The Volta a Portugal's longest stage runs Beja to Elvas today (182km across a baking Alentejo)
The ceremonial start is at 1pm at Beja's Portas de Mértola and the finish sits beside the walls of Elvas. It is 182.2km with around 2,106m of climbing, on a day when inland Alentejo is back at maximum wildfire risk.
Stage three of the Volta a Portugal is the longest of this year’s race, and it runs today from Beja to Elvas over 182.2 kilometres. The ceremonial start is set for 1pm at the Portas de Mértola. There are roughly 2,106 metres of climbing along the way, which on a profile looks mild. In the Alentejo, in August, it is not.
The parcours suits a fast finish and the sprinters will fancy another go. Heat is the variable nobody controls, though. Inland Alentejo has spent this week among the regions with municipalities at maximum wildfire danger, and highs in the area have been sitting close to 40C. A flat 182 kilometres at that temperature costs riders as much as a short mountain day.
Why the finish is worth watching
The stage ends in Elvas, right by the city walls. That is not an accident of routing: Elvas holds the largest bulwarked fortification system in the world and has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2012, which gives the day a backdrop the flat stages rarely get. If you are heading there, expect roads around the historic centre to be closed through the afternoon.
Where the race stands
Rui Oliveira is still in yellow. The jersey changed hands in the Belém prologue and has moved again on the road, first when Francisco Campos won the sprint into Queluz and then on stage two from Sines to Albufeira, where Santiago Mesa edged Daniel Cavia by sixteen hundredths in a photo finish. It was the tightest margin of the race so far, and a fair summary of what these flat days produce.
The 87th Volta started in Lisbon on 5 August and finishes in Porto on the 16th, after ten stages and 1,388 kilometres. The queen stage comes later, with a double ascent of Senhora da Graça at Mondim de Basto. Until then, the real contest is about arriving at the mountains intact.
By Vasco Almada
Image: Vitor Oliveira / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
