Jan Christen ready to go "all or nothing" at Algarve time-trial but can he survive Almeida, Vingegaard and Roglic?

Jan Christen is only 20 years old but is already on a brilliant path with multiple good pro wins. The best one, likely, would be his triumph at the Volta ao Algarve's summit finish ahead of riders such as João Almeida, Jonas Vingegaard and Primoz Roglic. Because of that surprising result, he enters the final queen stage (the time-trial ending at the Alto do Malhão) in the race lead and it will be interesting to see how he will be able to defend himself.

"For me tomorrow is all or nothing so I'm gonna set a high pace right from the start and see if I can keep it up all the way to the finish," the Swiss rider said in words to Cyclingnews. "I'm going to be going at it super strong, otherwise if I explode it's just - not what it could have been. So it's going to be an all-out effort, it'll be pacing about seven minutes (he refers to the final climb, ed.), I'll just have to try to get as fast as possible to the top."

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It certainly is a challenge of a huge magnitude, and with the gaps only in a few seconds it is unlikely that he will be able to defend himself successfully. However, Christen is in great form, with a team that puts a lot of focus on it's TT technology and he himself has a few promising results, which could see him hang on to a strong final GC. "I think I can do well, but it's all about the legs. I think João [Almeida] is in good condition for sure and he is a better time triallist. So I hope that if I need to give the jersey to somebody, I can give it to him," he adds. 

However perhaps just as importantly, these days in the race lead have given him valuable experience towards what should be a very bright future. "Yes, it's been super nice. I felt I got some more respect in the peloton and that's a nice feeling. Compared with the longer road stages. I'm looking forward to tomorrow. It's going to be less suffering so I'm going to enjoy it."

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