Third gold by Oliveira; brilliant silver by Sütterlin
24 June 2016

Portuguese / German TT Championships

Portuguese allrounder storms to fourth TT title, puts Movistar Team into 29 victories in 2016 -with twelve different riders-; Jasha takes 2nd in Streufdorf behind Tony Martin (EQS)

Nelson Oliveira claimed his fourth career Portuguese TT title on Friday and completed a wonderful 24 hours for the Movistar Team, with three time trial victories in National Championships that add up to a magnificent 29 victories so far this season, by twelve different riders. The 27-year-old from Oliveira do Bairro continued Thursday's double success -Dowsett with a record-breaking fifth jersey in GB; Ion Izagirre in Spain, followed by Castroviejo, Valverde and Jesús Herrada- as he conquered his third consecutive victory in the race (2011, 2014, 2015, 2016).

Over a course identical to last year's route in Braga (36km), Nelson completed the race 15" quicker than in his winning display from 2015. After a marginally better first stint by Rafael Reis (W52), Oliveira flew over the second part of the race to win with 1'13" over José Mendes (BOA). Nelson will seek for a second road race title on Sunday at the Sameiro circuit (177km), his last appearance before a decision is made on his Tour de France official selection.

REACTION:

Nelson Oliveira“I'm super happy to have won again in my country against the clock. It makes me just as happy as it did when I grabbed this jersey for the first time. It was a good day, considering I was looking for some strong legs, considering the point of the season we're in. I knew this course really well from last year's Nationals and I knew what I had to do and what I'd tackle during the race. I tried to keep the same speed and following the references I put on myself in 2015 while saving some energy for the final part of the race, where I really wanted to test my legs at maximum effort.

"Feelings through that finale were really good and make me hopeful for the future. Movistar and Canyon's job with the new Speedmax TT bike has brought us a massive advantage; this bike's design is a big improvement over the previous one, and this success has been quite based on that. Now we're setting our sights on Sunday's road race and, then, the Tour. I'm raring to go there; I just can wait and see if the team wants me in. Let's hope I can make it in."

Sweet silver for Jasha in Streufdorf

At the other side of Europe, Jasha Sütterlin claimed a nice second place this morning in the 41km German TT Championships in Streufdorf, Thüringen. The young, brave rouleur from Freiburg-im-Breisgau came just over a minute and a half behind big reference and world dominator Tony Martin (EQS), yet he bested bronze medalist Nils Politt (KAT) and fourth-placed Patrick Gretsch (ALM) by a fantastic 44" and 53". This second place reassures Jasha's leap forward this season, where he took (and completed) his Grand Tour debut in the Giro d'Italia.

Results: Portugal | Germany