Stefan Bissegger overtook teammate Marc Padun on the home straight of the final time trial in the Volta ao Algarve.

Bissegger, wearing his European champion skinsuit, was one of the big pre-stage contenders in a battle royale of the world's top time trialists.

After finishing more than 90 seconds behind his best time, Bissegger returned to the EF Education-Easy Post bus and began an excited conversation about tires and rain.

"I made the wrong tire choice," Bissegger told Cycling News after the Lagoa race. 'It's full dry here, but within a kilometer it's full wet, and for kilometers 1 to 20 it was full wet.'

"It was strange, but it's on the coast, so maybe that's why," he added.

EF's sport director, Juan Manuel Garate, later explained to Cycling News that the decision to run on dry tires was made by Bissegger himself, in a very executive and last-minute way.

"In the morning he warmed up on the bike with wet tires.

"He wanted to take a risk for the win, which turned out to be a mistake. At that point he didn't have enough information about the course conditions and the stage was well underway.

The conditions, Bissegger explained, turned the 24.4 km course into an ice rink.

"I made the wrong decision with those tires and slipped a lot. In dry conditions, it's the tire with the most grip and the least rolling resistance. But in the wet, I just can't handle it."

Bissegger, who crashed twice in the Copenhagen TT at last year's Tour de France, rode through the early corners with his hopes of his first win of the season dashed.

"I sprinted up all the kickers, but I really played it safe in the corners.

"It's definitely frustrating. I felt pretty good, but that's the way it goes. Copenhagen was a big target, but not so big this time. I didn't crash today, so I'm happy about that."