The 22-year-old rider finished the five circuits of the 99-kilometre circuit around Santa Maria da Feira Castle on her own in 02:53.35 hours, staying in the top group the whole race.

Ana Caramelo (Matos Mobility), who had finished second in the time trial the day before, placed in fifth place this time. Ten seconds behind, Mariana Líbano (Efapel) completed the podium.

“Knowing that it would be an extremely competitive race with formidable opponents, I decided to ride a more conservative course,” said Daniela Campos, cited in a release by the Portuguese Cycling Federation, continuing: “I tried to make an attack in the final part of the race but to no avail, so the discussion took place on the last climb, where I ended up taking a very hard-fought victory.”


Flawless

Following a flawless National Championship in which she won both women's elite championships, the rider highlighted “a feeling of satisfaction and a sense of duty fulfilled.”

"I have very strong opponents and it was a tough two days. It was great to win here and add this title to the one I won yesterday,” she concluded.

The race's narrative took form on the first ascent to the Aveiro castle, following a breakaway by Marisa Costa (Cantanhede Cycling-VESAM), which caused the peloton to break apart.

Together with Costa, the winners of the race by a margin of more than a minute were Daniela Campos, Ana Caramelo, Mariana Líbano, Beatriz Guerra (Guilhabreu MTB), Raquel Dias (Tavira-Extremosul-Farense), and Vera Vilaça (DAS-Hutchinson-Brother), who finished in third place.

There would still be more components in the group, but at the end of the fourth lap, there were only five riders left, with junior Raquel Dias becoming victorious in her category after finishing alone, and Campos, Caramelo, Líbano, and Vilaça vying for the elites championship in the last straight.

Author

A passionate Irish journalist with a love for cycling, politics and of course Portugal especially their sausage rolls.

Rory Mc Ginn