Saturday, February 17, 2024 at 4:49 PM
Remco Evenepoel did very well in the time trial of the Volta ao Algarve. The world time trial champion won the chrono test by force majeure and therefore also took over the leader’s jersey from Daniel Felipe Martínez. Magnus Sheffield finished second in the day’s results, Stefan Küng came third. Wout van Aert finished just outside the top ten, in eleventh place.
The fourth stage of the Volta ao Algarve could turn out to be the most important of the entire round. There was a 22 kilometer time trial on the program, to and from the seaside resort of Albufeira. The course was undulating and contained one strip of eight hundred meters at about eight percent. Far from flat, but the large engines still had to be able to handle this well. It only became a bit more technical in the final kilometers, before it was mainly straight forward.
Sheffield takes the lead
Among the early starters, Edward Theuns, Julien Vermote and Matteo Trentin – in that order – spent some time on the hot seat. The latter had driven a lot, as it turned out when time trial specialist Stefan Bissegger crossed the line. The Swiss was three seconds short of dethroning the Italian. Trentin’s own teammate Arthur Klucker succeeded.
Greater Sheffield – photo: Cor Vos
The next to record the top time was Isaac Del Toro. Filippo Ganna did better than the young Mexican at the intermediate points, but at the finish he fell short of taking the lead. That did not apply to Magnus Sheffield. Ganna’s American teammate clocked a time that would make many grit their teeth. Also patented time trial riders such as Stefan Küng, Thymen Arensman, Ben Healy and Wout van Aert. The latter conceded almost three-quarters of a minute to Sheffield and would eventually finish eleventh in the time trial.
Evenepoel delivers a sledgehammer blow
There was only one rider who would do better than Sheffield: Remco Evenepoel. Who else? The world champion was the best at all intermediate points and was also sixteen seconds faster than Sheffield on the finish. He also did much better than Daniel Felipe Martínez, who was set at 52 seconds. The Colombian therefore had to give up his leader’s jersey. With one stage to go, Evenepoel has a lead of 48 seconds in the general classification. So he is in excellent shape.
2024-02-17 15:49:00
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