Joaquim Gomes, race director, explains, however, that the original route remains.

The third stage of the 83rd Cycling Tour of Portugal will maintain its original route, despite a fire in the town of Garrocho, in Covilhã, confirmed this Sunday to Lusa or the race director.

“At 9:30 am, to face the alternative conditions that were met as originally”, Joaquim Gomes told the Lusa agency, indicating, however, that “during the dawn, there was a great effort to find one”.

The fire that breaks out in the town of Garrocho, in Covilhã, Castelo Branco district, occupied 231 operational staff and 67 land assets, around 9:15 pm on Saturday, according to Civil Protection data.

According to the official website of the National Emergency and Civilian Authority (ANEPC), there is no protection against the Garrocho fire, active at 3:18 am on Saturday, reached 11 air assets, which, however, withdrew due to not being able to act during the night. .

Director Portugal also highlighted the “distance from Volta, the collaboration with the third level of protection of commander Branco, with the protection unit of commander GNR de Montanha and with the commander of the Detachment of Eventual Transit” that protected that the third stage maintained the initial trace.

The departure for the third stage is given at 1:00 pm, with the peloton leaving Sertã for the 159 kilometers of the connection to Torre.

The goal coincides with a category mountain award, achieved by the slope that many special, the most important of the highest point of Serra da Saúde, Penhas da Saúde, with the first mountain award in mainland Portugal (1,993 meters) being expected around 17:25.

The shirt Rafael Reis (Glasdrive-Q8-Anicolor) is nine seconds ahead of the second series model, his teammate Mauricio Rees, third third, and the British, Oliver Rees (Trinity).