Gaetan Bille (Verandas Willems) continued his great 2015 season when he took an expected victory in the Volta a Portugal prologue. The Belgian covered the 6km course in Viseu in a time of 7.22 which was three seconds faster than defending champion Gustavo Veloso (W52) who got the race off to a great start by taking second.

A few years ago strong showings in Belgian races allowed Gaetan Bille to get a chance at the WorldTour lvel with the Lotto Belisol team but after two unsuccessful years he was forced to step down to continental level for the 2014 season. Verandas Willems picked him up and after a slow 2014 season he has really proved his potential in 2015.

Bille has been flying since he finished third in the Fleche du Sud in May and after a second place in the Paris-Arras Tour, he topped it all with a third place in the Tour of Belgium behind Greg Van Avermaet and Tiesj Benoot. He laid the foundations for the latter result by taking third in the prologue and as he has always been a specialist in this discipline, he was naturally the favourite when the Volta a Portugal kicked off on a 6km course in Viseu.

The flat roads were perfect for a specialist like Bille and he fully lived up to expectations by taking the win and the first yellow jersey in the national tour. Covering the distance in 7.22, he was in a class of his own as he was 3 seconds faster than the runner-up.

That honour was taken by defending champion Gustavo Cesar Veloso who was always going to the big threat for Bille who was among the final starters. Having crushed his teammate Dimitri Claeys (W52), he knew that only Veloso would be a threat in the final wave which was mostly made up of climbers.

Veloso got his title defence off to a great start as he was a lot faster than his main rivals but he missed out on the stage win. Claeys made it a great day for Verandas Willems as he held on to take third.

Veloso gained lots of time on most of his GC rivals and already has an advantage of 31 seconds over Rui Sousa, 25 seconds over Ricardo Mestre and 17 seconds over Hugo Sabido. Among the GC rivals, it was Ricardo Vilela who got closest with a time of 7.40 that was good enough for 7th while Veloso’s teammate Delio Fernandez was 8th.

Bille will try to defend his jersey in tomorrow’s second stage which is has a category 2 climb at the midpoint but with a relatively flat finale it should be a day for the sprinters.

One for the specialists

The 77th Volta a Portugal kicked off with a short 6km prologue in the city of Viseu. Apart from several roundabouts and a few turns in the finale, it was pretty non-technical and with almost no elevation gain at all, it was a course for the specialists.

It was a sunny and hot day in Portugal when Dann Myngheer (Verandas Willems) rode down the ramp to kick off the Portuguese tour. He stopped the clock in 7.53 to take an early lead and held off Daniel Dominguez (Ecuador) who was 2 seconds slower.

Torres takes the lead.

The third rider to get below the 8-minute mark was Sten van Gucht (Verandas Willems) but his time of 7.56 was only good enough for third. Instead, it was sprinter Davide Vigano (Idea) who got close with 7.54 which was enough to slot into second.

Fernando Grijalba (Caja Rural) was just 2 seconds off the pace before Daan Meijers (De Rijke) finally beat Myngheer’s time by stopping the clock in 7.51. However, he didn’t hold the lead for long as Albert Torres (Ecuador) went one second faster.

Best time for Prades

It was Eduard Prades (Caja Rural) who set the time that would be the one to beat for most of the day when he stopped the clock in 7.41 to improve the mark by a massive 9 seconds. He was challenged by Daniel Mestre (Tavira) but 7.47 was only good enough for second.

Daniel Silva (Radio Popular) missed out on second place by fractions of a second but he was quickly relegated by Samuel Caldeira (W52) who slotted into second with 7.43. Joeri Calleuw (Verandas Willems) was the next to crack the top 3 with a time of 7.46.

Good ride by Mol

Jordi Simon (Ecuador) made it into the top 10 with 7.50 before Kai Reus (Verandas Willems) stopped the clock in 7.47 to slot into fifth. Domingos Goncalves (Efapel) was just 1 second slower but it was Christophe Premont (Verandas Willems) who got the attention when he stopped the clock in 7.45 to slot into second.

Jetse Bol (De Rijke) could make it into the top 10 with 7.49 before everybody turned their eyes to former winner Hernani Broco (LA Aluminios) who slotted into seventh with a time of 7.43.  Stef Van Zummeren continued the great Verandas Willems performance when he moved into 9th with 7.48 before former WorldTour rider Wouter Mol (De Rijke) stopped the clock in 7.46 to slot into fourth.

Clays takes the lead

Everybody knew that the first real threat for Prades would be Delio Fernandez (W52) and he fully lived up to expectations when he stopped the clock in 7.40. However, his lead wouldn’t hold for long as Dmitri Claeys was the next Verandas Willems rider on fire by setting a new mark of 7.31, a massive 9 seconds faster than Fernandez.

Jose Goncalves (Caja Rural) was the first real challenge for Claeys but his time of 7.38 was only good enough for a distant second before Sergio Souse (LA Aluminios) slotted into sixth with 7.45. However, everybody already had their eyes on Bille who was in a class of his own by posting a time of 7.22.

Veloso gets close

Coen Vermeltfoort (De Rijke) had hoped to be in contention for the win but 7.39 was only good enough for fourth and instead it was his compatriot Beukeboom who slotted into third with 7.35. Ricardo Vilela (Caja Rural) got his GC campaign off to a great start when he stopped the clock in 7.40 to move into sixth before former winner Hugo Sabido (Louletano) set the 9th fastest time.

Nobody expected the many climbers in the end to challenge Bille so it was defending champion Gustavo Veloso (W52) who was the real threat. In the end, he could only manage to 7.25 which was not enough for the stage win but got his title defence off to a great start.