It was a cold, rainy and windy day at the Time Trial in the Volta ao Algarve Saturday - in other words, the Portugese offered up typical Belgian weather. So it was natural a Belgian rider took advantage of the fact and Belgian national road champion Stijn Devolder did exactly that by winning the stage while riding his first race for Quick Step. Devolder won the time trial by 25 seconds over Sylvain Chavanel (Cofidis), and also took the overall lead in the tour.
"I'm extremely happy," the 28 year-old said. "In the first three stages the team decided to keep the race close until the Time Trial to put me in the best condition to win the race. We did our job excellently.
