Getting his finishing burst right after a frustrating third place on Thursday, Omega Pharma Quick Step sprinter Gerald Ciolek motored home to a fine win on today’s fourth stage of the Volta ao Algarve. The German rider was notably stronger than the others in the peloton, crossing the line in Tavira with a large gap.
The next rider home was his team-mate Matteo Trentin, completing a fine one-two for the squad, with Heinrich Haussler (Garmin-Barracuda) and Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky Procycling) next best.
“The sprint was fantastic because the team controlled the race in every moment from the beginning,” said the former world under 23 champion after taking the win. “Then the final with the entire team — it's unbelievable how all the riders know their jobs really well, and their position. Everyone knows what they have to do at whichever moment of the race.
“I don't want to say it was easy to win, but it was a big help to have riders like these together. In the last kilometer I think it was Tony [Martin] who pulled the sprint. Then there was a roundabout at about 450 meters from the finish. At that time I asked Matteo to pull for my sprint and he did it perfectly."
Yesterday’s stage winner Richie Porte finished in the same group and maintained his grip on the leader’s jersey. He’s twelve seconds ahead of Rui Costa (Movistar) and Tiago Machado (RadioShack), while Johnny Hoogerland (Vacansoleil-DCM) and Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Lotto Belisol) are 34 seconds back and facing a huge battle to make up that deficit in tomorrow’s final time trial.
One who is further behind but who should move up the standings is world time trial champion Tony Martin. He ended the day tenth overall, 50 seconds back, and the defending champion will do what he can to get closer to the jersey tomorrow.
That said, his directeur sportif Rik Van Slycke knows that its going to be tough. “It won't be easy for Tony to to win the race because the gap between Richie Porte (Team Sky) and Tony is big,” he said. “But Tony will ride 100 percent to win the race, even if it won't be easy due to Porte's strength as a rider.”
The 186.3 kilometre stage started in Vilamoura and approximately half an hour into the race, ten riders went clear. Jesus Hernandez (Saxo Bank) was the biggest threat, having started the day just over a minute behind Porte, and took the race lead on the road. However the Sky Procycling team led the chase and with the sprinters’ teams also contributing, things came back together for a big gallop to the line.
Porte will tomorrow use his time trial abilities to chase what would be a very encouraging win. He spent much of 2011 working for Alberto Contador and had limited opportunities; he may well end up riding for Bradley Wiggins in the Tour de France, but he’s already got greater personal freedom than he did one year ago with the Saxo Bank team.