Volta ao Algarve: Evenepoel wins stage 4 time trial

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Remco Evenepoel (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) thundered into the overall lead of the Volta ao Algarve with a huge victory on the penultimate stage time trial.

Evenepoel put a whopping 2:09 into former race leader David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ), who hands his yellow jersey over to the Belgian and tumbles down to seventh on GC.

Ethan Hayter (Ineos Grenadiers) is now the closest challenger to Evenepoel in second-overall at 1:05, having finished third on the stage behind Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ) in second.

It was all change throughout the GC, with Küng's ride catapulting him up to fifth overall, strong rides by Daniel Martínez (Ineos Grenadiers) and Tobias Foss (Jumbo-Visma) seeing them move up to fourth and sixth respectively, and Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) being overtaken by Evenepoel and Hayter to fall to third, 1:25 down on the former.

These riders may now all be thinking about the fight for podium spots, as Evenepoel looks in unassailable form, and holds a big lead over all of them. The Ineos Grenadiers duo of Hayter and Martínez may be best placed to challenge Evenepoel tomorrow, given that they're now second and fourth respectively.

“I am very happy. We had a great bike and a great plan today, and that was to push hard until the top of the climb, because we knew how important that first part of the course would be," Evenepoel said after the stage. "The guys in the car believed in me, gave me the right indications all the time and I am thankful for their help.

“I am proud of how things unfolded today. Taking into account everything – the way I felt, my performance – this was one of the best time trials in my career and I hope to keep the level the whole year, especially after this big boost of confidence.

"Now I am in yellow, but Sunday should be very hard and I’m sure some of my rivals in the GC will want to try something. But we have a strong and motivated team, and hopefully I will keep yellow after Malhão."

The superiority of Evenepoel was clear early into his ride, when he passed Sven Erik Bystrøm (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert) on the road despite the Norwegian starting a whole two minutes before him.

The victory is Evenepoel's second of the season following his success on the opening stage of Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana, and sets him up perfectly to seal overall victory tomorrow.

How it unfolded

It was another day of blue skies in the Algarve, although a moderate wind – a headwind on some parts of the course – gave riders something to think about as they measured their efforts during the mostly flat parcours.

With six riders starting the day just one second behind overall leader Gaudu, and with another five riders lurking within thirty seconds, this stage was guaranteed to significantly shake up the race for overall victory.

The 32.2km route from Vila Real de Santo António to Tavira was also long enough to ensure that this would likely be the most decisive stage of the race, with just one final hilly stage to come tomorrow.

Before the GC candidates did battle, several top time trialists set off earlier with their eyes exclusively on contesting for the stage win.

The first potential contender off the mark was Belgian national champion Yves Lampaert (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl), but his early benchmark time of 42:20 was beaten by Rafael Reis (Glassdrive Q8 Anicolor).

Reis' time proved to be resolute, as another top class QuickStep-AlphaVinyl time trialist, Kasper Asgreen, also failed to better it, posting the third fastest time behind Reis and Jay Vine (Alpecin-Fenix).

It was eventually beaten by Geraint Thomas – who was starting early having fallen out of GC contention due to working in service of Ineos Grenadiers teammates Ethan Hayter and Daniel Martínez – but the Welshman was himself replaced on the hot-seat after only a matter of minutes by Daan Hoole (Trek-Segafredo).

The 22-year-old Dutchman put in a blistering ride to become the first rider to finish within 40 minutes. Whereas the other riders had been separated by a matter of seconds, Hoole put a huge 1:47 into Thomas' time, confirming just what a talent the European under-23 bronze medalist is.

Clement Russo (Arkéa-Samsic), Jonathan Castroviejo (Ineos Grenadiers) and Johannes Staune-Mittet (Jumbo-Visma) all also posted better times than Thomas, but still none could get within even a minute of Hoole.

The first rider to do that was Xabier Mikel Azparren (Euskaltel-Euskadi), who arrived 51 seconds slower, and by now Hoole's lead was coming under serious pressure from Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ), Tobias Foss (Jumbo-Visma) and Thibault Guernalec (Arkéa-Samsic), all of whom beat his times at both checkpoints.

Of those riders, Küng was fastest at the finish, becoming the new leader at the clubhouse with a time of 38:47.

"In the beginning I struggled a little bit to find the rhythm," said Küng at the finish, still trying to catch his breath. "But then I think I did a good TT. I hope it's enough to take the win.

Unfortunately for Küng, he was to be denied that hoped-for win by Evenepoel, who was absolutely flying through the course.

The Belgian put nine seconds into Küng at the first checkpoint, another 42 seconds at the next, and at the finish had an advantage of almost one whole minute.

It was a victory that exceeded even the high expectations placed on Evenepoel's shoulders going into the stage, and gives him a significant lead to defend heading into tomorrow's final stage.