Venezuelan cyclist Leangel Linarez (Tavfer-Ovos Matinados-Mortágua) won the first stage of the Tour of Portugal in the sprint on Thursday, arriving in Ourém in which Rafael Reis (Glassdrive-Q8-Anicolor) retained the lead in the general classification.
The 26-year-old Linarez covered the 188.5 kilometers between Anadia and Ourém in 4:33.04 hours, beating two Czechs from Caja Rural-Seguros RGA at the finish: Daniel Babor was second and Tomás Bárta was third.
In the overall accounts, Rafael Reis arrived with the same time as the winner and retains the yellow jersey, now matched by Linarez, second, leaving Babor in third, one second away.
On Friday, the second stage links Abrantes to Vila Franca de Xira in 177.3 kilometers, with two flying targets (Torres Novas and Cartaxo) and two mountain counts, Alto da Agruela (fourth category) and Carvalha (third).
Source: DN
