Remco Evenepoel wins stage four time trial and takes race lead at Volta ao Algarve

Remco Evenepoel (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) has taken a commanding lead in the Volta ao Algarve after a dominant display in the stage four time trial.

The Belgian beat Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ) by 58 seconds over the 32km course, with Ineos' Ethan Hayter third, a further eight seconds adrift.

Evenepoel now moves into the race lead, 1-06 ahead of second-place Hayter, with Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) moving down to third, with one stage remaining.

How it happened

How it happened David Gaudu’s race lead was expected to evaporate with multiple riders only a second in arrears to the Frenchman and time trial heavyweights only slightly further back.

Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl’s Yves Lampaert set the early best time of 42-20 although that was soon beaten by Glassdrive Q8 Anicolors’ Rafael Reis, who also went faster than Lampaert’s team-mate Kasper Asgreen.

Geraint Thomas then went fastest, before Trek-Segafredo’s Daan Hoole took the hotseat, the first to go sub-40 minutes, beating the Ineos rider by nearly two minutes.

Groupama-FDJ’s Stefan Küng finally beat Hoole’s time, finishing the 32.2km-long course in 38-47, while Ethan Hayter, Tobias Foss, Brandon McNulty and Dani Martínez all posted times worthy of a top-10 finish, solidifying their places in the top 10 overall as well.

But then it was time for Evenepoel to take the course, lopping nine seconds off of the Swiss’ time at the first checkpoint, 42 seconds at the second, eventually taking out more than a minute by the finish line.

Results

Volta ao Algarve 2022, stage four (ITT): Vila Real de Santo António to Tavira (32.2km)

1. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl, in 37-49
2. Stefan Küng (Sui) Groupama-FDJ, at 58 seconds
3. Ethan Hayter (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers, at 1-06
4. Tobias Foss (Nor) Jumbo-Visma, at 1-11
5. Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Team Emirates, at 1-25
6. Thibault Guernalec (Fra) Arkéa-Samsic, at 1-27
7. Dani Martínez (Col) Ineos Grenadiers, at 1-30
8. Daan Hoole (Ned) Trek-Segafredo, at 1-38
9. David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ, at 2-09
10. Connor Swift (GBr) Arkéa-Samsic, at 2-12

General classification after stage four

1. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl, in 15-20-01
2. Ethan Hayter (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers, at 1-06
3. Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Team Emirates, at 1-25
4. Dani Martínez (Col) Ineos Grenadiers, at 1-30
5. Stefan Küng (Sui) Groupama-FDJ, at 1-43
6. Tobias Foss (Nor) Jumbo-Visma, at 1-51
7. David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ, at 2-08
8. Thibault Guernalec (Fra) Arkéa-Samsic, at same time
9. Dylan van Baarle (Ned) Ineos Grenadiers, at 2-37
10. Sven Erik Bystrøm (Nor) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux