Rui Costa might not have ridden at his maximum, but it was still enough to win the rider the Portuguese time trial champion jersey. Costa averaged 46.9 km/h over the 40.5 kilometre course to set a time 33 seconds quicker than second placed Sérgio Sousa (Madeinox Boavista).
“I know that I am strong at this moment of the season, but I don’t want to surprise everyone,” he said. “That’s why I started very concentrated on riding with good legs, but not at my maximum.
“I prefer to wait because it was an individual time trial of more than 50 minutes and I really do the maximum only in the last kilometres,” he added.
Mário Costa (Barbot Siper) claimed third place, 35 seconds behind Costa.
Vanessa Fernandes (Clube Triatlo Perosinho) won the women’s title by 17 seconds over Moniz Anais (Acd Milharado/Intermarché/Mafra). Nelson Oliveira (Xacobeo Galicia) took the Under 23 men’s championship win by 51 seconds over Fábio Silvestre (Liberty Seguros-Stª Maria Feira).
'It's a conflict of interest because I want the boys from home to be successful, but if he wins Worlds, I don't think I could say how happy I would be for him' says stage winner Brennan
