Artem Nych took an important step towards the fight for victory in the Volta ao Alentejo. The two-time winner of the Volta a Portugal won the 23.2km time trial in Crato, the biggest individual exercise in the race since 2008.
The Russian completed the course in 27m54s, five seconds less than his colleague and new leader Rafael Reis. Anicolor Campicarn had the yellow for Santi Mesa, but it was known that the overall race would suffer a bump in the chrono and Nych made his strength count. With a view to arriving at the Portalegre antennas, he is the team leader. He is 2 seconds behind Rafael Reis, but he is the man chosen to fight for victory this Saturday on the climb in Portalegre.
Tiago Antunes, from Efapel, is the main opponent, 9 seconds behind the yellow jersey. Enzo Leijnse, fourth placed, is also a runner for Anicolor, the team that dominates the race.
In the foreign teams, EF’s Magnus Carstensen is the biggest candidate for the podium, 15s behind, and UAE Emirates Gen Z’s Daan Dijkman is 31s behind yellow.
The previous leader, Santi Mesa, lost 61 places after the clock, but is a candidate for victory in the final stage, in Évora, on Sunday.
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