Spanish Eduard Prades Wins Eighth Stage of Tour of Portugal
Spanish cyclist Eduard Prades (Caja Rural) won the eighth stage of the Tour of Portugal on Friday, while his compatriot Gustavo Veloso (W52) maintained the leader's yellow jersey ahead of the decisive time trial on Saturday, the penultimate stage of the race.
28-year-old Catalan cyclist Prades won the sprint with a time of 4:09:44, ahead of Portuguese cyclist Samuel Caldeira (W52) and Italian cyclist Davide Vigano (Team Idea).
Prades, from Tarragona, highlighted to Portuguese television that their goal was to "win one or two stages" and they achieved it.
"It feels great, it's my first victory in a continental circuit and it's thanks to Caja Rural for giving me the opportunity," said the Catalan cyclist.
He also ruled out participating in the Tour of Spain because he has "an alternative schedule" and acknowledged that it's "better not to use all the resources" in such a demanding race.
Furthermore, Veloso expressed his satisfaction with the stage and added that he had "nothing to do in the sprint" as he lacks "that extra speed" that sprinters have.
In this regard, he stated that the 1:28 advantage over Alejandro Marque (Efapel), the best time trialist among those at the top, should be enough to secure the overall victory, as he "would have to perform poorly in the time trial and he would have to perform very well".
It was a calm day in which an escape of five riders, including Spaniards Alberto Gallego (Radio Popular) and David de la Fuente (Efapel), was neutralized 10 kilometers from the finish.
Among the top ten, Balearic cyclist Albert Torres (Team Ecuador), Galician cyclist Delio Fernández (W52), and La Mancha cyclist Vicente de Mateos (Louletano) finished in fifth, eighth, and tenth positions, respectively.
Heading into Saturday's time trial, Galician cyclist Gustavo Veloso remains the leader, followed by Delio Fernández at 14 seconds and Portuguese cyclist Joni Brandao (Efapel) at 57 seconds.
In fourth position, 1:28 behind, is Galician cyclist Alejandro Marque, the main threat to Veloso, and in ninth position, 2:36 behind, is Madrid cyclist Marcos García (Louletano).
Today's stage covered the 180.2 kilometers between Guarda and Castelo Branco, which precedes tomorrow's 34.2-kilometer time trial between Praia de Pedrogao and Leiria, the penultimate stage of the Portuguese race.