Volta a Portugal: Race leader Alexis Guérin climbs to second stage win on stage 9

The trio, with Guérin setting the pace, pulled away from a select six-rider lead group on the final ascent with four kilometres to go. And then upped the pace again to solo to victory.

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“We’ll see in Porto. I don’t know how much of a lead I have in the general classification. Porto is a technical course, and I’ll have to wait until the finish line before I can be happy, in quotes, about winning this Volta,” Guérin.

The Frenchman, wearing a black leader’s jersey to honour Finlay Tarling, the day after the 19-year-old tragically died on stage 8, added,  “Today, this victory gives me time overall but it is also for this young man who was talented.”

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Guérin’s lead is now over one minute on his teammate Nych, while Pedro Silva (Feira Dos Sofas-Boavista) is in third at 4:30 down.

Adrià Pericas (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), who started the day in third overall, had a mechanical the tough Alto de Carvalhais climb midway through the stage, and dropped to fifth overall.

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Racing concludes on Sunday with the final flat stage in Porto.

Stage 9 connected the Monastery of Vilela, in Paredes, to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Grace, in Mondim de Basto. The Queen Stage with 3323 metres of elevation gain over 142.3 kilometres, featured the legendary climb to Senhora da Graça, but before the final climb, riders also had to tackle the first category Alto de Carvalhais (9.6km at 6.6%) with a one-kilometre gravel section before the top.

The race held a moment of silence to honour NSN Cycling Team’s Finlay Starling after his tragic death during stage 8 before the racing got underway.

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A break of four riders, who escaped after the first intermediate sprint in Paredes, was joined by a large chase group to form, momentarily a break of 18 riders off the front. They built a lead of over two minutes but broke apart on the demanding terrain.

Oscar Rota (Feira Dos Sofas-Boavista) pulled away from the break on the tough Carvalhais climb with its pitches maxing out at 10;3%. Meanwhile, chaser Lorenzo Quartucci (Burgos Burpeller BH) was caught by a select group of favourites, including race leader Alexis Guérin (Anicolor-Campicarn).

Third on GC, Adrià Pericas (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) suffered a mechanical on the climb, and though he received a new bike from his team in the gravel section, he lost over a minute.

With 33 kilometres to go, Rota was reeled in by a group of 11 riders. The selection included Artem Nych (Anicolor-Campicarn), Efapel duo of Tiago Antunes and Keegan Swirbul, Tavira-Crédito Agricola pair Diogo Barbosa and Guilherme Mestre, Jesus Del Pino (Aviludo-Louletano-Loulé), Emanuel Duarte (Credibom-La Aluminios-Marcos), Rui Varvalho and José Carlos Prates Nevas Fernandes (both GI Group Holding-Simoldes-Udo). Also in the group were Guérin, Rota and his teammate Pedro Silva.

With 20 kilometres to go, Pericas, joined by more riders, continued to lose time, up to two minutes behind the lead group. 

Riders started to drop off the pace, with six riders left in the lead group  with Guérin setting the pace, with five kilometres to go. One kilometre later, three riders, Guérin, Nych, and Neves pulled away to battle for the stage victory.