Fabian Cancellara (Trek-Segafredo) confirmed his solid form ahead of the Spring Classics with an emphatic victory in the 18km stage 3 time trial at the Volta ao Algarve. The Swiss rider topped Tony Martin (Etixx-Quickstep) by five seconds to take the win in Sagres. Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) was third on the stage.
Overnight race leader Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana) was forced to abandon the race after crashing while heading full speed through a roundabout in an attempt to defend his jersey. At the intermediate check, Sanchez was 13 seconds behind Thomas and in danger of losing the race lead.
Following the abandon of Sanchez, Tony Martin moved into the race lead with a slim margin over Geraint Thomas. Thanks to a strong performance on the mountains on stage 2, Martin started the day 25 seconds out of the race lead, but put 23 seconds into Thomas to lead by three seconds on GC. Movistar's Ion Izagirre is third overall at 20 seconds.
ADVERTISEMENT
Martin knows he will have his work cut out when the race hits the high mountains on the final stage.
"I am happy with my performance, but not so content with the result," Martin said. "It was pretty hard today with the headwind, but I'm not looking for excuses. Fabian was stronger, and that's that. I now look towards tomorrow and helping Marcel [Kittel]. After that, we'll sit down and talk about the last day. Of course, I want to keep the yellow jersey now, but it won't be easy, as there are many top riders here. Still, I am confident, because I have a very strong team, and we'll just see how things will pan out on the final day."
He's back
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest Race Results http://ift.tt/1QrpTWo
No comments:
Post a Comment