Artem Nych wins final stage time trial and GC at 2024 Volta a Portugal

Artem Nych has triumphed at the 2024 Volta a Portugal and in style too, securing the overall victory with a time trial triumph on the final stage.

The first rider to hit the road was German Pirmin Benz, Colin Stussi's teammate at Team Vorarlberg, who was last in the general classification and recorded a time of 28:31 at the finish line in Viseu. From then on, the race was on. Benz successfully fended off several riders, holding a wide lead over everyone until Julius Johansen hit the road and was the first to threaten to beat the German's record, having already matched the time of stage winner Rafael Reis in the opening prologue. Julius Johansen clocked 34:39 at the finish line, taking more than 2 minutes off his previous record! That would be a serious time and very hard to beat!

With Johansen sitting in the dream seat we had riders like Aleksandr Grigorev, Carlos Oyarzun and Rafael Reis already on the road, riders who all finished inside the top 10 in the opening prologue and who, not being in the fight for the general classification, had been able to save their energy in the previous days and pose a threat to the 24-year-old Dane's record. Aleksandr Grigorev recorded a time of 35:19, becoming the first rider to get within a minute of Johansen, and Oyarzun recorded a time of 35:37. Rafael Reis arrived at the finish line with a time of 35:14 and this time he had a lower record than his teammate, with both registering a difference of 35 seconds. There were few serious challengers, but the contenders were already starting to prepare for the decisive day.

Then the second fight of the race began, the fight for the general classification. The cyclists waited nervously and went off one by one with two-minute intervals between them. Abner Gonzalez had already had a mechanical problem in the opening prologue and this time he suffered a minor setback, losing his bidon in the first few minutes of his effort. It wouldn't have been critical, not least because some cyclists decided to forgo the weight of the bidon at the start, but I don't think this would have been in the Puerto Rican's plans;

In the first few kilometers, there was a balance of power between Artem Nych and Colin Stussi, while Abner Gonzalez and Gonçalo Leaça began to lose time and saw their hopes of winning the Tour of Portugal fade. So it was a two-man fight!

At the first intermediate point at 10km, Colin Stussi matched Julius Johansen's time, but Artem Nych took 21 seconds off both of them, giving him the best time of the day at this point. Colin Stussi would then have to make up more than a minute in the remainder of the stage and it was clear that the stage win would be fought out between these three riders;

At the top of the Viseu Aerodrome, Artem Nych caught up with second-placed Abner Gonzalez, putting him out of the fight for the final victory. Meanwhile, Colin Stussi passed the second intermediate timing point, losing 13 seconds to Johansen, and the stage win scenario for the Sabgal - Anicolor Cycling Team began to appear. Artem Nych, meanwhile, was 18 seconds faster than Johansen and 32 seconds faster than Stussi, virtually sealing victory in the general classification;

At the finish line Colin Stussi recorded a time of 35:06, 27 seconds behind Julius Johansen. Artem Nych recorded a time of 34:36, beating his teammate by 3 seconds;

Artem Nych became the winner of the 2024 Volta a Portugal at the age of 29, succeeding Colin Stussi. The Russian rider, who rides under a neutral flag, was also the only rider to win two stages and Sabgal - Anicolor Cycling Team ended the Volta a Portugal the same way it began: with 1st and 2nd in the stage classification!