Volta ao Algarve stage 4 live coverage

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of stage 4 of the Volta ao Algarve. Today the riders will take on a 32.2-kilometre time trial from Vila Real de Santo António to Tavira that is set to shake up the overall standings.

The first few riders have set off to start their runs today. Those at the bottom of the standings – various riders on Portuguese Continental teams and Joe Dombrowski (Astana Qazaqstan) are away.

Yves Lampaert (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) is the first major TT name to get underway. He'll set off in around 20 minutes.

Race leader David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) sets off in two and a half hours.

Start times for Ineos riders today...

Today's stage is marked by two long and flat sections with limited technicality split by a hilly mid-section which features more of a technical challenge.

Checkpoints come at either side of the hill at 9.6km and 22.8km.

13:59 for Dombrowski at the first checkpoint sees him quickest of the very early runners and the only man so far under 14 minutes.

Caja Rural's Jokin Murguialday puts 22 seconds into Dombrowski at the checkpoint.

Fives minutes until Lampaert starts. JJ Lobato (Euskaltel-Euskadi) takes the fastest time at the checkpoint down to 13:25.

The early benchmark, Lampaert, starts his ride. 

Astana's Michele Gazzoli edges out Lobato at the first check by a few fractions of a second.

Here's a look at the full list of start times for today's stage

The TT champions of Denmark and Belgium warm up for QuickStep-AlphaVinyl

The early starters are tackling the hilly mid-section of the stage and are on the way to the second checkpoint.

Alpecin-Fenix's Oscar Riesebeek puts in a time of 13:07 at the first check to go quickest.

Lobato puts in a 32:40 at the second checkpoint, the fastest from the handful of riders who have passed through.

Lampaert through the first checkpoint – 12:54 and 13 seconds up on Riesebeek.

Glassdrive Q8's Rafael Reis has blown away Lampaert after 9.6 kilometres. His average speed of 45.464 puts him 14 seconds up on the Belgian at the first check.

Reis is a six-time Volta a Portugal stage winner who finished second at the race last year.

First starter Francisco Pereira is heading to the finish shortly.

Gazzoli and Lobato quickest at the finish so far. 42:58 and 43:09 for them.

15km to go in the Ruta del Sol and 23km to go in the Tour du Var. 

We'll have all the results and reports later today.

Kasper Asgreen, Bryan Coquard, Alexander Kristoff are among the major names out on the early kilometres of the course at the moment.

Reis has put 53 seconds into Lampaert at the second check.

Meanwhile, Asgreen has gone quickest at the first – 12:37 for a three-second advantage on the Portuguese rider.

It's close between Asgreen and Reis there but you'd expect the Dane to go quickest at the end of his effort, even if Reis is having a great ride so far.

Jay Vine, who was not pulling any punches about his performance earlier this week, is fourth at the first check and second and the second. Good going so far.

42:20 for Lampaert at the finish as he goes quickest. Meanwhile, Lukas Pöstlberger (Bora-Hansgrohe) puts in just over a second into Lampaert's teammate Asgreen at the first checkpoint.

Reis and Vine are separated by a few tenths of a second at the finish as they go one-two ahead of Lampaert.

20-year-old Jumbo-Visma neo-pro Michael Hessmann has enjoyed a great start to the time trial.

His time of 12:32 at the first checkpoint is the quickest so far!

Meanwhile, Asgreen is 10 seconds down on Reis and Vine at the second check.

Geraint Thomas sets out in just under five minutes.

Reis and Vine separated by less than a third of a second at the line.

Stefan Küng is one of the favourites for the stage win today. He told Cyclingnews at the Volta ao Algarve that he disagreed with Chris Froome's recently stated stance on time trial bikes.

Küng: Time trialling is the Formula 1 of cycling, it pushes innovation

Thomas is off, though he said earlier this week that this race is more of a tune-up ride for him.

Stage 4 of the Ruta del Sol is over and done with. Check out the results here.

Kasper Asgreen has finished his ride but he faded as the stage went on. The Dane finishes 23 seconds down on Reis...

The top five at the finish

1 Rafael Reis (Por) Glassdrive Q8 Anicolor 0:41:15
2 Jay Vine (Aus) Alpecin-Fenix 0:00:00
3 Kasper Asgreen (Den) QuickStep-AlphaVinyl 0:00:23
4 Yves Lampaert (Bel) QuickStep-AlphaVinyl 0:01:05
5 Michele Gazzoli (Ita) Astana Qazaqstan 0:01:43

20-year-old Hessmann 11 seconds up on Reis at the second check!

He's the U23 German TT champion and finished fourth and eighth at the U23 European and World Championships last year.

Still an hour to go until the top GC riders set off to start their rides.

Hessmann's 12:32 has now been dethroned as the fastest time at the first checkpoint.

Thomas looks to be on a mission today as he puts in a time of 12:24 to go top. José Gonçalves (W52-Porto) goes second quickest, five seconds down.

And now Trek-Segafredo neo-pro Daan Hoole has blown that time away with a 12:10. A 42.3kph average.

Hessmann loses time at the finish, taking third spot just behind Reis and Vine.

Stage 2 at the Tour du Var saw a rider take the stage win in a two-up sprint and the race lead to boot. Check out the results here.

Top five at the finish so far...

1 Rafael Reis (Por) Glassdrive Q8 Anicolor 0:41:15
2 Jay Vine (Aus) Alpecin-Fenix 0:00:00
3 Michael Hessmann (Ger) Jumbo-Visma 0:00:02
4 Lukas Postlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:11
5 Kasper Asgreen (Den) QuickStep-AlphaVinyl 0:00:23

Jonathan Castroviejo (Ineos Grenadiers) sets off. Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ) starts in 10 minutes.

Clément Russo (Arkéa-Samsic) second at the first check, albeit nine seconds down on Hoole.

Thomas puts five seconds into Hessmann at the second check.

Johannes Staune-Mittet, another 20-year-old from Jumbo-Visma (who usually rides for their development team), starts off with a quick time. Fourth at the first check and a second down on Thomas.

Wow. Daan Hoole is 1:14 up at the second checkpoint! That's 1:14 and almost 2kph up on Geraint Thomas...

This is Daan Hoole's eighth day of racing as a pro.

Meanwhile, Thomas at the finish is four-tenths of a second up on Reis. He's in the hot seat now.

European TT champion Stefan Küng sets off.

39:27 for Daan Hoole at the finish...

That is 1:47 up on Geraint Thomas. Easily the best ride so far today. A 48.96kph average.

So far we're assuming that those timings from the organisers are 100% correct there. 

Here's Hoole out on the road earlier on.

The current top five...

1 Daan Hoole (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 0:39:28
2 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers 0:01:48
3 Rafael Reis (Por) Glassdrive Q8 Anicolor 0:01:48
4 Jay Vine (Aus) Alpecin-Fenix 0:01:49
5 Michael Hessmann (Ger) Jumbo-Visma 0:01:51

Küng is 20 seconds up on Hoole at the first checkpoint.

Russo, Azparren and Castroviejo are within 10 seconds of the Dutch youngster at that first check.

Arkéa-Samsic's Thibault Guernalec goes second, seven seconds down on Küng at the first check.

The likes of Higuita, Pidcock, Gallopin, Martínez are setting off now. 

Evenepoel, Hayter, McNulty, Gaudu off in the next 10 minutes.

Thomas after the finish...

"I'm not going to be up there at the end. It's all good training and it was a decent effort, really. I've still got a lot of work to do. I'm pretty happy with how I am for now, considering. I'm happy to be back racing with the guys, and you don't push yourself this hard in training anyway."

Tobias Foss (Jumbo-Visma) also up there at the first check, six seconds down on Küng.

Another update at the finish as a few more end their rides...

1 Daan Hoole (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 0:39:28
2 Clement Russo (Fra) Arkea-Samsic 0:01:01
3 Johannes Staune Mittet (Nor) Jumbo-Visma 0:01:34
4 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers 0:01:47
5 Rafael Reis (Por) Glassdrive Q8 Anicolor 0:01:47

Hoole on today's time trial...

"Super technical, fast, and a lot of rhythm changes. It's a super hard TT because you have to go really hard almost half way. You need to pace it really well. I think I did a good time trial. I think you win it on the climb and in the downhill you need to take some risks in the wind."

12:03 for Arkéa-Samsic's Connor Swift at the first check, good for fourth place.

Evenepoel, Hayter and McNulty are now out on course. Gaudu the last man out in a few minutes.

Küng (28:54) and Foss (29:02) up on Hoole at the second check (29:33).

Euskaltel-Euskadi's Xabier Azparren second at the finish, albeit 49 seconds down on Hoole.

We're waiting for Evenepoel, Hayter, McNulty and Gaudu to pass through the first checkpoint now.

Evenepoel has gone quickest at the first checkpoint with a time of 11:41. He's put nine seconds into Küng there.

38:47 for Küng at the line as he smashes Hoole's time. He's 40 seconds up.

Back at the first checkpoint – Hayter 15 seconds down on Evenepoel, McNulty 28 seconds down, Gaudu 44 seconds down.

Foss goes second at the finish. 13 seconds down on Küng while Guernalec in third is 29 seconds down.

Evenepoel catches his two-minute man Sven Erik Bystrøm after 22 minutes on the bike.

28:03 for Evenepoel at the second checkpoint. He's the quickest so far.

European time trial champion Stefan Küng passed through at 28:54...

Küng on his race today...

"It was the first TT of the seaosn so you never really know where you are. In the beginning I struggled to find the rhythm. You had one long headwind uphill part, then basically all downhill. Pretty tricky with some wind as well. But a nice TT."

Hayter 1:02 down on Evenepoel at the second checkpoint. McNulty a further seven seconds down. Gaudu will be slower still.

Evenepoel is in virtual yellow.

Gaudu 1:47 down on Evenepoel at the second check.

Evenepoel finishes. 58 seconds up on Küng! He is the new race leader.

Hayter 1:06 down on Evenepoel at the line.

McNulty 1:25 down on Evenepoel and into fifth place. Just Gaudu to finish now...

Hayter after the finish...

"I had quite a tough day out there. I had heavy legs and struggled to get the effort out. Actually, the long time trials suit me. At the British Nationals I did a lot more power. But I didn't quite have the legs today, which is to be expected. There was a long section where I thought I was going quite slow, so to be a minute down I'm not really surprised. But third place is quite good.

In the meantime, Gaudu has finished in ninth place, 2:09 down on Evenepoel. He's out of yellow after a day in the race lead.

Here's the top 10 on the day...

1 Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team 0:37:50
2 Stefan Küng (Swi) Groupama-FDJ 0:00:58
3 Ethan Hayter (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers 0:01:05
4 Tobias Foss (Nor) Jumbo-Visma 0:01:11
5 Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:24
6 Thibault Guernalec (Fra) Arkea-Samsic 0:01:27
7 Daniel Martinez Poveda (Col) Ineos Grenadiers 0:01:30
8 Daan Hoole (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 0:01:38
9 David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:02:08
10 Connor Swift (GBr) Arkea-Samsic 0:02:11

Here's the GC after four days of racing...

1 Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team 15:20:11
2 Ethan Hayter (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers 0:01:06
3 Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:25
4 Daniel Martinez Poveda (Col) Ineos Grenadiers 0:01:30
5 Stefan Küng (Swi) Groupama-FDJ 0:01:43
6 Tobias Foss (Nor) Jumbo-Visma 0:01:51
7 David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:02:08
8 Thibault Guernalec (Fra) Arkea-Samsic
9 Dylan van Baarle (Ned) Ineos Grenadiers 0:02:37
10 Sven Erik Bystrøm (Nor) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux 0:02:40

Check our brief report and results on the stage here, with more to come soon.

Poels grasps opportunity to break three-year win drought at Ruta del Sol

Check out the full stage 4 report from the Volta ao Algarve here.

Volta ao Algarve: Evenepoel wins stage 4 time trial