Report: Win for Sky’s Sergio Henao in Algarve

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Sky’s Sergio Henao won the third stage with a late attack in the Volta Algarve, powering to his first victory for Team Sky in emphatic fashion. He now leads the race overall.

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The Colombian was positioned well by his team-mates on the lead-up to the famous Alto do Malhao and didn’t disappoint, attacking alongside Rui Costa (Movistar) before jumping clear to take a memorable solo victory.

The win marked the team’s third success on the climb in three attempts at the race, following previous victories from Steve Cummings and 2012 race winner Richie Porte. Henao now moves into the yellow jersey with a seven second lead over second placed Costa. Lieuwe Westra (Vacansoleil-DCM) rounded out the day’s podium after he took third at the top of the 2.4-kilometre climb.

Rigoberto Urán also found himself right in the mix on the climb to come home fourth, while Josh Edmondson placed a magnificent seventh as Team Sky completed a memorable day following victory for Chris Froome in Oman.

Sergio Henao, Team Sky Rider “I’m obviously very happy to get my first victory [for the team]. It’s a great feeling and it’s something I’ve been looking for since last year. To finally get across the line first is very satisfying. I’ve been close a number of times but I hope now that this can be the first of many successes.”

“It was a very difficult stage – up and down all day – and I knew it was going to be hard but I felt good. The legs felt strong and as we got towards the end I knew I could try to go for the win. When you have legs like that you have to go for it.

“Naturally I want to try and defend the jersey tomorrow. I don’t have much of an advantage on the GC over Rui Costa and some of the time trial specialists. It’s not your straightforward flat time trial with a big climb in the middle so anything can happen.

“I’m going to try my best and give it everything. We will let the race decide and see what happens.”

Marcus Ljungqvist, Team Sky Sports Director “It was really good to see Sergio get up there and take a victory. Everyone is really pleased for him but the whole team rose to the occasion today. There were a lot of impressive performances.”

“After two sprint days which weren’t really for us we’d really been looking at this stage. So to get a result at the end of it makes it all the more pleasing. The guys rode really well during the day and kept on top of things. It didn’t turn out quite how we’d expected but when the big group went away David [Lopez] was able to get in there and he was really strong – probably the strongest in the group it turned out. It’s different racing without radios as it takes longer to work out the situation. It was good to see everyone was alert.

“It’s been a great day for the team and we’ll be celebrating this win tonight. We’ll see what tomorrow brings and it will all be down to the legs.”

Stage 3
1. Sergio Henao (Sky) 4.53.15
2. Rui Costa (Movistar) @ 3 seconds
3. Lieuwe Westra (Vacansoleil-DCM) @ 5 secs
4. Rigoberto Urán (Sky) @ 7s
5. Tiago Machado (RadioShack-Leopard)
6. Andreas Klöden (RadioShack-Leopard)
7. Joshua Edmonson (Sky)
8. Denis Menchov (Katusha)
9. Jesús Herrada (Movistar) @ 12 secs
10. Michal Kwiatkowski (Omega Pharma-Quick Step)

11. Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) a 18s
47. Jonathon Tiernan-Locke, Sky @1.44
71. Mark McNally, An Post @3.15
146. Mark Cavendish Omega Pharma Quickstep @24.12

OVERALL
1. Sergio Henao (Sky) 14.50.49
2. Rui Costa (Movistar) @ 7 seconds
3. Tiago Machado (RadioShack-Leopard) @ 11 secs
4. Lieuwe Westra (Vacansoleil-DCM)
5. Andreas Klöden (RadioShack-Leopard) @17 secs
6. Rigoberto Urán (Sky)
7. Denis Menchov (Katusha)
8. Joshua Edmonson (Sky)
9. Michal Kwiatkowski (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) @ 19 secs
10. Jesús Herrada (Movistar) @ 22 secs

 

 

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