Race leader Gustavo Cesar Veloso played a key role in today's sprint stage of the Volta a Portugal as he led the peloton for most of the final kilometre, trying to set up his teammate Samuel Caldeira for the win. The Spaniard wanted to pay back his teammates who have been working for him all race.

People watching the Volta a Portugal saw an unusual situation in today's stage 8 of the 10-stage race. One day ahead of the decisive time trial, race leader Gustavo Cesar Veloso was riding full gas on the front of the peloton, leading out his teammate Samuel Caldeira for the sprint in a flat stage.

The effort didn't pay off as Caldeira had to settle for second behind stage winner Sergey Shilov. Nonetheless, Veloso was pleased with his performance as he wanted to pay back his teammates for their hard work.

"I tried to help my teammate Samuel Caldeira win the stage," he said. "He deserved it for the work he  has done for the team. I wanted to give something back to thank him for what he has done for me."

Veloso is expected to defend his lead over Rui Sousa in the TT as he is usually a much better time triallist.