Tour of Luxembourg: Almeida seals overall victory

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João Almeida (Deceuninck-QuickStep) sealed overall victory at the Skoda Tour de Luxembourg after he took second place on the fifth and final stage behind David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ).

After a hilly opening, a reduced peloton tackled two laps of a rolling finishing circuit around Luxembourg City, and Almeida had ample support from his Deceuninck-QuickStep squad in the finale.

Although Marc Hirschi (UAE Team Emirates) picked up three bonus seconds by winning the intermediate sprint with one lap to go, the Swiss rider was never likely to threaten Almeida’s yellow jersey.

The pace-making of Almeida’s teammates Mauri Vansevenant and Pieter Serry helped to keep the front group together in the finale, where the attack of Sebastien Reichenbach (Groupama-FDJ) with 8.5km to go was one of the few to gain any traction.

Reichenbach established a lead of 7 seconds at one point, but his effort was doomed once UAE Team Emirates joined the chase behind, with Davide Formolo reeling him in with 5.5km remaining.

The road ramped up inside the final 2km, and this was where Nairo Quintana (Arkea-Samsic) played his hand with a stinging effort in the company of Oier Lazkano (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA). They opened a small gap as the group splintered behind them, but it was Almeida himself who led the chase and pinned them back.

Nearer the top of the climb, Benoit Cosnefroy (AG2R-Citroën) unleashed a fearsome attack that only Almeida and Hirschi could follow. This trio crested the summit and entered the final kilometre seemingly with a winning gap, but a moment’s hesitation allowed the fragmented chasers to latch back on.

Gaudu, meanwhile, sensed an opportunity. Mindful of his limitations in the sprint, the Frenchman launched a canny, determined attack with 800m to go, immediately opening up an advantage over the chasers.

In the finishing straight, Almeida made another rasping effort and launched his sprint from considerable distance but he had to settle for second place on the day, just ahead of Pierre Latour (AG2R Citroën), Hirschi and Cosnefroy.

Almeida had the considerable consolation of securing final overall victory in the race, 46 seconds clear of Hirschi and 1:05 up on his teammate Mattia Cattaneo.

Already winner of the opening stage, Almeida returned to the yellow jersey thanks to his display in Friday’s individual time trial, and the Portuguese rider carried a commanding 43-lead over Hirschi into Saturday’s finale.

Almeida overall lead was never troubled on Saturday and he had a strong cadre of blue jerseys around him after the day’s early break was swept up on the first of two laps of the 11km finishing circuit.

There were plenty of lofty names in the group, including Quintana, Vincenzo Nibali (Trek-Segafredo) and Esteban Chaves (Team BikeExchange), but the pyrotechnics never quite materialised, thanks in no small part to Deceuninck-QuickStep’s ability to control affairs from the front.

Hirschi had conceded beforehand that it would be difficult to dislodge Almeida, who will join him at UAE Team Emirates next year, and the Swiss rider’s focus was on trying to claim stage victory and ensure his place on the final podium. He duly picked up three bonus seconds at the bell lap and he tracked Cosnefroy and Almeida at the top of the final climb, but the day would belong to Gaudu.

“It was certainly a very difficult finale,” said Gaudu. “I knew I wasn’t the strongest on the final climb and that if I was going to win, I was going to have to escape in the final kilometre. That’s what I did, I countered. I could see the yellow jersey coming back because he launched his sprint from a long way out, but I did the maximum.”