Brady Gilmore didn't let the rest day at the ten stage Volta a Portugal interrupt his run, making it back-to-back victories in after Wednesday's efforts in Guarda.
The 24-year-old Israel Premier Tech Academy rider took his first victory of the UCI 2.1 ranked race on Monday's stage 5, recovering from the heat of the earlier days in the race – which also faced a neutralisation as a result of a fire on stage 4 – to take a clear cut win from the bunch. He launched from his team lead-out at 200m to go in the finale of the sprinter's stage but it was a different scenario on Wednesday.
The final rider from the break, Gilmore's teammate, was caught with 1,500m of stage 6 to go, with the field splitting on the short but sharp climb to the finish.
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“The plan was to put Daniel in the break, so it was a perfect situation for us with him up the road,” said Israel Premier Tech Academy sports director Ruben Plaza in a statement. “Our second card to play was Brady, in case it came back for a sprint, and in the end, it worked out perfectly. When I saw him smiling on the climb, I knew he would win this one. Once again, it was another perfect day for us here in Portugal.”
It was the team's third win of the race with Pau Martí claiming stage 2, before Gilmore – who was also third on stage 1 – took his two wins in a row, the first coming from a bunch sprint and the second with a powerful showing in the uphill finale which was decided from among a leading group of six.
“I felt good on the last climb. I wasn’t really suffering,” said Gilmore. “When I launched my sprint with 250 to go, I almost didn’t need to go max, which felt a little strange, to be honest, but I’ll take it.”
It is the eighth victory of the season for Gilmore, who signed with the Israel Premier Tech Academy from the second half of 2024 and is moving up to ProTeam Israel-Premier Tech in 2026 after inking a three-year deal. The two latest winning additions to his results sheet follow an overall and stage win at the Circuit des Ardennes and Tour de Taiwan plus two stage wins at the Tour du Rwanda.
“We’ve got a wicked week of racing here,” Gilmore said. “Two podiums and three stage wins, and we’re only six stages in. We’re really showing how good this team is here.”
The attention will now turn to the overall competition on stage 7, which has a summit finish to Covilhã. The team's best placed rider on the GC ahead of the mountain stage is fellow Australian Zac Marriage in 12th place. The national U23 time trial champion and runner-up in the ProVelo Super League has just joined Israel Premier Tech as a stagiaire for the remainder of the 2025 season.
