Johansen takes the Anadia–Águeda time trial as Guerin holds yellow
The UAE Emirates Dane covered 17.4 kilometres in 21 minutes 13 seconds. Tiago Antunes was second on the stage and moved up to third overall, 1m52s behind Alexis Guerin.
Julius Johansen won stage five of the Volta a Portugal on Monday, the individual time trial from Anadia to Águeda. The UAE Emirates rider covered the 17.4 kilometres in 21 minutes 13 seconds, averaging 49.1 kilometres per hour.
Portugal’s Tiago Antunes, riding for Efapel Cycling, took second, with Dutchman Axel van der Tuuk of Euskaltel Euskadi third.
The general classification tightens
Alexis Guerin of Anicolor/Campicarn finished the stage eighth, 53 seconds down on the winner, and kept the yellow jersey. He kept it with less room: his advantage over team-mate Artem Nych, second overall, is now 1 minute 12 seconds.
The day’s climber in the standings was Antunes, up to third at 1 minute 52 seconds. With two riders from the same team in the top two places and a Portuguese rider 112 seconds back, the race enters its second half with everything still available.
Monday’s course was not the flat test the 17-kilometre distance suggested, as we flagged this morning. The climb in the middle punished anyone who picked the fastest bike over the lightest one, and the 53 seconds between the winner and the race leader is a fair measure of that.
Official classifications and the schedule for the remaining stages are on the Volta a Portugal site.
By Vasco Almada
Image: Vitor Oliveira / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
