Healy maintains chance, Van Aert wins ahead of big finale in Algarve | Video

Ben Healy still has a great chance of a very strong general classification result ahead of a big weekend of racing at Volta ao Algarve

Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) goes into the big final weekend of racing at Volta ao Algarve with a chance of a strong general classification result despite being on the wrong side of a split in the field today due to a crash.

Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) claimed victory today, surging through late on the drag to the finish line in Tavira, after almost five hours of racing, to prove best in the dash to the line from the front group.

That group was down to about 25 riders after a crash inside the final 3km created a gap in the main field.

However those caught on the wrong side of it were given the same time as stage winner Van Aert, who won from Rui Oliveira (UAE Team Emirates) and Marius Mayrhofer (Tudor Pro Cycling Team).

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As Van Aert collected a 10-second time bonus he is now within striking distance of the yellow jersey, or certainly the final podium, as he is just 22 seconds off the race lead.

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Tomorrow's stage is a rolling 22km individual TT in Albufeira, where world champion Remco Evenepoel (Soudal QuickStep) will be favourite to win the stage. If so, he should take the four seconds he needs to overhaul yellow jersey Dani Martínez (Bora-hansgrohe).

Once the TT is out of the way tomorrow, the race concludes on Sunday with a 165.8km stage to Alto do Malhāo, a 2.5km ascent with average gradients of 9.8 per cent. That climb will be crested twice; with 24km to go and at the finish line.

While stage 1 winner Martínez, Evenepoel, 3rd placed overall Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Van Aert, among others, will be hard to beat, the weekend of racing should suit Healy as he continues to build his early season condition after placing 4th overall at the recent Etoile de Bessèges.

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