Jose Gonçalves (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) has won the fifth stage of the Tour of Portugal, with a route of 169 kilometers between Braga and the climb to Alto de Santa Lucía in Viana do Castelo. The Portuguese rider beat the Spanish cyclists Delio Fernández and Gustavo César Veloso, both from the W52-Quinta da Lixa team. With the third place in today's stage, Veloso remains the leader of the Portuguese race for one more day.
CLASSIFICATIONS
5th stage classification:
1. José Gonçalves (POR-Caja Rural) 4h09:07
2. Delio Fernández (ESP-W52) m.t.
3. Gustavo Veloso (ESP-W52) m.t.
4. Jóni Brandao (POR-Efapel) at 02
5. Alejandro Marque (ESP-Efapel at 03
6. Gaetan Bille (BEL-Verandas) m.t.
7. Daniel Silva (POR-Radio Popular) m.t.
8. Cesar Fonte (POR-Radio Popular) m.t.
9. Ricardo Vilela (POR-Caja Rural) m.t.
10. Amaro Antunes (POR-La Aluminios) m.t.
General classification:
1. Gustavo Veloso (ESP-W52) 23h10:21
2. Delio Fernández (ESP-W52) at 15
3. Jóni Brandao (POR-Efapel) at 41
4. Amaro Antunes (POR-La Aluminios) at 52
5. Alejandro Marque (ESP-Efapel) at 01:02
6. Ricardo Vilela (POR-Caja Rural) at 01:08
7. António Carvalho (W52) at 01:16
8. Hernani Broco (POR-La Aluminios) at 01:26
9. Joao Benta (POR-Louletano) at 01:36
10. Daniel Silva (POR-Radio Popular) at 01:37.
Shortly after the start of the stage, a breakaway of 11 riders formed: Alberto Gallego and Nuno Bico (Radio Popular - Boavista), Domingos Gonçalves (Efapel), Leonel Coutinho (LA-Aluminios), Henrique Casimiro (Tavira), Micael Isidoro (Louletano), Fabricio Ferrari (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Davide Vigano (Idea 2010), Daniel Domínguez (Ecuador), Wouter Mol (Join´s De Rijke), and Kai Reus (Verandas Willems).
The breakaway continued to increase its advantage, reaching up to 4 minutes. However, with 48 kilometers to go, Gallego launched an attack that shattered the breakaway, significantly reducing its size.
Finally, 6 riders came together at the front with 20 kilometers to go. The escape group consisted of Gallego, Coutinho, and Ferrari, and they were joined by Christopher Hatz and Daniel Westmattelmann, both from the Kuota-Lotto team, and with 10 kilometers to go, Dimitri Claeys and Christoph Premont from the Verandas Willems team also managed to connect with the breakaway.
In the final kilometers, Efapel and W52-Quinta da Lixa increased the pace of the peloton to catch the escapees on the climb to Santa Lucía, and they achieved their goal in the last kilometer. In the mass sprint of the main group, Gonçalves was the strongest and crossed the finish line ahead of the Spanish cyclists Delio Fernández and Gustavo César Veloso. The latter will keep the leader's jersey of the Tour of Portugal for one more day.
Tomorrow, the sixth stage of the Portuguese race will take place, with an almost flat route of 154 kilometers between Ovar and Oliveira de Azemés, and a sprint finish is expected.