Brady Gilmore claimed his second stage win of Volta a Portugal, powering to victory on stage 6 with an explosive uphill sprint in Guarda.
“I felt good on the last climb. I wasn’t really suffering,” said the 24-year-old Australian. “When I launched my sprint with 250 to go, I almost didn’t need to go max, which felt a little strange, to be honest, but I’ll take it.”
The win marks Gilmore’s eighth victory of the season and his second in this race, after also winning stage 5 on Monday.
Teammate Daniel Lima animated the stage early, joining the day’s breakaway and attacking on the final climb. The young Portuguese rider was caught by the reduced peloton with just over a kilometer to go, setting the scene for Gilmore.
“The plan was to put Daniel in the break, so it was a perfect situation for us with him up the road,” IPT Academy sports director Ruben Plaza explained. “Our second card to play was Brady, in case it came back for a sprint, and in the end, it worked out perfectly. When I saw him smiling on the climb, I knew he would win this one. Once again, it was another perfect day for us here in Portugal!”
The IPT Academy riders have now won three of the six road stages in the race.
“We’ve got a wicked week of racing here,” Gilmore said. “Two podiums and three stage wins, and we’re only six stages in. We’re really showing how good this team is here.”
Zac Marriage is the team’s best rider in the general classification. The 21-year-old sits in 12th place ahead of tomorrow’s big mountain stage to Covilhã.