The Tour of the Algarve is already heading into the final weekend, which kicks off with the race's traditional time trial. The resort town of Albufeira gets to play the host this Saturday, and IDLProCycling.com tells you exactly what you can expect!
Course stage 4 Tour of the Algarve 2024
22 kilometers of full throttle through Albufeira and its hinterland, that is what awaits the peloton on Saturday. We start on the west side of the resort town, moving quite quickly into the interior. There, we also encounter a stretch of six hundred meters at an average of eight percent. After 7.1 kilometers, the first checkpoint awaits.
After about ten kilometers, the peloton turns around, via Gáe, now heading in a southern direction on the way back. After several roundabouts, we again take the road towards Albufeira, where the coast comes into view once more. Cycling over undulating roads, after 16.9 kilometers the second intermediate point follows. There are two noteworthy bends (five hundred meters at 5.2 percent) between that point and the finish line on the east side of Albufeira.
Climbs
None.
Times
Start: 3:20 PM (4:20 PM Dutch time)
Finish: not exactly known yet
Weather stage 4 Tour of the Algarve 2024
The weather in the Algarve will be great on Saturday, with temperatures around 20 degrees Celsius and a nice sunny sky. However, precisely around the time trial, between 3 PM and 6 PM, the wind will shift from east to west at a force of two on the Beaufort scale.
Favorites stage 4 Tour of the Algarve 2024
What a list of participants for the time trial, hallelujah! With Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) and Filippo Ganna (INEOS Grenadiers) at the starting line, the numbers one and two of the last World Championship time trial are already gearing up to go in Portugal, and that is just the tip of the iceberg. For this chrono challenge, we rate Evenepoel slightly higher than Ganna due to his shown form level and the presence of some hills.
But there are other top contenders too: think of stage three winner Wout van Aert, who during this Olympic year wants to focus a bit more on time trialing on behalf of Visma | Lease a Bike. This test in Portugal is a good indicator for the more important races yet to come. Stefan Küng, who won the Algarve time trial for Groupama-FDJ last year, is also participating.
Daniel Felipe Martínez already crowned himself the Colombian national time trial champion last month - on his new Specialized bike for BORA-hansgrohe - and demonstrated on the Alto de Foia that he is in excellent form. Mattia Cattaneo, a teammate of Evenepoel's at Soudal Quick-Step, is also riding on the same equipment.
INEOS Grenadiers, on behalf of Ganna, is bringing several strong time trialists. Thymen Arensman - who did crash on Friday - was already in good shape, and Geraint Thomas and Magnus Sheffield should also be up for the challenge. Jan Tratnik, representing Visma | Lease a Bike, is another strong contender for the general classification, so he too could easily make the top five.
Other outsiders can be found at EF Education-EasyPost (former European time trial champion Stefan Bissegger and Ben Healy), Intermarché-Wanty (Rune Herregodts), Lidl-Trek (Tao Geoghegan Hart and Daan Hoole), UAE-Team Emirates (Nils Politt) and Uno-X (Magnus Cort).
Favorites stage 4 Tour of the Algarve 2024, according to IDLProCycling.com
Top favorites: Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) and Filippo Ganna (INEOS Grenadiers)
Outsiders: Wout van Aert (Visma | Lease a Bike), Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ), Daniel Felipe Martínez (BORA-hansgrohe) and Stefan Bissegger
Long shots: Jan Tratnik (Visma | Lease a Bike), Mattia Cattaneo (Soudal Quick-Step), Geraint Thomas, Magnus Sheffield, Thymen Arensman (INEOS Grenadiers), Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost), Rune Herregodts (Intermarché-Wanty) and Tao Geoghegan Hart (Lidl-Trek)
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