Alexis Guérin attacked 15km from the top of Torre. Nobody got near him
The Anicolor rider wins the summit finish on the highest road in mainland Portugal and takes the yellow jersey, 1m26s clear of teammate Artem Nych on general classification.
Torre did what Torre does. After 154.6 kilometres from Figueiró dos Vinhos to the highest point in mainland Portugal, stage four of the 87th Volta a Portugal pulled the race apart and handed it a new leader.
Alexis Guérin went clear with 15 kilometres left and was never seriously threatened. The Frenchman crossed the line 1 minute 44 seconds ahead of his own Anicolor teammate Artem Nych, and took the yellow jersey Rui Oliveira had claimed at Queluz.
A stage built to break people
This was not a routine summit finish. The final kilometre averages 6.5%, and the day stacked up more than four thousand metres of climbing, taking in Braçal, Portela de Gavião and Portela do Armodouro before the road turned towards the Serra da Estrela. None of that is accidental. The organisers put Torre at the start of the second half of the race precisely to force the general classification contenders into the open.
Pedro Silva of Feira dos Sofás-Boavista came in third at 1m56s. Jokin Murguialday of Euskaltel and José Fernandes of GI Group Holding-Simoldes-UDO completed the top five at 1m58s, which tells you how far the race had stretched by the closing kilometres.
Where the race stands
Guérin now leads by 1m26s from Nych. Having the top two riders on the same team is a comfortable place for Anicolor and an awkward one for everybody else, because it means every attack from a rival starts a rider down.
The Volta is not settled, though. There is still the time trial between Anadia and Águeda, still Termas do Gerês, and above all still Senhora da Graça, the climb that traditionally has the last word here. Guérin has taken enough time that he does not need to attack again. He has not taken enough to simply sit on it.
After a third stage decided in a sprint at Elvas, the race moves into the part where seconds start to matter. The official Volta classifications are updated after every stage.
By Vasco Almada
Image: DiogoBaptista / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
