Welcome to Portugal for the C1 Viana do Castelo. In a few days stage 6 of the Tour of Portugal will finish here. But today the climb to São Mamede features not once but 6 times and the riders will also tackle the cobbled descent. 207k in total.
The organizers see Zepuntke, Benoot, and Moulingui as the big threats
The first three attackers are Medvedev, Heymes, and Izagirre, but Team Würth don’t like that combination and they are brought back.
Shortly after this Izagirre punctures and Wallinder and Terada are dropped meaning with just 15k gone there are already 3 riders off the back.
As the peloton approaches the climb for the first time there is a new attack featuring Van der Sande and Kolev. Van Garderen, Paillot, and Boily trying as well. The climb is 4.4k at 6.2% with stretches up to almost 15%.
Kolev is quickly dropped, but by the time they reach the top the rest are together and Canal has joined them. Pickrell a little further back is trying to make it two for Cervelo in the break. A lot of black jerseys today, only Van der Sande bringing some color to to the break to raise the gloom on a rainy day in northern Portugal.
163k to go, about half way between the first and second ascents to São Mamede. There have been a steady stream of punctures with Lecourt De Billot the most prominent victim. But the peloton is all together right now, 4’26 behind the leaders where Pickrell has made it up to the others. Team Würth and Sony doing the work.
About 1 lap later, 130k to go. Similar situation but the break’s lead is 5’04 having reached almost 5’30. 9 riders about 1 minute off the back. Peng is one of them, he punctured (for a second time, having already punctured earlier). Worse news for Trans is that Centrone is also in that group, he doesn’t have the excuse of a puncture nor do the other 7 riders back there, but none of them was expected to impact the race.
Peng can’t catch a break, he punctures for a 3rd time and is dropped from the dropped riders group.
The dropped riders other than Peng are able to rejoin and the Taiwanese rider finally gets a break as Zepuntke punctures and joins him off the back.
But that luck is very short-lived as almost immediately Peng punctures again (that’s 4).
Zepuntke is unable to quickly rejoin and all of Team Würth drop back to help him as the peloton approaches the climb for the 3rd time. The break still lead the peloton by 4’30 with 116k to go.
With the 3rd ascent complete and 100k to ride Zepuntke is safely back in the peloton and his team are back on the front with Heinrich. 7 riders are off the back, the ill-fated Peng the most notable. The break have 3’57.
Kooistra, Lehtinen and Tim Van Dijke lead the peloton as it completes the 4th ascent with 76k to go. Peloton down to 33 riders, Kolev among those dropped. The break is still 6-strong and has a 3’16 lead.
64k to go, Paillot is the first member of the break to lose contact. He has 1’59 over the peloton which is still being led by Kooistra, the others have 2’47.
As they hit the base of the Alto do Galeão, which is the short sharp climb about half the distance between the main ascents, Dewulf attacks the peloton.
By the top he is joined by the World Champion. No wait that is Lecourt De Billot in the Mauritian Champions jersey. Also joining them are Roosen, Riesebeek, and Mengoulas. They have passed Paillot and have a 28 second gap on the peloton.
Riesebeek pushes hard on the challenging roads between the climbs and pulls away from the other 4. He is 1’40 behind the remaining 5 breakaway riders, 15 seconds ahead of the other 4 attackers and 48 seconds up on the peloton where Sony have sent Tim Van Dijke and Cataford to the front. About 50k to go.
Duvel-Tsingtao aren’t waiting around, Van Lerberghe is the next to attack. Just 22 riders left in the “peloton”. Zepuntle has 2 teammates left, Benoot 3.
4.5k to go in the penultimate climb. Riesebeek has reached the front of the race. The next group is 40 seconds back, it includes Roosen, Mengoulas and Dewulf. They have dropped Lecourt De Billot. Van Lerberghe almost reached them but cracked and is now back with the peloton which is just 1’08 down on the leaders. Nareklishvili and Watson have been dropped from the peloton as has Tim Van Dijke. Benoot has the other Van DIjke and Cataford leading the peloton. Zepuntke has Goosens and Lehtinen still in the group. The former making a heroic recovery after briefly being dropped.
3k to climb, only Pickrell able to stay with Riesebeek. Dewulf and Mengoulas 39 seconds down the peloton at 53 seconds. Lehtinen and Moulingui have been dropped from the peloton.
As the peloton reaches the cobbled descent with 41k to go it is down to just 11 riders. They are 1’12 down on Riesebeek, who has dropped Pickrell.
The race situation looks like this:
With 33k to go the gaps are about the same except Pickrell has been caught by Dewulf and Mengoulas. Boily dropped from the favorites group.
27k to go Benoot makes the catch of the 3 in between, Riesebeek has just 32 seconds. Canal, Debesay, and De Vos have been dropped from the favorite’s group.
Almost immediately Benoot heads out on his own after Riesebeek. The others hesitate.
In no time the Belgian champion is alone at the front. He already has 57 seconds as the chasers look at each other.
Realizing nobody else was willing to chase Zepuntke sets out to catch Benoot solo.
With 23k to go Zpuntke catches Riesebeek but he is still 56 seconds down on Benoot. Behind Meurisse and Jorgenson have attacked the chase group.
Meurisse and Jorgenson catch Zepuntke and Riesebeek and they let Riesebeek work for a little while resulting Benoot’s lead swelling to 1’57, before Jorgenson launches an attack. The next group on the road is 27 seconds back and includes Mengoulas, Dewulf, Mick Van Dijke, Cataford, and Battistella.
With 10k left in the race and 3.5k in the climb Benoot’s lead is 1’43 over Jorgenson who has just dropped Meurisse. Zepuntke was dropped earlier and is back with the chase group, as is Riesebeek. Mengoulas has been dropped from that group.
Benoot reaches the cobbled descent for the last time with a lead of 1’08 over Jorgenson and Meurisse, the Belgian having caught back up to the American. Next group is 3’27 down so it looks like these 3 will be the podium with only the order to be decided. 6.6k to go.
As he pulls off the descent Benoot still has 1’02 over the chasers. It looks like back-to-back victories will be his.
Benoot wins the 2024 Viana do Castelo with a 27k solo ride.
A small dig just before the final corner gives Meurisse just enough space to hold off Jorgenson for 2nd.
2k from home Zepuntke and Riesebeek pull away from the other chasers.
Riesebeek comes around Zepuntke to take 4th and give Specialized two in the top 5. These two finish a massive 5 minutes and 1 second behind Benoot. The next four home are Cataford Dewulf, Mick Van Dijke, and Battistella. Sony – Force India and Specialized both put 3 in the top 10.
Viana do Castelo 
