The 84th edition of the Volta a Portugal will have news at the end. The route of the maximum Portuguese cycling competition is already known and the last stage will be a time trial in Viana do Castelo that will end with a climb to the Sanctuary of Santa Luzia.
The race director, Joaquim Gomes, foresees that this stage will have a lot of people on the road and talks about the difficulties in confirming the place of the finish line, because it coincides with the city’s festivals.
“Ironically, after a meeting yesterday in Lisbon in the field of the internal security system, there were representatives of the National Directorate of the PSP and of numerous entities that, in essence, collaborate with the organization of the Tour of Portugal, we made a final evaluation and they finally accepted my proposal that we start where we were supposed to, at Alameda 5 de Outubro next to the Viana do Castelo marina, and the main point of this whole issue is that we will be able to finish the Tour at the Sanctuary of Santa Luzia. completely brutal. You can imagine what it is like at the start of the time trial, the first meters of Avenida Combatentes da Grande Guerra, with thousands of people watching the runners leave, and then the Sanctuary of Santa Luzia. closing the edition of this Tour” , foresees the director of the Tour of Portugal.
A time trial in the last stage is already common, but normally the route is flat, as happened last year between Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia. On this occasion, the stage will have chrono-escalation tones.
“It is going to acquire a time trial character that I can only see in a positive way. It will increase the difficulty rating of the time trial. If one takes into account that the day before, after a succession of demanding stages, one of the most difficult of the Tour of Portugal -with the connection between Paredes and Senhora da Graça-, this final time trial, after the headaches I’ve had all these months, I think it’s a good reward,” he argues.
Joaquim Gomes appreciates “the availability and commitment shown by the Viana do Castelo PSP police command, particularly in recent weeks, to resolve this matter.”
Speaking to TSFthe winner of the last trip to Portugal, Maurício Moreira, guarantees that he wants to renew the title: “I am very focused. I try to do it in the best way, I try to do as in previous years: give the best of myself and be what God wants”.
Last year, the Uruguayan overtook Frederico Figueiredo in the last stage. “It was a very special victory, both for being in the Tour of Portugal and for having my family here. In this case it was a very great joy, ”he recalled.
The Tour of Portugal starts on August 9 with a 3.6-kilometre prologue, which will define the first yellow jersey. The following stages, more or less flat, head south, until reaching the fifth day of the race that will connect Mação with Torre, in Serra da Estrela. In the 7th stage, the cyclists will finish at the top of Serra do Larouco, in Montalegre, and the 9th stage will finish in the emblematic climb to the top of Senhora da Graça, in Mondim de Basto. The tenth and final stage will have a time trial in Viana do Castelo.
Source: TSF
