then it eases off towards the top.
On the climb Carlsberg come to the front and with 20k still to climb , Sureda has the lead pegged at 1’13, although he is looking a little shaky. They are about to reach the short descent and about 20 riders have already been dropped.
Once they start climbing again Sureda turns it over to Sulvaran and with 14k to climb the lead is down to 42 seconds. Zumer and Debesay have been dropped from the break. The peloton is down to 91 riders, the two TT riders who were still in the GC top 20, Andersen and Erdenebat, have both been dropped but the rest of the top 20 to start the day are still present.
Skjelmose Jensen and Petrovski also contribute to the chasing but either they are going slower or the break has sped up because with 10k to climb the gap is back to 1’37 to the front of the race. Only Schelling, Brkic and Power left up front. The two King Power riders have been caught and Mohoric is in between the front and the peloton. Surprising that Sosa couldn’t stay with the leaders, he could have made a run at the KOM title. Perhaps he felt it was a waste of energy as the break seemed likely to be caught.
Brkic is the next man dropped from the front. 6k to climb for the leaders. Binance back on the front of the peloton and the leading two have 2’24.
At the top of the climb Schelling just edges Power. Brkic is the only man in between but he is almost caught. The gap is 2’05 with Bartl on the front.
Van Gils tears away from the peloton to take 3rd place on the climb. Brkic hangs on for fourth and the rest of the points go to domestiques. Sosa is still in the 79-rider peloton but doesn’t make any attempt at KOM points, he is having a tough week from a tactics point of view.
With all the points awarded at the HC climb Schelling has emerged as the biggest threat to Zumer’s KOM lead. He is on 24 points, 4 points behind Zumer. Van Gils is another two points back, his intent is clearly the KOM as he drops back into the pack on the descent.
The two leaders start the next climb with a 1’51 edge on the peloton. The climb is 15.7k at 4.8% and never gets all that steep.
On this climb Carlsberg gets some help from Bralirwa as Skjelmose Jensen is joined by Ndayisenga and with 12ks to climb the lead is 36 seconds.
1k later the attackers are caught. There are 82 riders in the peloton.
5k to climb, 30k in the stage. After setting a steady pace with Skjelmose Jensen and Petrovski up most of the climb Carlsberg sends Kämna to the front to up the pace and riders immediately begin to drop including Quita and Sosa who appear to be trying to protect Chiu. King Power pressing the self-destruct button for the 3rd time this race.
1.5k to go, Kämna’s forcing reduces the peloton to 63 before he pulls off. Van Gils is among those dropped removing one threat to Zumer’s KOM jersey.
After a brief break Kämna goes back to the front along with Kennaugh. The peloton just rolls over the KOM point which helps Zumer. There are still 16 KOM points left at the finish but his chances of winning have gone up. Galta has picked up minor points on both the last two climbs, enough so that he will pass Zumer if he finishes the stage on the podium or tie him if he finishes 4th. Also, Kennaugh (14 pts) can pass Zumer or Almeida (12 pts) can tie him with a stage win.
Kämna leads the peloton onto the final climb. It is 16.6k at 5.4% with the steepest slopes in the first 5k.
13k to go, Meintjes launches the first attack. Gregaard now on the front.
Rodrigues joins Meintjes and they open a 17 second gap with 12k to ride. The others decide to let Gregaard do the work to close it down. Osorio on Gregaard’s wheel then Madrazo. Peloton down to 59.
11k to ride and Gregaard closes down the attackers. The top contenders are all within the first 10 or so spots. Kennaugh (7th on GC) has been dropped and won’t win the KOM jersey. Vasyliv (9th) also dropped. Lasinis (3rd), Madouas (19th), Vanhoucke (11th), and Figueiredo (14th) all near the back.
The next attack comes with 8k to go, it is Giannoutsos.
He pulls Monsalve, Aular, and Cras with him. Behind Galta leads the reaction.
The four attackers open up 40 seconds as Monsalve looks to push the pace. 21 seconds behind Galta is leading a 3-man chasing group also including Meintjes and Yellow Jersey Rodrigues. Almeida and Madrazo losing out right now among the big names. Almeida has Brozyna on the front of the chase but is right at the back himself. Madrazo is isolated and in the middle of the chasing pack.
6.3k to go, the front 7 are together. Brozyna has done well to hold them at 31 seconds but looks like he has cracked. Except for Figueiredo all the riders who were near the back are still hanging on in the main chase group which is 26-strong.
With the lead expanding again Madrazo and Almeida come to the front of the chase group. Up front Meintjes has attacked the others. Novak, who might have been a candidate for the stage win, has been dropped.
Under the 5k banner Meintjes has opened up 20 seconds on the next 7 who have 39 seconds on the main chase group. Madrazo is leading that group, which is down to 24 riders, but hasn’t been able to close the gap.
3.9k to go for the main chase group which is down to 12 riders. Almeida and Arndt helping Madrazo with the chasing now and they have the gap down to 31 seconds. Meintjes still has 20 seconds on the other favorites who seem to be co-operating, they might be letting him fry out on his own. Lasinis (3rd) and Vanhoucke (11th) have been dropped from the Madrazo group.
1.5k to go for Meintjes the gaps are about the same as they were. The Bralirwa rider is 29 seconds down on GC and there are 20 bonus seconds at the finish.
Under the 1k banner Aular is leading the chase of Meintjes, they have cut his lead to 13 seconds. The gap to the Almeida/Madrazo group has grown to 36 seconds. They have been on a flat section but the last K ramps up a little, although it isn’t that steep. Things could change a lot as the riders start their sprint to the finish.
500 meters for Meintjes, his lead is 9 seconds, the stage win still seems possible but probably not the GC. Almeida leading the chase in the third group where Madrazo seems to have cracked. He was 5th to start the day, look like he will lose not gain places.
200 meters for Meintjes, his time gap is gone but he still has the lead on the road. The question is do any of the rest have enough left to chase him, Giannoutsos on the front. He could win the GC if he wins the stage and Galta and Rodrigues don’t get bonus seconds.
100 meters. Giannoutsos almost up to Meintjes. The GC still in the balance, Rodrigues at the back doesn’t look like he will get bonuses. But if he stays in the group he will win the GC unless Galta can pass Cras or Giannoutsos can pass Meintjes. The next group is 43 seconds back and Madrazo is in danger of being gapped by a number of that group.
Meintjes with a great stage win as he celebrates and conveniently blocks Giannoutsos. The Greek settles for 2nd on the stage, he launched the winning move and played his cards well, he will also get a GC podium. Rodrigues looking good for the GC as Cras still has an edge on Galta but the Binance rider can’t afford to be gapped and he is looking shaky at the back.
Cras finishes 3rd, a great ride for the Fastned man, he will move up on GC. He is followed by Galta, Aular, and Monsalve. Rodrigues will get 7th. The question is whether a time gap will be awarded.
Amezawa leads the next group over 40 seconds down, Arndt and Carapaz complete the top 10. Then Senni in 11th and Almeida takes 12th. Mamykin the last rider in that group. Many of this group have already lost significant time. Madrazo leads home the next group at 1’05.
The judges determine Rodrigues to have lost 11 seconds. He loses not only the race but a podium finish in the final 100 meters of the Vota a Portugal. He drops to 4th behind Galta, Giannoutsos and Meintjes. So Galta wins the 2023 Volta a Portugal for Carlsberg.
Galta missing the stage podium costs him an outright win in the KOM competition, instead he ties Zumer for first.
Cras takes 5th, Almeida drops to 8th, Madrazo 10th. Almeida still easily wins the White Jersey. After holding the team’s jersey all race MOL drop to 8th. That jersey goes to ELCO ahead of Zalgiris.
Mohoric’s breakaway escapades pay off with the points jersey, 1 point ahead of a three-way tie between Meintjes, Skujins, and Andersen.
Volta a Portugal 
