Adrián Bustamante, Colombian cyclist of the Kelly-Simoldes-Udo team, shone on Friday in the eighth stage of the Volta a Portugal em Bicicleta and secured victory in a race that, however, did not alter the leadership of the overall classification, which is still held by Swiss rider Colin Stüssi (Vorarlberg).
Bustamante covered the 146.7 kilometers between the towns of Boticas and Fafe in 3 hours, 34 minutes, and 26 seconds.
The Spanish cyclists from Euskaltel-Euskadi took the remaining podium spots: Basque rider Mikel Iturria finished second, one second behind Bustamante, while Luis Ángel Maté came in third with the same time as his teammate.
The Volta a Portugal continues on Saturday with the ninth and penultimate stage, featuring a mountainous profile and covering 174.5 km. The stage will start in the town of Paredes and finish at the Santuário da Senhora da Graça, an uphill finish with 8.4 km and an average gradient of 7.5%.
The route will also include two Fourth Category climbs and two First Category climbs, the Serra do Marão (21.4 km at 3.5%) and the Alto do Barreiro (3.5 km at 8.5%), which will make the first selection before tackling the final ascent.
Watch the finish of the 8th stage of Volta a Portugal 2023:
Results of Stage 8 of Volta a Portugal 2023:
General Classification of Volta a Portugal after Stage 8: