Oscar Onley concluded his debut outing with Ineos Grenadiers at the Volta ao Algarve by coming within centimetres of victory on the fifth and final stage last Sunday.

While Spanish star Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek) pipped him in the sprint on the 2.5km, sharp finishing climb of the Malhão to seal overall victory, the 23-year-old finished fourth overall after an aggressive showing from his team, 1:22 behind the winner. Teammate Kévin Vauquelin spent most of the finale in a breakaway, forcing rivals to chase.

“Overall I’m really happy with the day and the team,” Onley told reporters after finishing second, sweat dripping onto his handlebars. “It was a really good move. That’s exactly why I wanted to join this team, to play like that in this kind of race. Maybe we don’t have the strongest guy outright but together, with our strengths, we can make things happen.”

Onley had finished fourth on last Thursday’s stage two finishing on Alto da Fóia, the race’s most challenging test. He was held up behind an uphill crash from UAE Team Emirates-XRG's Brandon McNulty which meant he had to ride hard to close the gap to attackers Ayuso, stage winner Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM Team) and João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG).

“It’s nice to be up there again at the start of the season,” the Briton reflected to CW mid-race. “I know that I’m not in my best shape, there are definitely areas I still need to work on and improve at, the real top-end stuff. I’ve taken the winter a bit steadier, my goals aren’t in February.”

His performance in the race’s 19km time-trial on stage three put Onley on the back foot. He lost over a minute to teammate and stage winner Filippo Ganna and ceded valuable time to the race’s eventual top three Ayuso, Seixas and Almeida.

The fruits of the Briton’s initial labours to improve against the clock are yet to be reaped. “I was in the wind tunnel last week so I’ve not had much time to ride in the new position, but it was all right,” Onley reflected. “Where I can improve now is [finding] where I can increase the power.”

There are plenty of other potential gains to be made at his new team Ineos Grenadiers as he targets the Tour de France. Racing for his former squad Picnic PostNL in 2025, Onley says that he had aimed to go into every race in top shape, which meant he “really struggled” after the Tour.

“Maybe I can increase one or two per cent just going in a little bit fresher and really focusing on July,” he says. “That’s one of the things [I can improve]. And just learning from everyone in the team here. There is a lot of experience. Me and Kévin [Vauquelin] were talking just now, saying we’re all kind of at a similar level. I think it’s really going to push us and bring the level of all of us up. We all get on really well, we’ve got different [racing] characteristics but that also means that we can play off each other a bit.”

Having Vauquelin and Thymen Arensman alongside him in the top ten on GC in southern Portugal put Onley in the novel position of not being the sole leader.

“[In the past] You don’t want to take risks because if it goes wrong, the team comes away with nothing … we can gamble a little bit more and that’s quite an exciting position to be in for the whole season.” With seven wins as we went to press, Ineos Grenadiers are enjoying one of the strongest starts to the season in the team’s history.

After finishing in the same position as he did at his break-through 2025 Tour de France, Oscar Onley will hope he can go fourth and prosper. “There’s definitely some room for improvement. I normally get better by doing a few races, and hopefully I can improve for Paris-Nice [which starts next Sunday]. It’s going well,” Onley said.

Compatriot Tom Gloag (Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) also continued his strong early-season, placing fifth on the race’s final stage on the way to 11th overall.

Young French star Paul Seixas took his first ever professional victory on Thursday, beating Grand Tour stalwarts Juan Ayuso, João Almeida and Oscar Onley on stage two of the Volta ao Algarve.

Atop the Alto de Foia, Seixas of Decathlon CMA CGM attacked late, and managed to hold off Lidl-Trek's Ayuso to the line. However, Ayuso climbed into the race lead as the pair finished on the same time, separated by countback.

Almeida of UAE Team Emirates-XRG and his former teammate Ayuso would have been favourites on the category one climb, with Ineos Grenadiers' Onley up there too, but Seixas belied his age and experience to triumph. These four were joined by Matthew Riccitello (Decathlon CMA CGM) in the final two kilometres up the Foia.

"It's perfect, first pro win in Portugal, that has meaning," Seixas said post-stage. "For the moment, the first goal is already achieved, to win a race. I won today, it's amazing.

"I guess there was a lot of rhythm, and at the start of the last climb, it was a bit hectic with a crash. I started to follow at first, and then I tried to make a big rhythm, but Juan Ayuso and João Almeida wouldn't cooperate with me, or not a lot, so I was afraid that we would be caught by some riders. It was only two, and one of my teammates, so it was perfect for me.

"Matthew did a great job to push everyone to the limit, and then João attacked a lot a lot, but I knew I had to wait for my moment. I just kept as much energy as I can, and then did a good sprint, even if I was a bit lost with all the corners in the end. I managed to take it so I'm really happy for me, and the team did an amazing job today. It was a perfect day for the team, and a good reward for our work."

It was the first proper test for many of the riders in the peloton on Thursday, including for Ayuso and Onley, both at new teams. However, it was a rider younger than them, the winner of last year's Tour de l'Avenir, who triumphed.

Just 16 seconds separate the top five on general classification – the riders named above – heading into Friday's individual time trial. There is one more mountain test, on stage five, where the race should ultimately be decided.

Elsewhere on Thursday, Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) won stage four of the UAE Tour, which finished in a bunch sprint, while Iván Romeo (Movistar) escaped to victory on stage two of the Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta del Sol in Spain.

If in doubt, follow Filippo Ganna. That was the takeaway from stage one of the Volta ao Algarve earlier this week, which threw up one of the strangest stage finishes I’ve seen in my life.

If you’ve been living under a rock, let me bring you up to speed.

The incident came inside the final kilometre, as the sprint trains came charging into the town of Lagos. There, they followed the race vehicles through a roundabout, and onto what they thought, or maybe hoped, was the finishing straight – my phrasing there probably gives away the punchline.

In reality, they were guided down the the wrong exit, and barrelled down the car deviation. This is a road, parallel to the course, that skirts around the finish line, diverting the cars towards the team buses. The peloton hit it nearing 60km/h. There were no barriers here, and perplexed fans quickly escaped to the safety of the pavement. It’s a miracle that nobody got hurt.

As this was unfolding, a handful of riders picked the correct exit at the roundabout, among them Mr Ganna. The Italian darted to the finish line, seizing his opportunity, and crossed below the gantry first. A victory, albeit a peculiar one, for Ganna then? Not quite.

After some deliberation, the race officials decided to cancel the stage. There would be no winner, and the race would start from scratch on day two. Nothing to see here. What do you mean finish line mishap?

I feel sorry for Pippo, really, I do. And for his team, Ineos Grenadiers, too. Not only was a victory chalked off from beneath their noses, the ruling also came 24 hours after the team’s flared Kask visors were banned by the UCI.

Naturally, the scene from the closing moments of the Algarve went viral, and although we have no stage winner to show for it, at least we have some memes. That’s what really matters, right?

Elsewhere on social media this week, Tadej Pogačar reveals his pre-race warm-up, Lachlan Morton eats some watermelon, and an Olympic silver medallist watches Stockport County v Wigan.

1. Sometimes life just has another plan for you

2. You can't fool Filippo Ganna

3. As the saying now goes: if in doubt, follow Ganna

4. Pizza or fries? Such a cruel question

5. This is the only part of Lachlan Morton's ultra-cycling challenges I would be good at

6. Never has someone had more fun with exercise bands than Tadej Pogačar did at the UAE Tour

7. The key to Josh Tarling's time trialling prowess is having two-metre-long legs

8. Don't try this at home

9. It doesn't seem fair that this track sprinter has two Olympic gold medals, and this much style

10. Matthew Richardson has swapped Australian mornings on the beach for icy afternoons at Stockport County. Can you blame him?

Filippo Ganna pointed to the sky in both celebration and disbelief as he rode solo across the line on stage one of the Volta ao Algarve, the rest of the peloton dashing down the wrong side of the barriers on the finishing straight.

The race commissaires later cancelled the stage, declaring no winner, after the leading bunch followed the camera motorbikes along the deviation, off the course, but parallel to the finish line.

The incident happened in the final kilometre, and those who took the wrong exit – the majority of the first 50 riders – ended up being diverted around the finish gantry, and straight to the team buses.

Ganna was one of a handful who took the correct turning, seizing upon his opportunity to charge alone across the line.

Almost three hours after the incident, the Volta ao Algarve published a statement, in which the race director, Sérgio Sousa, explained the stage was cancelled because "the sporting truth did not prevail in the end".

"The College of Commissaires interpreted the regulations and, given what happened, decided to cancel the stage because they considered that sporting truth did not prevail in the end," he said.

"All the technical information was clear that the riders should go left at the last roundabout. The fact is that some of them took the right, in a lane parallel to the finish line. It was a wrong decision by the peloton but it’s clear that we didn’t do enough to avoid this outcome, which we very much regret.”

The final 2km of Wednesday's opening stage of the Volta ao Algarve offered two large roundabouts to navigate, the second of which led the peloton astray.

Despite late efforts from on-ground marshals to point the bunch in the right direction, those riding at the front instinctively followed the race vehicles off the course.

Ganna was originally asked in his post-race interview to explain what happened, but returned a confused expression. "Everyone took the wrong way, and I took the [correct] one," he said. "You need to know the rules, you need to know the parcours. It's the rules for the riders. In the past, I've taken the wrong way during a TT, and I lost the race."

Following the stage's cancellation, and the chalking off of Ganna's victory, the Italian's Ineos Grenadiers team posted on X: "Cycling is tough. Some days you win but most you lose.

"We’re thankful that today everyone finished safely, but let’s use this opportunity to continue to shine a light on making the best sport in the world a safer one."

Confusion reigned after the finish line in Lagos moments after the stage finished. Tudor Pro Cycling's Marco Haller questioned the lack of direction in the closing moments, saying it was "just poor".

"You could see that on the last kilometre, the deviation wasn’t blocked by the officials, and then obviously when the riders were coming, they followed the motorbikes, like they always do," Haller told Eurosport.

"For me, it’s pretty ridiculous, because we suffer 190km to put ourselves in the perfect position, and then it’s basically everything for nothing. It’s a joke. It’s something where there need to be consequences for the officials, for the organisers, because it cannot always be the riders who are blamed."

In a statement issued by Visma-Lease a Bike, sports director Arthur van Dongen called on the UCI to "wake up please".

"This was embarrassing," Van Dongen said. "Professional cycling is making a very bad impression with this situation. Rider safety must be the top priority. And that has been seriously lacking here.

"Fortunately, no serious accidents occurred, but this could have ended very badly. This is unacceptable."

The race will continue on Thursday with a summit finish to Alto da Foia. The sprinters are likely to be able to make amends on stage three, which brings a flat finish into Tavira.

After just one week of racing in 2024, Remco Evenepoel already appears to be up to speed, which is a good omen for the Belgian ahead of what's set to be his biggest summer yet with a Tour de France debut on the horizon. 

Prior to landing a third Volta ao Algarve overall victory last weekend, Evenepoel had already won his first race of the year, the Figueira Champions Classic, demonstrating some fine form. 

He wasn’t the only Belgian to flourish in Portugal either. Wout van Aert ended the stage race in the Algarve with his first victory on the road of the new campaign as well as a respectable seventh overall in the general classification. 

As well as that, Van Aert ended the week with a blistering final day attack which temporarily put his countryman under pressure in the fight for the overall race win. It was a foreboding sign for his rivals as the Visma-Lease A Bike man returns to Belgium ahead of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad this weekend, a race he has won before and will inevitably fly high in this time out. 

All things considered, the week couldn’t have gone much better for Evenepoel and his Soudal Quick-Step teammates, even if he twice finished second. A first time trial victory for the 24-year-old in his rainbow jersey that he won in Scotland last summer, as well as some impressive racing in the mountains of the Algarve.

Mikel Landa was making his stage race debut for his new team after joining during the winter. The Basque was in the thick of the action as he worked to keep Evenepoel well positioned throughout the final mountain stage.

Landa brings GC riding experience and tactical nous to Patrick Lefevere’s team and his performance in Portugal showed that his partnership with Quick-Step’s talisman looks set to be a promising one. 

On the road to the Alto do Malhão summit, Landa was instrumental in maintaining calm within his team after Van Aert had disappeared up the road along with EF Education’s Ben Healy, temporarily putting Evenepoel’s overall race lead in jeopardy. 

While Quick-Step worked to reel back in the attackers, Landa masterfully kept himself out of the wind for as long as possible, avoiding any form of exposure to the elements, before astutely moving up to put in one huge effort ahead of the climb which brought Evenepoel back into contention for the stage victory he’d made clear he wanted. A solid display of experience which will have left Quick-Step's management smiling.

Resilience in the mountains 

Evenepoel may have missed out on a mountain stage win - finishing runner up to Bora-Hansgrohe’s Dani Martinez on stages two and five - but can take huge positives from his showing on the climbs nonetheless. 

Martinez has quite a turn of speed on mountain top finishes, but Evenepoel went toe to toe with the Colombian and may well have won stage two if there had been just another few metres of road. 

Most impressively, on stage five, the former road world champion rode the entirety of the Alto do Malhão in his big chain ring after a mechanical issue with his bike materialised right as the ascent began.

“I had to do it in my 54-tooth chainring, in the final my chain could no longer fit on the inner ring,” Evenepoel explained post race. “I had to do the entire climb on the big ring, even though I prefer to climb on a high cadence. That cost me the energy that I needed in the sprint, it killed my legs a bit.”

“It's a shame because doing a climb that goes close to 20 per cent was pretty difficult, and I think I could definitely have won," he added. "But that’s life, worse things can happen and I am of course very happy with the final overall win.”

Winning the Tour de France is never straightforward. Potential winners more often than not have to overcome hurdles by way of bike issues, crashes or attacks from their rivals across the three weeks of action. 

Evenepoel’s display of his ability to bounce back on stage five in the Algarve is yet another sign of his resilience and, along with his other performances in Portugal, will no doubt fill him with huge levels of confidence as the road to the Florence Grand Départ continues. 

2024 may be the year of the dragon in the Chinese zodiac, but in cycling, it’s proving to be the year of the aero helmet. 

Already, we’ve seen some big tech trends emerge on top of riders’ heads, notably Kask’s new ear-cover helmet, and a smattering of time trial lids in the peloton.  

This week, at the Volta ao Algarve, Uno-X Mobility riders have been wearing an unreleased version of the Tucker TT helmet, made by Norwegian brand Sweet Protection. This follows after EF Education-EasyPost riders were spotted in the bunch at the Tour Down Under wearing new POC helmets, which bear a striking resemblance to the brand’s Procen TT. 

According to Uno-X’s resident aero expert, Casper von Folsach, the reason for the trend is simple: There’s a “significant” aero gain. 

“The use internally has been increasing, with the increased focus and understanding of aerodynamics amongst riders,” Von Folsach told Cycling Weekly. 

“The aero advantage is definitely what I would call significant,” he continued. “I guess it’s no surprise that it’s due to an aerodynamic improvement over our more all-round - and so lighter and better ventilated helmet - Falconer 2Vi. When the race course, and particularly the environmental conditions allow it, [Tucker] is the faster helmet.” 

Von Folsach explained that, on average, the helmet yields around a 0.006m² improvement in CdA, the measurement of aerodynamic drag. It’s small, but with rising average speeds in the pro peloton, the advantage is becoming more and more impactful. 

“If it’s a trend at the moment, we must be real trend setters,” Von Folsach said. “I’m pretty sure we started road racing with it back in 2019, or at least 2020. But this was likely in smaller races and on less-known riders.” 

At last year’s Volta ao Algarve, Uno-X’s Alexander Kristoff wore a discontinued TT helmet, riding it to bunch sprint victory. Now, the use of TT helmets is more widespread among the team, with riders choosing them for Thursday’s mountain stage. 

In fact, the Tucker helmet used by Uno-X this season is a brand-new, unreleased model, a contact at Sweet Protection revealed to Cycling Weekly. It was developed alongside the Uno-X riders, and adapts the existing TT version slightly by making it lighter and removing the visor. 

Sweet Protection describes the new Tucker 2Vi as a “supreme aero road helmet that leaves no room for compromise”. It will be available to consumers in mid-March. 

The new release comes a year after the Norwegian brand made headlines with its Redeemer 2Vi TT lid, which was likened aesthetically to Star Wars villain Darth Vader. This will be the team’s primary helmet for time trialling going forward. 

What connects Pulp, Kaiser Chiefs and David Bowie? No, not that they have been, at various points in my life, my favourite musical artist, but that they are among those lucky enough to make it onto the Volta ao Algarve's Spotify playlist.

The 50th edition of the Portuguese stage race begins on Wednesday, and an eagle-eyed friend of mine uncovered the 134-song behemoth, which we have embedded below. While the five-day race has become a useful early season proving ground for some of the best cyclists in the world, it also appears that someone within its organisation has an intriguing taste in music.

The playlist is on alongside the race, so as they cross the finish line, the likes of Wout van Aert, Tom Pidcock, and Remco Evenepoel will be able to listen to The Cure or Cyndi Lauper. What they make of the music is unknown.

The man behind the playlist is José Carlos Gomes, the press officer for the race. He tells Cycling Weekly that he "chose the songs with the Volta ao Algarve audience in mind", particularly paying attention to the fact that the crowd is mostly in their 40s and 50s. What that says for my (28M) taste in music, I don't want to comment.

"In addition to the Portuguese, many fans come from all over the world to watch the race," Gomes explained in the email. "Just yesterday I met a group of ten people who had come from Canada to cycle in the Algarve and watch the race. 

I have a habit of getting far too into the music that surrounds races. Eighteen months ago I spent so long digging through the official songs of the Vuelta a España that it had a noticeable impact on my Spotify and YouTube algorithms. It still thinks I want to listen to 'Pedaleando' by Serafin Zubiri. On my recent trip to the Tour Down Under I made a press officer send me the lyrics to the 'Feel the Rush', the official song of the race, which was sung by the lead singer of a Led Zeppelin cover band. The obsession might be too much.

Fortunately, in this case, a lot of these songs won't throw my Spotify out of whack. Worryingly, there are a lot of songs that I not only like, but think of as some of the best songs of all time. Not just 'Disco 2000' by Pulp, or 'Let's Dance' by David Bowie, but 'Boys Don't Cry' by The Cure and 'More Than This' by Roxy Music. It is very much for the dads.

When I sent it to a couple of WhatsApp groups I'm in, it was described as "fire" but "eclectic". That seems a fair judgement.

There are some odd songs in there. Gomes seems to like the late work of some of The Beatles, so alongside a classic in 'Got My Mind Set On You' by George Harrison, there's 'Hope of Deliverance' by Paul McCartney. I didn't think there would be a Macca song that I didn't know, but there it is, on the Volta ao Algarve playlist. There's also Coldplay, Foo Fighters, and The Killers, if you're that kind of dad. Get Lucky by Daft Punk is on there too, which is good, because I heard it might be the sound of the summer.

"Traditionally, the companies that set up the race structures - podiums, finish line gantries, barriers - brought their own music," Gomes says. "I didn't like the choices - they were probably for very young people.

"This year's list is the same as last year's. It's been right for the last five years. Initially, for example, we had almost no Portuguese artists on the list, but I thought it made sense to include Portuguese songs from the same pop/rock genre and even fado-pop."

The Portuguese songs are some of the best, even if one of them appears to be a cover of 'Baggy Trousers' by Madness - 'Bué de Baldas' by Despe E Siga. It's a type of music I've never encountered, to be quite honest, so maybe it's time for me to properly get into some Portuguese music, but I'll probably move on from ska.

'Entre dos tierras' by Heroes Del Silencio is a bit of a rock epic, while 'Kriolu' by Dino d'Santiago (feat. Julinho KSD) is about as R&B as this playlist gets. There's also an exclusive song for the Volta, 'A Catita', which was composed and played by one of the race's two official photographers, João Calado. That's the official song of the Volta ao Algarve really, Gomes says, but sadly isn't on Spotify. That's an in-person special.

If you're on the roadside at the Volta, then, you're in for a treat. It feels like BBC Radio 2 might have taken over a corner of Portugal for a weekend, possibly in tribute to Steve Wright, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I'm going to keep spreading the joy of this surprising gem. Time to listen to some more Duran Duran, I think.

The European racing season has well and truly kicked off, with action happening across the continent, but mostly in sunny Spain. Before the circus moved onto the UAE, where the men's WorldTour teams are racing this week, lots of stuff happened in Iberia.

Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) won three out of the five stages at the Vuelta a Andalusia, proving he never lost his form, while Magnus Cort (EF Education-EasyPost) won two stages at the Volta ao Algarve, capping a sterling start to the year for EF. Ineos Grenadiers, though, had three riders in the top seven, including Dani Martínez winning overall.

At the Setmana Valenciana Fèmines, meanwhile, AG Insurance-Soudal Quick-Step kicked their new era off in a great way, winning a stage through Ashleigh Moolman Pasio and the overall through Justine Ghekiere.

Annemiek van Vleuten is beatable

2022 ended with the consensus being that Annemiek van Vleuten was pretty much unbeatable, especially in stage races. The Dutch Movistar rider won the Tour de France Femmes, the Giro d'Italia Donne and the Ceratizit Challenge by La Vuelta, along with the World Championship road race last year, and is aiming to win at least the first three again.

However, last week at the Setmana Valenciana Fèmines, Van Vleuten was beaten. Not just by one person, but by two on stage three, when she was outsprinted by Ashleigh Moolman Pasio (AG Insurance-Soudal Quick-Step) and Amanda Spratt (Trek-Segafredo), and then she missed out on the overall when Justine Ghekiere (AG Insurance-Soudal Quick-Step) won through a race-defining break on stage four.

Obviously, this is just one race, just a minor setback for the Dutchwoman, but this is a race which the 40-year-old has won for the past two years, and a dominant performance would have set the scene for the coming races. As it is, her rivals will think there might be a chink in her armour, and that something different might be possible in 2023.

Meanwhile, Tadej Pogačar looks unbeatable

Last week I wrote about Tadej Pogačar's remarkable winning streak - at that point it stood at four - but then he went an extended it one further on stage two of the Ruta del Sol to make it five in a row, and three wins in 2023. To then go on and win another stage of the same race, but sadly not a consecutive one, just proved how in form the UAE Team Emirates rider is.

Wherever he lines up, whether that's in a Classic or a stage race, he will be the outstanding favourite. This was true last year too, but it is rare that he has come into a new season so hot. He looks like he means business.

At just 24, he has 50 career victories, a total he has amassed quicker than other serial winners of the last decade like Mark Cavendish or Peter Sagan. To show the length of his dominance, Pogačar has won at least one stage of every stage race he has entered since the 2020 Critérium du Dauphiné. That's 29 months.

The thought of his clash with last year's Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard at Paris-Nice is already mouthwatering.

Ineos Grenadiers have many options, but who's on top?

Heading into the final stage of the Volta ao Algarve, a time trial, Ineos Grenadiers had three separate cards to play on the general classification: Tom Pidcock, Filippo Ganna and Dani Martínez, all within 30 seconds of each other.

It led to some questioning their tactics on stage four, which Tom Pidcock had won (just his third road win of his career, incidentally), as the former time trial world champion Ganna looked best positioned for the GC. Some suggested they should have ridden defensively to protect this interest.

In the end, though, it didn't matter, as Martínez rode the best time trial and won the race overall, followed by Ganna in second, with Pidcock in seventh. At an early-season race like the Volta ao Algarve this seems like a blessing, with multiple riders able to show their skills.

However, when it comes to the Grand Tours, the fear is that there is not an outstanding leader. Martínez could do an able job, and Pidcock has not hidden his wish to challenge in the future, but neither of these riders are likely to win the Tour this year. Geraint Thomas will turn 37 during his tilt at the Giro d'Italia, while Egan Bernal is still an unknown quantity as he makes his way back from his freak crash last year.

EF Education-EasyPost gets back to winning ways

It is not even the end of February and EF Education-EasyPost already have more wins than it did in the whole of 2022. That's ten this year, in just a couple of months, versus nine across all of last year.

There was a brief period where it seemed like the American team might even face relegation from the WorldTour, such were their woes, but now they have that status guaranteed, they seem set to make the most of their opportunities at the top table.

Magnus Cort was responsible for two of those nine wins last year, and won two stages of the Volta ao Algarve last week, proving his value to the team. It is not just all on the Dane's shoulders, either, with wins for Neilson Powless, Alberto Bettiol and new signing Richard Carapaz among others. It is already looking like a good year for the men in pink.

Too many bike races gets confusing

Cycling is not the only sport that shoots itself in the foot through its schedule; there are frequent moans about the cricket and football calendars, but there can't be a sport other than cycling that loves to put lots of similar events on at the same time.

Last week, the Tour of Oman, the Ruta del Sol, and the Volta ao Algarve were all on at the same time, all stage races, all ProTour level events. What this must seem like to the casual fan, I don't know.

Then there's a sudden switch to the WorldTour-level stage race the UAE Tour before we swing back to Europe with Omloop Het Nieuwsblad this weekend. It's pretty nonsensical.

It might seem fun to be able to switch between all these men's races - that's not even mentioning the women's racing on at the same time - but it is hard to work out what all these races mean as all these different events are contemporaneous. Omar Fraile (Ineos Grenadiers) won stage five of Ruta del Sol the day after Tom Pidcock had won stage four of another race, but these were different events, in different countries. Confusing.

Sam Bennett took the opening stage of the Volta ao Algarve 2021 after his team nailed the timing of the lead-out yet again for their star fast-man beating, Danny Van Poppel and Jon Aberasturi.

Bennett (Deceuninck - Quick-Step) had Davide Ballerini and Michael Mørkøv in front of him as they brought him to the front with around 500 metres to go. Van Poppel (Intermarché) and Aberasturi (Caja Rural) completed the podium on the day.

The day started in Lagos and took on a relatively lumpy profile of 189.5km to Portimao. Five riders originally went away into the early break before César Nicolas Paredes (Louletano-Loulé) decided to drop back to the peloton.

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This left Carlos Canal (Burgos-BH), Jon Irisarri (Caja Rural), Gustavo César (Atum General-Tavira-Maria Nova Hotel) and Hugo Nunes (Radio Popular-Boavista). They managed a maximum gap of around three minutes before being dragged back.

They were caught with 19km to go as counter-attacks went away on a small rise straight after the catch but Tour of Flanders winner Kasper Asgreen (Deceuninck - Quick-Step) marked it out meaning it didn’t get far.

Various teams then hit the front to control the pace towards the line for their names for the sprint finish as well as for riders going for the overall win. Ineos Grenadiers, who are going for both, had complete control into the last 10km.

Euskaltel-Euskadi sent Peio Goikoetxea up the road on a solo attack with 9km to go but he was easily brought back a kilometre later.

The bunch split in the final 5km due to the tight roads and roundabouts but it was dragged back with 4km to go as Fabio Jakobsen and Shane Archbold (both Deceuninck - Quick-Step) hit the deck.

A motorbike chose the wrong side of the road and caused a small slit again at the front but it was again dragged back together with W52-FC Porto and Caja Rural led into the final two kilometres.

But Deceuninck - Quick-Step set up Bennett perfectly into the final few hundred metres with another stage favourite Pascal Ackermann (Bora-Hansgrohe) nowhere to be seen.

Results

Volta ao Algarve 2021 stage one, Lagos to Portimão (189.5km)

1. Sam Bennett (Irl) Deceuninck - Quick-Step, in 4-37-41

2. Danny Van Poppel (Ned) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux

3. Jon Aberasturi (Esp) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA

4. Stanisław Aniołkowski (Pol) Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces-Wallonie Bruxelles

5. Iúri Leitão (Por) Tavfer-Measindot-Mortágua

6. Michael Mørkøv (Den) Deceuninck - Quick-Step

7. Jarrad Drizners (Aus) Hagens Bermans-Axeon

8. Rui Oliveira (Por) UAE Team Emirates

9. Ethan Hayter (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers

10. Mikel Aristi (Esp) Euskaltel-Euskadi, all at same time.

General classification after stage one

1. Sam Bennett (Irl) Deceuninck - Quick-Step, in 4-37-41

2. Danny Van Poppel (Ned) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux

3. Jon Aberasturi (Esp) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA

4. Stanisław Aniołkowski (Pol) Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces-Wallonie Bruxelles

5. Iúri Leitão (Por) Tavfer-Measindot-Mortágua

6. Michael Mørkøv (Den) Deceuninck - Quick-Step

7. Jarrad Drizners (Aus) Hagens Bermans-Axeon

8. Rui Oliveira (Por) UAE Team Emirates

9. Ethan Hayter (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers

10. Mikel Aristi (Esp) Euskaltel-Euskadi, all at same time.

The 2021 Volta ao Algarve has been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

Portugal’s biggest stage race is a popular starting point in the season for many big-name riders, but the 2021 edition has been pushed back. 

The decision to postpone the race, officially announced on Thursday (January 21), will upset the plans of plenty of WorldTour teams, as 14 top-tier squads had planned to start on February 17. 

A statement from the organisers said: “The Portuguese Cycling Federation, organiser of Volta ao Algarve, today informed all partners and teams that the race will not be able to take place on the scheduled date, February 17-21. Postponement is a difficult decision, but it has become inevitable, given the evolution of the pandemic situation in Portugal.

“The organisation of Volta ao Algarve is aware that legitimate expectations were created for an excellent sports event, however the general context of the country imposes a postponement that signals the commitment of the Portuguese Cycling Federation to the defence of public health and motivation to offer fans a high quality race at another time of the year.”

The race has now been provisionally postponed until May 5, which means it will overlap with the Giro d’Italia. 

Portugal has been experiencing a rapid increase in coronavirus cases since January 1, with 5,400 people hospitalised in one day earlier this week, along with 219 deaths  and 14,000 new cases.

The pandemic had already impacted the 2021 season, as the first WorldTour event of the year the Tour Down Under was cancelled, while there are still serious doubts about the fate of the Tokyo Olympics later this year. 

Many riders are expected to start their seasons next month either in the UAE Tour or in the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana. 

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Last year’s Volta ao Algarve was dominated by Remco Evenepoel (Deceuninck - Quick-Step), who won two stages and added the overall victory to his 100 per cent success rate in all four stage races he entered last year. 

Remco Evenepoel beat world TT champion Rohan Dennis to win the stage five time trial at the Volta ao Algarve to also seal the overall victory.

The 20-year-old beat Dennis by 10 seconds, with Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ) in third, to clinch his second stage race win of the year after emerging victorious at the Vuelta a San Juan earlier in the month.

Evenepoel crossed the line just behind Dan Martin (Israel Start-Up Nation), who had set off two minutes before the Deceuninck - Quick-Step rider. His time was a new fastest for this course, which has been used in the Portuguese race for the past three years.

Geraint Thomas (Ineos) finish in 25 minutes, 51 seconds slower than when he won this time trial stage in the 2018 edition.

Evenepoel finished 38 seconds ahead of Max Schachmann (Bora-Hansgrohe) on GC, with Miguel Ángel López (Astana) in third, one second slower.

Speaking after the finish, Evenepoel said: "I'm really happy, I knew it was just 20km full gas and I started quite fast and then I knew in the hilly sections I had to recover well so that's what I did. I just went all out, the communication with the car was perfect, I knew every corner, every hole in the road. I'm very happy."

Asked if this sends a message to his rivals ahead of the Giro d'Italia in May, Evenepoel said he's just focusing on his own goals and that he doesn't think he's in his best shape yet, which inadvertently will send a rather scary message to those who will line up against him in Budapest in May.

"No, no, that's not my goal. I'm only working hard for my own goals. I'm working hard for two months time, I'm not in the best shape yet but I still have time, still a long way to go but I'm already happy with where I'm at now," Evenepoel said.

How it happened

Jasha Sütterlin (Sunweb) set an early fastest time of 25-02 before UAE Team Emirates' Mikkel Berg was the first to break the 25-minute barrier with 24-59. Yves Lampaert (Deceuninck - Quick-Step) then went six seconds faster but knew his time in the hot seat would be brief.

That was because world time trial champion Rohan Dennis (Ineos) was coming into the finish, setting a new fastest time of 24-17.

Swiss time trial champion Stefan Küng would come fairly close to besting the Australian, after setting the fastest time at the time check he eventually finished in 24-26, nine seconds slower than Dennis.

Dennis' team-mate Michał Kwiatkowski would then come through the intermediate time check only six seconds down on Küng's time, before Vincenzo Nibali (Trek-Segafredo) would go one second faster than the Swiss rider.

Geraint Thomas then rolled across the line in 25-00, enough for 12th place as he finishes his first race back after the off-season.

Kwiatkowski would finish with a stronger ride than he has provided for the rest of the week, finishing sixth with 24-46 before Nibali faded over the second half of his ride and finished with a time of 25-13.

Race leader Remco Evenepoel, and the only rider likely to trouble Dennis, went 15 seconds quicker than Küng at the intermediate time check.

Miguel Ángel López (Astana) posted a respectable 24-45 to guarantee his spot on the podium, but Max Schachmann beat him by the smallest of margins so the German defended his second spot on GC.

Evenepoel soared into the finish, nearly catching Dan Martin, as he powered across the line having beaten the world time trial champion by 10 seconds.

Results

Volta ao Algarve 2020, stage five: Lagoa to Lagoa (ITT - 20.3km)

1. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Deceuninck - Quick-Step, in 24-07

2. Rohan Dennis (Aus) Ineos, at 10 seconds

3. Stefan Küng (Sui) Groupama-FDJ, at 19s

4. Max Schachmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe, at 38s

5. Miguel Ángel López (Col) Astana

6. Michał Kwiatkowski (Pol) Ineos

7. Patrick Bevin (NZl) CCC, all at same time

8. Yves Lampaert (Bel) Deceuninck - Quick-Step, at 46s

9. Nils Politt (Ger) Israel Start-Up Nation, at 47s

10. Mads Schmidt Würtz (Den) Israel Start-Up Nation, at 48s

Final general classification

1. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Deceuninck - Quick-Step, in 19-23-42

2. Max Schachmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe, at 38 seconds

3. Miguel Ángel López (Col) Astana, at 39s

4. Rui Costa (Por) UAE Team Emirates, at 56s

5. Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto-Soudal, at 1-17

6. Simon Geschke (Ger) CCC, at 1-18

7. Lennard Kämna (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe, at 1-26

8. Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo, at 1-31

9. João Almeida (Por) Deceuninck - Quick-Step, at 1-40

10. Amaro Antunes (Por) W52 / FC Porto, at 1-57

Miguel Ángel López took the stage four win at the Volta ao Algarve with a late attack as Remco Evenepoel finished third to close in on the general classification.

The Astana rider left his attack until the closing stages, jumping clear and powering away towards the finish despite the best efforts of Dan Martin (Israel Start-Up Nation) to bring him back.

Evenepoel then came across the line in third, leading home Max Schachmann (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Rui Costa (UAE Team Emirates).

Ineos' Geraint Thomas and Michał Kwiatkowski once again fell away on the final climb, not troubling the top placings.

Evenepoel is now tied on the same time as Martin and Schachmann at the top of the GC, with López now in fourth, only a single second behind.

One stage remains in the Portuguese race, an individual time trial, where the European time trial champion will likely take more time out of his rivals to seal the victory.

How it happened

Koen de Kort was a non-starter after a crash on the previous stage that brought down a number of his Trek-Segafredo team-mates due to an unexpected deep gravel corner.

The day's break was a sizeable group that included Alpecin-Fenix's Dries de Bondt and João Rodrigues (W52 / FC Porto), who had built up a gap of two minutes after 30km, that stuck for the next 100km.

Then Rodrigues, who is from the Algarve region, attacked on the third category climb to Alte 40km from the finish, dispensing with his breakaway companions. The Portuguese rider held a slim margin ahead of the chasers with the peloton then over a minute and a half further back.

Trek-Segafredo's Edward Theuns slipped off the front of the peloton with 26km to go, taking Vincenzo Nibali with him, who then kept on going up the road. Nibali soon reached De Bondt, who was caught in between Rodrigues and the peloton.

Nibali was brought back in by the bunch with 21km remaining, his move having brought Rodrigues back to within 30 seconds of the peloton. Deceuninck - Quick-Step soon took over at the front, with Florian Sénéchal finally closing the gap to the lone leader and bringing the race back together with 17km to the finish.

Bora-Hansgrohe's Lukas Pöstlberger came to the fore with 13km remaining, with Max Schachmann then getting on his wheel. 3km later more of the GC guys appeared at the head of the reduced bunch as they began to position themselves for the final climb.

As they rounded the team buses parked at the bottom of the ascent, CCC came to the front, the pack swinging right onto the final climb with 3km to go.

Astana then came to the front, with Amaro Antunes (W52 / FC Porto) showing his face in second wheel. Once again, Geraint Thomas and Michał Kwiatkowski struggled, dropping off the back with a lot of climbing still to go.

Evenepoel soon found himself in fourth wheel, behind Rui Costa and Antunes as Astana continued to drive the pace, setting up López for a devastating attack.

The Colombian began powering away, with Evenepoel fairly happy to maintain his own pace as Dan Martin scrambled to follow López. The Irishman stamped on his pedals as he tried to narrow the gap,but López had gone clear and crossed the line two seconds clear of Martin.

After Martin came Evenepoel, who led home Schachmann and Costa, with one second separating the four riders going into tomorrow's decisive individual time trial, which should crown Evenepoel as the 2020 race winner.

Results

Volta ao Algarve 2020, stage four: Albufeira to Malhão (169.7km)

1. Miguel Ángel López (Col) Astana, in 4-16-25

2. Dan Martin (Irl) Israel Start-Up Nation, at two seconds

3. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Deceuninck - Quick-Step, at 4s

4. Max Schachmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe, at same time

5. Rui Costa (Por) UAE Team Emirates, at 5s

6. Simon Geschke (Ger) CCC, at 14s

7. Amaro Antunes (Por) W52 / FC Porto

8. Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo, both at same time

9. Jan Polanc (Slo) UAE Team Emirates, at 19s

10. Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto-Soudal, at 21s

General classification after stage four

1. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Deceuninck - Quick-Step, in 18-59-35

2. Dan Martin (Irl) Israel Start-Up Nation

3. Max Schachmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe, both at same time

4. Miguel Ángel López (Col) Astana, at one second

5. Rui Costa (Por) UAE Team Emirates, at 3s

6. Amaro Antunes (Por) W52 / FC Porto, at 18s

7. Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo, at same time

8. Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto-Soudal, at 19s

9. Simon Geschke (Ger) CCC, at 24s

10. Frederico Figueiredo (Por) Atum general / Tavira / Maria Nova Hotel, at 31s

Cees Bol was the first rider to deny Quick-Step in the Volta ao Algarve as he took stage three with a stunning sprint.

The Sunweb rider launched his dash for the line 200 metres from the line and it looked as though he may have made a misstep as rivals closed on his wheel.

But Bol used his towering build to keep the power on and bested the other sprinters, including stage one winner Fabio Jakobsen (Deceuninck - Quick-Step).

There was no change in the general classification picture as Quick-Step's Remco Evenepoel holds on to the leader's jersey.

How it happened

The stakes were high in southern Portugal as stage three was the last opportunity for the sprinters to reach the top step.

With a long 201km day in the saddle, the peloton rode from Faro to Tavira on the coast via a winding inland route with two categorised climbs along the way.

The opening 80 kilometres covered undulating terrain, with a 4.2km and 4.4 per cent gradient climb topping out 60km in and another third category climb following immediately after, cresting at 77km.

Riders then surged downhill until around 50km left to race, where a collection of uncategorised ramps kept the course demanding.

The final 15km were mostly flat, with two roundabouts to navigate in the final 2km and a 90-degree turn to navigate inside 1km before the straight line for the finish.

Owing to the predicted sprint finish, only three smaller teams opted to dedicate a rider to the breakaway, with Gotzon Martin (Fundación-Orbea), Tiago Antunes (Efapel) and Alexander Grigoryev (Atum General-Tavira-Maria Nova Hotel).

The break were allowed a gap of around 2-30, which didn’t change for much of the day, the peloton then starting to bring them slowly back in the final 60km, and with 30km to the line the gap was under 30 seconds and the lead group were in sight of the peloton.

Just as the catch was about to me made, the peloton approached a roundabout and not everyone made it through safely, as three Trek-Segafredo riders collided with a traffic island and Edward Theuns, Jasper Stuyven and Koen de Koert all went down.

Fortunately they were able to get back on their bikes and finish the stage.

The peloton swept up the escapees and all eyes turned to the final, with UAE Team Emirates, Bora-Hansgrohe and Deceuninck – Quick-Step holding position at the head of the peloton.

Into the final kilometres and everyone made it safely past the two roundabouts with Sunweb doing much of the work, but it was Quick-Step’s train who led into the 90-degree turn 400m from the line, with Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates) using the corner to move up.

But Sunweb hit the front again, as Bol waited on his lead-out rider’s wheel before launching his sprint with 200m to race on a gradual incline.

It looked as though Bol made have fired too soon, as Sacha Modolo (Alpecin-Fenix) and Fabio Jakobsen gained on him rapidly.

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Bol kept the wattage high and held off his rivals to take his fourth career win in his second year as a pro.

Modolo took second with Jakobsen only managing third.

Volta ao Algarve 2020, stage three: Faro to Tavira 201.9km

1. Cees Bol (Ned) Sunweb, in 5-00-51

2. Sacha Modolo (Ita) Alpecin-Fenix

3. Fabio Jakobsen (Ned) Deceuninck - Quick-Step

4. Alexander Kristoff (Nor) UAE Team Emirates

5. Daniel Hoelgaard Uno-X Norwegian Development Team

6. Ryan Mullen (Irl) Trek-Segafredo

7. Elia Viviani (Ita) Cofidis

8. Roger Kluger (Ger) Lotto-Soudal

9. Jon Aberasturi (Esp) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA

10. Tom Devriendt (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert, all at same time

General classification after stage three

1. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Deceuninck - Quick-Step, in 14-43-06

2. Max Schachmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe, at same time

3. Rui Costa (Por) UAE Team Emirates, at 2s

4. Dan Martin (Irl) Israel Start-Up Nation

5. Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto-Soudal, both at same time

6. Miguel Ángel López (Col) Astana, at 5s

7. Amaro Antunes (Por) W52 – FC Porto, at 8s

8. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Trek-Segafredo

9. Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo

10. Amaro Antunes (Por) Atum general – Tavira – Maria Nova Hotel, all at same time

Remco Evenepoel dedicated his Volta ao Algarve stage victory to a fellow Belgian rider whose son died last week.

Deceuninck – Quick-Step’s Evenepoel was emotional at the finish of stage two on Alto da Foía, where he took the first uphill victory of his short career.

The 20-year-old gave an emotional tribute to Lotto-Soudal rider Nikolas Maes and his family, whose son Maurice was stillborn.

Maes, also racing the Volta ao Algarve, posted a devastating tribute to his child on Instagram, saying “forever our second son.”

Speaking after the stage, Evenepoel said: “There are more important things in life than winning a bike race and that’s why my thoughts are with him and his family.

“My victory is for them, and also for my family and girlfriend, who are always there for me and show me how important it is to have your loved ones by your side.”

Last week, 33-year-old Maes posted on Instagram about the death of his son, saying that just a few days before the planned birth they had the devastating news that Maurice’s heart had stopped beating in the womb.

He said: “Our world stood still and to date it still seems so unreal.

“Never thought that our first photo together would also be one of the last.

“We are very proud of your little man and hope that you have been able to feel the warmth and pure love that we cherish for you during the moments that we could spend together.”

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Evenepoel’s stage victory was his third win of the year, after he took a stage and the overall in the Vuelta a San Juan.

He now leads in Algarve, but is on the same time as Bora-Hansgrohe’s Maximilian Schachmann who finished just behind on stage two.

Remco Evenepoel beat out a number of elite climbers to take the summit finish victory on stage two of the Volta ao Algarve.

The young Belgian sensation opened his sprint 200m from the finish line, pulling away from the likes of Dan Martin (Israel Start-Up Nation), Miguel Ángel López (Astana) and Vincenzo Nibali (Trek-Segafredo) before holding off a late challenge from Bora-Hansgrohe's Max Schachmann to take the stage win and race lead.

Martin then finished third, with Costa behind him, while Lotto-Soudal's Tim Wellens took fifth place.

Geraint Thomas was dropped with 3km to go, with Ineos then turning to try and set things up for Michał Kwiatkowksi, before the Polish rider also blew up in the final kilometre.

Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) held on longer than expected on the 7.4km climb with an average gradient of six per cent, before he fell away with 3.5km remaining.

Evenepoel was emotional after the finish, having taken his eighth professional win following his overall victory at the Vuelta a San Juan. He now has three stages left to contend with, including an individual time trial on the final day, if he is to take his second overall title of the year.

How it happened

Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix), Jenthe Biermans (Israel Start-Up Nation) and Miguel Salgueiro (LA Alumínios-LA Sport) attempted to form an early breakaway trio after 3.5km of racing. The bunch were always unlikely to let Van der Poel go up the road and they were brought back in within the next 2km.

7km later, a new escapee trio formed and Michael Schär (CCC Team), Casper Pedersen (Team Sunweb) and Dries de Bondt (Alpecin-Fenix) were allowed up the road as the day's break.

The gap soon went up to a minute, and then eventually stuck at the two and a half minute mark after an hour of racing, where the average speed was 43km/h.

The gap would hardly change over the next 100km, as UAE Team Emirates, Deceuninck-Quick-Step and Uno-X Norwegian Development Team drove the peloton.

Their comfortable gap soon fell, though, to around 30 seconds, as De Bondt fell back to the bunch while Schär and Pedersen continued their effort.

The duo were caught with 20km to go as Deceunink - Quick Step and UAE Team Emirates led the peloton, with Joe Dombrowski (UAE Team Emirates) putting in a long effort that saw him 'win' the intermediate sprint with 11km remaining.

The final climb to Alto da Fóia started with 7.4km remaining and the purer climbers failed to put pressure on the likes of Van der Poel and Greg Van Avermaet (CCC) in the earlier, steeper sections of the climb.

Rodrigo Contreras then stretched his leg for Astana but wasn't allowed to escape up the road as UAE Team Emirates and Ineos marshalled the front of the pack.

With 5km to go, Van der Poel was still hanging on the back but dropped off over the next kilometre, as Jan Polanc suffered on the front for UAE Team Emirates in aid of Rui Costa who sat behind him, with Geraint Thomas in third wheel.

Ben Swift then took over for Ineos, leading Kwiatkowski up to the front as Thomas drifted to the back of the group.

Astana's Miguel Ángel López attacked with 3km to go as Rui Costa hesitated before following. Geraint Thomas was then dropped as the group began to thin out before CCC's Simon Geschke made his move

The German was caught just after the 1km banner towards the highest point of the Algarve, with Dan Martin in the wheel of João Almeida (Deceuninck - Quick-Step) who was driving a hard pace to set things up for team-mate Remco Evenepoel.

Evenepoel launched his attack with 200m to go, with López initially trying to follow but it was too late and the young Belgian was away. Evenepoel had gone early and Schachmann's counter-attack looked to be bringing back the 20-year-old, but the Deceuninck - Quick-Step rider kicked again to just hold the German off on the line.

Results

Volta ao Algarve 2020, stage two: Sagres to Alto da Fóia (183.9km)

1. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Deceuninck - Quick-Step, in 4-46-38

2. Max Schachmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe, at same time

3. Dan Martin (Irl) Israel Start-Up Nation, at two seconds

4. Rui Costa (Por) UAE Team Emirates

5. Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto-Soudal, both at same time

6. Miguel Ángel López (Col) Astana, at 5s

7. Frederico Figueiredo (Por) Atum general - Tavira - Maria Nova Hotel, at 8s

8. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Trek-Segafredo

9. Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo

10. Amaro Antunes (Por) W52 - FC Porto, all at same time

General classification after stage two

1. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Deceuninck - Quick-Step, in 9-42-15

2. Max Schachmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe, at same time

3. Rui Costa (Por) UAE Team Emirates, at two seconds

4. Dan Martin (Irl) Israel Start-Up Nation

5. Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto-Soudal, both at same time

6. Miguel Ángel López (Col) Astana, at 5s

7. Amaro Antunes (Por) W52 - FC Porto, at 8s

8. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Trek-Segafredo

9. Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo

10. Amaro Antunes (Por) Atum general - Tavira - Maria Nova Hotel, all at same time

Youth trumped experience in the Volta ao Algarve 2020 as Fabio Jakobsen pushed past Elia Viviani to take stage one.

The stage came down to the predicted sprint finish, but a tense final 30km offered some enticing racing on an uncategorised climb, with attacks flowing from the peloton.

But it came down to a bunch kick for the line, as Deceuninck - Quick-Step's Jakobsen put in a tactically perfect effort to comfortably power past Viviani (Cofidis) in the finishing straight and take the win, moving into the race lead in the process.

How it happened

Stage one of the Volta ao Algarve looked to be a long day but a fairly straightforward one, expected to end in a bunch sprint, in contrast to the big day of general classification racing over in Spain.

In Portugal, the peloton faced a 195.6km-run from Portimão to Lagos on the southern coast, with a third category and a fourth category climb in the opening 80km, a rolling middle section before riders hit the valley floor for a tame middle section.

Then with 30km of the stage left to race, the peloton would face an uncategorised climb, before the run to the line with two roundabouts in the final 2km and a long 700m straight to the finish.

Just three riders made it clear of the peloton to form the day’s breakaway – Pedro Paulinho (Efapel), Diego Lopez (Fundación-Orbea) and Alvaro Truba (Atum General-Tavira-Maria Nova Hotel) – and the group were allowed around 2-30 gap early in the day.

The peloton kept the leaders on a tight leash, and the gap was down to under a minute inside 40km.

Finally the break was caught with just over 30km to race, and the peloton hit the uncategorised climb together with around 25km to race.

A handful of teams saw an opportunity for surprise attacks on the ascent, as Tim Wellens (Lotto-Soudal) launched a move, followed by João Almeida of Deceuninck – Quick-Step.

The other teams were alert to the danger and the attack was closed down, but the pace didn’t ease in the peloton as the likes of Michał Kwiatkowski (Team Ineos) and Remco Evenepoel (Quick-Step) wanted to secure their places at the head of the peloton as they surged downhill with 15km to the line.

Paddy Bevin (CCC Team) then launched an attack with Evenepoel on his wheel, a small group forming but then being caught again.

With 10km left to race the bunch were all back together, bringing an end to the tense moment but setting up the high-speed run for the sprint.

Sunweb, Trek-Segafredo and Quick-Step took up the pace-setting, as Geraint Thomas swooped around the front of the peloton to connect with the Team Ineos train.

Into the final kilometre, Michał Kwiatkwoski led the peloton with Mathieu van der Poel also (Alpecin-Fenix) at the sharp end.

Kwiatkowski found his sprinter Ben Swift on his wheel, but Swift found himself at the front of the race too far from the line and so had to launch his sprint early.

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Viviani was next to launch and powered to the front of the race on the right, while Jakobsen waited in the centre-front of the bunch.

The Italian faded dramatically as Jakobsen launched a powerful sprint, blasting past Viviani and leaving the peloton behind to take the stage.

Volta ao Algarve 2020, stage one: Portimão to Lagos (195.6km)

1. Fabio Jakobsen (Ned) Deceuninck - Quick-Step, in 4-55-37

2. Elia Viviani (Ita) Cofidis

3. Matteo Trentin (Ita) CCC Team

4. Alexander Kristoff (Nor) UAE Team Emirates

5. Jon Averasturi (Esp) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA

6. Cees Bol (Ned) Sunweb

7. Roger Kluge (Ger) Lotto-Soudal

8. Davide Cimolai (Ita) Israel Start-Up Nation

9. Daniel Hoelgaard (Nor) Uno-X Norwegian Development Team

10. Edward Theuns (Bel) Trek-Segafredo, all at same time

General classification after stage one

1. Fabio Jakobsen (Ned) Deceuninck - Quick-Step, in 4-55-37

2. Elia Viviani (Ita) Cofidis

3. Matteo Trentin (Ita) CCC Team

4. Alexander Kristoff (Nor) UAE Team Emirates

5. Jon Averasturi (Esp) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA

6. Cees Bol (Ned) Sunweb

7. Roger Kluge (Ger) Lotto-Soudal

8. Davide Cimolai (Ita) Israel Start-Up Nation

9. Daniel Hoelgaard (Nor) Uno-X Norwegian Development Team

10. Edward Theuns (Bel) Trek-Segafredo, all at same time

The Volta ao Algarve 2020 gets underway soon, so we’ve put together a TV guide so you don’t miss out on any of the action.

This year’s edition of the five-day Portuguese stage race kicks off on Wednesday (February 19) and runs to February 23, with a number of big name riders set to race.

Rohan Dennis (Team Ineos), Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) and Vincenzo Nibali (Trek-Segafredo) are just a few of the star names riding.

Check out the full start list here.

The race features three lumpy stages on one mountain day with a summit finish.

>>> UAE Tour start list: Sam Bennett, Chris Froome and Alejandro Valverde due to ride 

Last year’s winner Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) is not expected to return to defend his title.

Previous winners of this event include Michał Kwiatkowski, Geraint Thomas (Team Ineos), and Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma).

The race will be broadcast in 83 countries, with Eurosport broadcasting like from the UK, Europe, Asia and Australia.

Here is the full TV guide:

UK and Europe

The race will be broadcast on Eurosport, available in satellite TV packages or through the online Eurosport Player.

The Eurosport website has provided details of when they’ll be going live with each stage, which we’ve listed below.

How to watch in other locations

A VPN provider like ExpressVPN can protect your privacy as well as unblock geo-locked content so you can access your home broadcaster’s coverage even when away from home. Try risk-free with a 30-day money-back trial.

Volta ao Algarve 2020 live coverage timings

Stage one, Wednesday February 19, Portimão to Lagos

Live from 3.48pm to 5.15pm

Stage two, Thursday February 20, Sagres to Alto da Fóia

Live from 3.48pm to 5.15pm

Stage three, Friday February 21, Faro to Tavira

Live from 3.48pm to 5.15pm

Stage four, Saturday February 22, Albufeira to Malhão

Live from 3.48pm to 5.15pm

Stage five Sunday February 23, Lagoa to Lagoa

Live from 3.03pm to 4.30pm

Geraint Thomas says he is already lighter than this time last year, while his power numbers look "encouraging."

The winner of the 2018 Tour de France winner hopes to fight for a second yellow jersey this summer, but he will have to prove himself against riders both in and outside of Team Ineos.

He will start his season in Portugal this week at the Volta ao Algarve, but says he will be riding in a support role.

Thomas said: “Last year was very different to any other in my career really, coming back from winning the Tour.

“Usually I start the season quite strongly. This year I’ve not been as intense as normal and it’s a little different these days where the Tour is the sole focus for the whole year, but I’m feeling better.

“I’m not at race weight yet, but my power numbers are encouraging. I’m still a lot lighter than this time last year and my numbers are better as well.”

At the World Championships in Yorkshire last year,  Thomas told Cycling Weekly of the physical and mental strain of being the defending Tour de France champion.

After finishing second in last year’s Tour, behind his team-mate Egan Bernal, the pressure is off for Thomas as he wants to give the yellow jersey “one more good go."

This winter, Thomas completed a seven-week training block before Christmas, took the festive period off and then flew to LA for a month-long block there.

He said: “I did some good training and it was nice to get away from Europe, in my own little world, my own bubble.

“It’s all NFL, basketball, and no one really cares about cycling.

“You can just get on with your thing and I had the family there with me too. I did some great work out there.”

Thomas will return to the peloton at the Volta ao Algarve alongside Ben Swift, Michał Kwiatkowski, Dylan van Baarle and world time trial champion Rohan Dennis.

But he will not be racing for the overall however, instead saying he plans to support his squad.

>>> Why Chris Froome shouldn’t be dismissed from the Tour de France reckoning 

He said: “I want to get stuck into a good five days of racing. There are a lot of guys in our team who have already done at least a week of racing – Rohan, Dylan, Kwiato – and they’re targeting early races and going really well.

“I’ll be there to give them a hand and should still be up there, but I won’t be going for the win. I’ll be helping the other boys in that regard.

“It’ll be nice to be affecting a race again.”

The Volta ao Algarve is just around the corner and there will be some strong competition in the early season test.

Amongst the big names taking part in the Portuguese stage race are Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix), Rohan Dennis (Team Ineos) and Vincenzo Nibali (Trek-Segafredo).

The five-day race has a testing parcours, with three lumpy days, one mountain stage and a 20km individual time trial.

>>> 2019 WorldTour bikes guide

Last year’s race was won by Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), who is not expected to return to defend his titled.

Other past winners include Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) and Geraint Thomas (Team Sky).

Teams have not yet confirmed their rosters, but these are the riders currently expected to appear.

Volta ao Algarve start list

ASTANA PRO TEAM (KAZ)

1. LOPEZ MORENO Miguel Angel

2. SANCHEZ Luis León

3. BIZHIGITOV Zhandos

4. CONTRERAS PINZON Rodrigo

5. MARTINELLI Davide

6. NATAROV Yuriy

7. TEJADA CANACUE Harold Alfonso

BORA - HANSGROHE (GER)

11. DRUCKER Jean Pierre

12. GROSSSCHARTNER Felix

13. KÄMNA Lennard

14. LAAS Martin

15. PÖSTLBERGER Lucas

16. SCHACHMANN Maximilian

17. SCHILLINGER Andreas

CCC TEAM (POL)

21. AVERMAET Greg

22. TRENTIN Matteo

23. GESCHKE Simon

24. SCHÄR Michael

25. VAN HOECKE Gijs

26. VAN HOOYDONCK Nathan

27. BEVIN Patrick

COFIDIS (FRA)

31. VIVIANI Elia

32. CONSONNI Simone

33. LE TURNIER Mathias

34. MATE MARDONES Luis Angel

35. MATHIS Marco

36. SABATINI Fabio

37. VANBILSEN Kenneth

DECEUNINCK - QUICK - STEP (BEL)

41. ALMEIDA João

42. DECLERQ Tim

43. EVENEPOEL Remco

44. JAKOBSEN Fabio

45. KEISSE Iljo

46. LAMPAERT Yves

47. SENECHAL Florian

GROUPAMA - FDJ (FRA)

51. BRUNEL Alexys

52. GENIETS Kévin

53. GUGLIELMI Simon

54. KÜNG Stefan

55. LE GAC Olivier

56. LUDVIGSSON Tobias

57. STEWART Jake

ISRAEL START - UP NATION (ISR)

61. MARTIN Daniel

62. BOIVIN Guillaume

63. CIMOLAI Davide

64. POLITT Nils

65. BIERMANS Jenthe

66. HOLLENSTEIN Reto

67. SCHMIDT WÜRTZ Mads

LOTTO SOUDAL (BEL)

71. GILBERT Philippe

72. KLUGE Roger

73. MAES Nikolas

74. VAN MOER Brent

75. FRISON Frederik

76. DIBBEN Jonathan

TEAM INEOS (GBR)

81. DENNIS Rohan

82. KWIATKOWSKI Michal

83. ROWE Luke

84. SWIFT Ben

85. THOMAS Geraint

86. VAN BAARLE Dylan

87. WURF Cameron

TEAM SUNWEB (GER)

91. ARNDT Nikias

92. BOL Cees

93. DENZ Nico

94. EEKHOFF Nils

95. PEDERSEN Casper Phillip

96. SÜTTERLIN Jasha

97. VAN WILDER Ilan

TREK - SEGAFREDO (USA)

101. DE KORT Koen

102. MOLLEMA Bauke

103. MULLEN Ryan

104. NIBALI Antonio

105. NIBALI Vincenzo

106. STUYVEN Jasper

107. THEUNS Edward

UAE TEAM EMIRATES (UAE)

111.BJERG Mikkel

112. BOHLI Tom

113. COSTA Rui

114. DOMBROWSKI Joseph Lloyd

115. KRISTOFF Alexander

116. OLIVEIRA Ivo

117. OLIVEIRA Rui

ALPECIN-FENIX (BEL)

121. VAN DER POEL Mathieu

122. DE BONDT Dries

123. LEYSEN Senne

124. MODOLO Sacha

125. RICHARDSON Alexander

126. SBARAGLI Kristian

127. VERGAERDE Otto

CAJA RURAL/SEGUROS RGA (ESP)

131. ABERASTURI IZAGA Jon

132. GONZALEZ LOPEZ David

133. AMEZQUETA MORENO Julen

134. LAZKANO LOPEZ Oier

135. SAEZ BENITO Hector

136. MALUCELLI Matteo

137. CALLE HURTADO Juan Fernando

CIRCUS - WANTY GOBERT (BEL)

141. DE GENDT Aime

142. DEVRIENDT Tom

143. KREDER Wesley

144. MEURISSE Xandro

145. PETILLI Simone

146. VAN POPPEL Boy

147. VAN POPPEL Danny

FUNDACION - ORBEA (ESP)

151. ARISTI GARDOKI Mikel

152. ANGULO SAMPEDRO Antonio

153. IRIZAR LASKURAIN Julen

154. BRAVO OIARBIDE Garikoitz

155. MARTIN SANZ Gotzon

156. LOPEZ FUENTES Diego

157. ARANBURU ARRUTI Jokin

UNO - X NORWEGIAN DEVELOPMENT TEAM (NOR)

161. HOELGAARD Daniel

162. HOELGAARD Markus

163. SKAARSETH Anders

164. RESELL Erik Nordsaerter

165. KULSET Kristian

166. SLEEN Torjus

167. LEKNESSUND Andreas

ATUM GENERAL / TAVIRA / MARIA NOVA HOTEL (POR)

171. FIGUEIREDO Frederico

172. GRIGOREV Aleksandr

173. TRUEBA DIEGO Alvaro

174. MARTINGIL César

175. MARQUE PORTO Alejandro

176. LIVRAMENTO David

177. PEREIRA Valter

AVILUDO - LOULETANO (POR)

181. GARCIA DE MATEOS RUBIO Vicente

182. MEIRELES Nuno

183. DE LA FUENTE RASILLA David

184. SHILOV Sergei

185. DEL PINO CORROCHANO Jesus

186. EVANGELISTA André

187. HERNANDEZ MARTINEZ Oscar

EFAPEL (POR)

191. PAULINHO Sérgio

192. MENDONÇA Luís

193. MACHADO Tiago

194. ANTUNES Tiago

195. PAULINHO Pedro

196. SAENZ BALLESTEROS

197. ARMILLAS PUBILL

KELLY / INOUTBUILD / UDO (POR)

201. CASIMIRO Henrique

202. GOMES Luís

203. FERNANDES Venceslau

204. LOURENÇO Rafael

205. LOPES Pedro Miguel

206. COSTA Fábio

207. GONÇALVES Hélder

L.A. ALUMINIOS / L.A. SPORT (POR)

211. DUARTE Emanuel

212. LEAÇA Gonçalo

213. RAMALHO André

214. RIBEIRO David

215. SCHEULEN Marvin

216. SILVA Bruno

217. SALGUEIRO Carlos

MIRANDA - MORTÁGUA (POR)

221. SANCHO Hugo

222. GONÇALVES Gaspar

223. FREITAS Daniel

224. SILVA Joaquim

225. BARBOSA João

226. SANCHEZ REBOLLIDO Angel Lorenzo

227. LINAREZ MENESES Leangel Ruben

RADIO POPULAR - BOAVISTA (POR)

231. GALLEGO RUIZ Alberto

232. BENTA João

233. CARVALHO Gonçalo

234. SILVA Afonso

235. FERNANDES Luís

236. NUNES Hugo

237. RODRIGUES David

W52/FC PORTO (POR)

241. ANTUNES Amaro

242. MESTRE Ricardo

243. MESTRE Daniel

244. MAGALHÃES Jorge

245. PINTO Edgar

256. RODRIGUES João

257. CALDEIRA Samuel

Tadej Pogačar lived up to the hype and bested world class climbers on stage two of the Volta ao Algarve.

The 20-year-old held his own on the testing final climb to Fóia against the likes of Wout Poels (Team Sky) and Enric Mas (Deceuninck – Quick-Step) to take his first win for a WorldTour team.

Pogačar, winner of the 2019 Tour de l’Avenir, takes control of the general classification in Portugal.

How it happened

Stage two of the Volta ao Algarve was one for the climbers, with an undulating parcours leading into to tough final ascent of 7.8km at 6.1 per cent.

>>> Simon Yates ‘not interested in Tour de France’

The 187.4km run from Almodôvar to Fóia was likely to be the first shake up on general classification after the opening sprint on stage one.

An early breakaway formed in the first 10k, made up of Brian van Goethem (Lotto-Soudal), Olivier le Gac (Groupama-FDJ), Rafael Reis (W52-FC Porto), Bruno Silva (Efapel) and Jesús Nanclares (Miranda-Mortágua), who were allowed a two-minute advantage.

The break were caught on a climb with 50km to ride, as the CCC Team duo of Amaro Atunes and Riccardo Zoidl went clear in a bid for the stage.

Zoidl was able to to pull out a 1-10 gap while working for his team-mate, as a four-man chasing group from the smaller teams tried and failed to bridge across.

With 20km to the line, the CCC pairing held a gap of 30 seconds.

Team Sky and Quick-Step controlled the chase to prevent the escapees making it to the foot of the climb, and they were caught 15km from the finish.

At the foot of the climb, Quick-Step set the pace to set up their Spanish revelation Mas, with Lotto-Soudal, Sky and UAE Team Emirates riding just behind.

>>> Matteo Trentin wins punishing sprint on stage two of Ruta del Sol 2019

Sky took over with their trademark blistering climbing pace to set up Wout Poels.

Brit Tao Geoghegan Hart took over with 6km and increased the pressure further, putting in an outstanding turn for Sky over the next 4km.

Geoghegan Hart’s turn put the hurt on Pogačar’s team-mate Fabio Aru who was dropped, but the young Slovenian kept himself tucked in the front group.

The first big attack came from Amaro Antunes (CCC Team) with just a smattering of riders left in contention in the final kilometre.

Poels put in a huge surge and caught the Portuguese rider before the line, but it was the young star Pogačar who was the strongest man as he passed the Dutchman to take the win.

Enric Mas tried to down the attacks but fell short, finishing third behind Poels.

Results

Volta ao Algarve 2019, stage two: Almodôvar to Alto da Fóia (187.4km)

1. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates, in 4-58-25

2. Wout Poels (Ned) Team Sky, at 1 sec

3. Enric Mas (Esp) Deceuninck – Quick-Step, at 3s

4. Sam Oomen (Ned) Sunweb, at 5s

5. Amaro Antunes (Por) CCC Team, at 7s

6.David de la Cruz (Esp) Team Sky, at 21s

7. João Rodrigues (Por) W52/FC Porto, at 24s

8. Simone Petilli (Ita) UAE Team Emirates, at 27s

9. José Herrada (Esp) Cofidis, at 28s

10. Michael Valgren (Den) Dimension Data, at 49s

General classification after stage two

1. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates, in 9-51-23

2. Wout Poels (Ned) Team Sky, at 1 second

3. Enric Mas (Esp) Deceuninck – Quick-Step, at 3s

4. Sam Oomen (Ned) Sunweb, at 5s

5. David de la Cruz (Esp) Team Sky, at 21s

6. Søren Kragh Andersen (Den) Sunweb, at 51s

7. João Rodriges (Por) W52/FC Porto, at 1-29

8. Amaro Antunes (Por) CCC Team, at 1-42

9. Neilson Powless (USA) Jumbo-Visma, at 1-46

10. Marc Hirschi (Sui) Sunweb, at same time

Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) finished safely in the peloton on stage four of the 2018 Volta ao Algarve in Portugal on Saturday to retain the overall race lead with one stage remaining.

Dutch sprinter Dylan Groenewegen (LottoNL-Jumbo) took his second victory of the race, claiming the bunch sprint win ahead of Matteo Pelucchi (Bora-Hansgrohe) in second and John Degenkolb (Trek-Segafredo) in third.

Welshman Thomas maintained his overall race lead ahead of Sky team-mate Michal Kwiatkowski, with Nelson Oliveira (Movistar) in third.

>>> Volta ao Algarve 2018: Latest news, reports and race info

How it happened

There were some familiar names in the day's escape group, with mountains classification leader Benjamin King (Dimension Data) going out in the hunt for climbing points on the day's two categorised climbs along with João Rodrigues (W52-FC Porto), who held the KOM jersey after stage one.

They were joined by four other riders: Rory Sutherland (UAE Team Emirates), Julen Amezqueta (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Bruno Silva (Efapel) and Aleksandr Grigorev (Sporting-Tavira).

King crested the two categorised climbs in the lead to grab the maximum points, and then the break settled in to continuing its day's work.

The peloton seemed happy to let them continue – albeit it with a narrow advantage. As the break hit 20km to go, the gap was less than a minute and Silva was dropped on a minor climb.

Philippe Gilbert (Quick-Step Floors), Guillaume Bonnafond Cofidis) and Dylan Teuns (BMC) picked this moment to attack from the bunch. They were joined by Jasha Sutterlin (Movistar).

Despite having fresher legs than the original break, the Gilbert quartet struggled to make contact with the front group, stuck between them and the peloton.

By the time the junction between the two leading groups was made with around 10km to go, the peloton was just 10 seconds behind them.

Gilbert looked to be the most committed in making the break succeed, taking long turns at the front, gritting his teeth.  However, it wasn't to be, and they were reeled in with 3km to go to set up a bunch sprint.

LottNL-Jumbo lined-up Groenewegen perfectly for the finale, and the Dutchman duly claimed the win - his third of the year so far.

The 2018 Volta ao Algarve concludes on Sunday, February 18, with stage five. It's a tricky course from Faro to Malhão over 173.5km, with plenty of hills and a 3km finishing climb that pitches up in places at a gradient of 10 per cent.

Barring disaster, Thomas is positioned well to take his third overall victory in the race.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ns_uqzVGYAw

Result

Volta ao Algarve 2018, stage four: Almodôvar to Tavira, 199.2km

1. Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo, in 4-33-49

2. Matteo Pelucchi (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe

3. John Degenkolb (Ger) Trek-Segafredo

4. Florian Senechal (Fra) Quick-Step Floors

5. Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) BMC Racing

6. Timothy Dupont (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert

7. Hugo Hofstetter (Fra) Cofidis

8. Jasper De Buyst (Bel) Lotto-Soudal

9. Loïc Vliegen (Bel) BMC Racing

10. Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky, all same time

General classification after stage four

1. Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky, in 14-35-50

2. Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky, at 19 secs

3. Nelson Oliveira (Por) Movistar, at 32 secs

4. Bob Jungels (Lux) Quick-Step Floors, at 52 secs

5. Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing, at 53 secs

6. Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo, at 1-01

7. Jaime Roson (Esp) Movistar, at 1-18

8. Felix Großschartner (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe, at 1-20

9. Vasil Kiryienka (Blr) Team Sky, at 1-24

10. Simon Spilak (Slo) Katusha-Alpecin, at 1-31

Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) increased his overall lead in the 2018 Volta ao Algarve on Friday after winning the race's individual time trial stage.

The Welshman claimed the victory 11 seconds ahead of Belgian Victor Campenaerts (Lotto-Soudal), who had enjoyed a long spell in the hot seat after setting an early fast time on the undulating 20.3-kilometre route starting and finishing in Lagoa.

Stefan Küng (BMC Racing) placed third, with the previous day's stage winner, Michal Kwiatkowski (Team Sky) putting in another strong ride to finish fourth.

Former time trial world champions Tony Martin (Katusha-Alpecin) and Vasil Kiryienka (Team Sky) finished sixth and ninth respectively.

"It's nice to get a win. Like I said yesterday, I just didn't expect it. It all seemed to click today," Thomas said after the victory.

>>> Volta ao Algarve 2018: Latest news, reports and race info

Having already won the race in 2015 and 2016, Thomas said he was keen to add a third victory.

"We'll try and keep the race lead now, we'll have a look at the time gaps but not take anything for granted. Victories are few and far between, so I will enjoy this."

Thomas said that he is off to Tenerife after the race finishes for a team training camp, before staring his campaign in northern Europe.

Thomas now leads team-mate Kwiatkowski by 22 seconds overall, with Portuguese rider Nelson Oliveira (Movistar) in third at 32 seconds.

The 2018 Volta ao Algarve continues on Saturday with stage four, a relatively flat trip from Almodôvar to Tavira taking in 199.2km. The UCI 2.HC-ranked race concludes on Sunday, February 18.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AntnS1WXA4

Result

Volta ao Algarve 2018, stage three: Lagoa to Lagoa, 20.3km

1. Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky, in 24-09

2. Victor Campenaerts (Bel) Lotto-Soudal, at 11 secs

3. Stefan Küng (Sui) BMC Racing, at 19 secs

4. Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky, at 22 secs

5. Nelson Oliveira (Por) Movistar, at 22 secs

6. Tony Martin (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin, at 27 secs

7. Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing, at 47 secs

8. Bob Jungels (Lux) Quick-Step Floors, at 49 secs

9. Vasil Kiryienka (Blr) Team Sky, at 50 secs

10. Lukasz Wisniowski (Pol) Team Sky, at 51 secs

General classification after stage three

1. Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky, in 10-01-58

2. Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky, at 22 secs

3. Nelson Oliveira (Por) Movistar, at 32 secs

4. Bob Jungels (Lux) Quick-Step Floors, at 52 secs

5. Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing, at 53 secs

6. Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo, at 1-01

7. Jaime Roson (Esp) Movistar, at 1-18

8. Maximilian Schachmann (Ger) Quick-Step Floors, at 1-19

9. Felix Großschartner (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe, at 1-20

10. Vasil Kiryienka (Blr) Team Sky, at 1-24

Michal Kwiatkowski (Team Sky) won stage two of the 2018 Volta ao Algarve on Thursday, claiming the victory on top of Alto da Fóia in the race's first climbing stage.

The Pole sprinted out of a compact group of favourites to win with a clear margin ahead of Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo), with Welshman Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) in third. Daniel Martin (UAE Team Emirates) was fourth.

It's Sky's second victory of the day after Wout Poels won in the Ruta del Sol.

Double Algarve winner Thomas moves into the overall race lead ahead of Friday's key individual time trial.

How it happened

Seven riders escaped from the clutches of the peloton after 10km: John Degenkolb (Trek-Segafredo), Marcos Jurado (Efapel), Benjamin King (Dimension Data), Yves Lampaert (Quick-Step Floors), Ricardo Mestre (W52-FC Porto), Oscar Pelegri (Rádio Popular-Boavista) and Lukas Pöstlberger (Bora-Hansgrohe).

The group quickly built up a decent lead, stretching out their advantage to over seven minutes before the first of five classified climbs

King signalled his intention to claim as many mountain points as possible, cresting the first four classified ascents in the lead.

After the fourth climb, the escapees' advantage had been trimmed back to under three minutes with the final, long ascent of Alto da Fóia looming in the distance. At this point, the UAE Team Emirates squad of Martin were pulling the peloton along.

Jurado was the first rider to drop out of the break on the flat section prior to the start of Fóia's lower slopes before the attacks started to kick in, with Pöstlberger and King forming a duo out front.

However, their move was short-lived as the peloton swept up all remnants of the break with 9km to go.

Fóia's 15km climbing test hit gradients of up to 10 per cent in places, providing the perfect arena for the GC riders to show their hand.

It was Team Sky who massed at the front of the bunch, taking over from UAE Team Emirates, and launching Vasil Kiryienka up the road. He was quickly joined by Martin, Philippe Gilbert (Quick-Step Floors), Simon Spilak (Katusha-Alpecin) and Sepp Kuss (LottoNL-Jumbo).

As the other four slipped back into the pack, Kiryienka continued alone into the final 5km with a slim margin over the peloton.

>>> Volta ao Algarve 2018: latest news, reports and race info

With 2km to go, the Belarusian looked to be fading and was swallowed up by the strung-out chasing group as they passed under the kilometre-to-go banner.

It all looked to be part of Sky's grand plan, however, as Kenny Ellissonde moved to the front of the reduced peloton to drive up the pace for team-mates Thomas and Kwiatkowski.

Thomas opened up his effort first, chased by Martin with Kwiatkowski then surging ahead in the final few hundred metres to claim the victory ahead of Mollema, who had found his way past Thomas and Martin.

The 2018 Volta ao Algarve continues on Friday with stage three, a key 20.3-kilometre individual time trial starting and finishing in Lagoa that could potentially see some significant gaps opening up in the general classification. The race concludes on Sunday, February 18.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AntnS1WXA4

Result

Volta ao Algarve 2018, stage two: Sagres to Alto da Fóia, 187.9km

1. Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky, in 4-49-51

2. Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo

3. Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky

4. Daniel Martin (Irl) UAE Team Emirates

5. Jaime Roson (Esp) Movistar, at same time

6. Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe, at 3 secs

7. Bob Jungels (Lux) Quick-Step Floors

8. Pieter Serry (Bel) Quick-Step Floors

9. Vicente Rubio (Esp) LA Aluminios

10. Richie Porte (Aus) BMC Racing, at same time

General classification after stage two

1. Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky, in 9-37-49

2. Jaime Roson (Esp) Movistar, at same time

3. Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky, at same time

4. Daniel Martin (Irl) UAE Team Emirates, at same time

5. Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo, at same time

6. Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe, at 3 secs

7. Bob Jungels (Lux) Quick-Step Floors, at 3 secs

8. Pieter Serry (Bel) Quick-Step Floors, at 3 secs

9. Vicente Rubio (Spa) LA Aluminios, at 3 secs

10. Louis Meintjes (RSA) Dimension Data, at 3 secs

Dylan Groenewegen (LottoNL-Jumbo) enjoyed a perfect start to the 2018 Volta ao Algarve in Portugal with the stage win and early race lead.

The Dutchman added to his win in the opening stage of the Dubai Tour last week with the bunch sprint victory, opening up his effort early and fending off a late surge by French rival Arnaud Démare (Groupama-FDJ).

Démare settled for second, with fellow Frenchman Hugo Hofstetter (Cofidis) in third.

Groenewegen leads Démare overall in the general classification going into stage two.

How it happened

The day's escape group formed up early, with five riders forging ahead of the bunch after just two kilometres: Nuno Almeida (LA Alumínios), David Livramento (Sporting-Tavira), Luís Afonso (Vito-Feirense-BlackJack), João Rodrigues (W52-FC Porto) and Josu Zabala (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA).

For the first two hours of racing, their gap held steady at around two and a half minutes, but past the mid-way point of the race their advantage started to be chipped away over the lumpy terrain.

Algarve native Rodrigues crested the day's fourth and third category climbs of Aldeia dos Matos and Eira da Cevada ahead of his escape companions to earn the lead in the mountain classification, while Zabala took the day's two intermediate sprints.

>>> Volta ao Algarve 2018: Latest news, reports and race info

With 70km to go – and with the terrain flattening out – the break's lead wavered between a minute and a half, and just less than a minute for the next 50km.

With 15km to go, the race was all back together and there was a frantic flurry of activity as riders attacked and were chased down. There were several minor crashes in the peloton as riders jostled for position.

Tom Devriendt (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) and Jose Goncalves (Katusha-Alpecin) were the most successful of the attackers, but were both caught with 2km to go to set up a bunch sprint.

Groenewegen looked as though he didn't want to give his rivals a chance of getting ahead of him, and opened up his sprint early – Démare did his best to try and chase him down, and the two finished with a clear gap ahead of the rest of the bunch.

The 2018 Volta ao Algarve steps up a notch on Thursday with stage two from Sagres to Fóia, covering 187.9km and ending with a long 15km climb to the finish line that should see the general classification shaken up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AntnS1WXA4

Result

Volta ao Algarve 2018, stage one: Albufeira to Lagos, 192.6km

1. Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo

2. Arnaud Démare (Fra) Groupama-FDJ

3. Hugo Hofstetter (Fra) Cofidis

4. Timothy Dupont (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert

5. Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) BMC Racing

6. John Degenkolb (Ger) Trek-Segafredo

7. Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Lotto-Soudal

8. Matteo Pelucchi (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe

9. Yves Lampaert (Bel) Quick-Step Floors

10. Luis Mendonça (Por) Aviludo-Louletano, all same time

General classification after stage one

1. Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo

2. Arnaud Démare (Fra) Groupama-FDJ

3. Hugo Hofstetter (Fra) Cofidis

4. Timothy Dupont (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert

5. Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) BMC Racing

6. John Degenkolb (Ger) Trek-Segafredo

7. Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Lotto-Soudal

8. Matteo Pelucchi (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe

9. Yves Lampaert (Bel) Quick-Step Floors

10. Luis Mendonça (Por) Aviludo-Louletano

After a handful of complaints last week about riders benefiting from drafting behind motorbikes in races, breakaway riders at the Volta ao Algarve weren't too pleased to hear that the peloton had been able to ride close behind camera bikes on stage four of the Portuguese race.

Ryan Mullen (Cannondale-Drapac), Taco van der Hoorn (Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij), and Dion Smith (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) put in an excellent effort on the penultimate stage of the race to hold off the peloton until just two kilometres to go.

Initially all three riders initially said how pleased they were with their day in the break, but that quickly turned to frustration after Mullen had apparently chatted with team-mate Sep Vanmarcke.

The Belgian had been in the pursuing peloton, and said that the chasers had benefited from the draft of camera motorbikes riding in front of the main pack.

According to new regulations introduced by the UCI just two weeks ago camera motorbikes should film "from 3/4 in front of the riders [i.e. not directly in front of the riders] and not remain permanently in front of the peloton".

The motorbike driver was sanctioned under the rules, and was not allowed in the race for the final stage.

FC Porto scored a famous victory at their home race through Amaro Antunes, who won the final stage summit finish to Malhão.

Primoz Roglic (LottoNL-Jumbo) held his 22 second advantage over second place Michal Kwiatkowski (Team Sky) in the general classification battle, finishing just behind the Sky man crossing the line in fifth place on the stage.

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A huge group of 21 riders, including some big names like André Greipel (Lotto-Soudal), John Degenkolb (Trek-Segafredo), Sep Vanmarcke (Cannondale-Drapac) and Arnaud Démare (FDJ), got away from the peloton after around an hour of fast racing and established a maximum gap of around 2-30.

That group slowly disintegrated as race continued, with Ben King (Cannondale) among others attempting to get away with 11km to go and the final ascent of two of the Malhão remaining.

It wasn't to be though for the breakaway, which was caught by the peloton at the base of the final climb to the finish, with Maurits Lammertink (Katusha-Alpecin) the final rider to be caught further up the climb.

It was then all about whether Kwiatkowski would attack Roglic and try and take back the 22 seconds he needed to win overall.

Sky worked hard to place him well on the climb, with young Italian Gianni Moscon pacing him for most of the first 2km of the 3km climb.

Meanwhile, Antunes made a darting move with 1.5km remaining, which was meant with little response from the remaining riders in the front group who were more focussed on GC.

He was able to solo comfortably to the finish to take the biggest win of his career and his team's history, as Kwiatkowski attempted to drop Roglic.

That attempt was short lived though, with the Slovenian able to match the Pole's move. Eventually they finished together on the line, with Kwiatkowski in fourth and Roglic just behind.

Results

Volta ao Algarve stage five, Loulé - Malhão, (179.2k)

1. Amaro Antunes (Por) W52/FC Porto, in 4-29-28

2. Vicente Garcia (Esp) Louletano-Hospital de Loule, at 12s

3. Tiesj Benoot (Bel) Lotto Soudal, st

4. Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky, at 15s

5. Primoz Roglic (Slo) Team LottoNl-Jumbo, at 16s

6. Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) Sporting Clube de Portugal/Tavira, at 17s

7. Jaime Roson (Esp) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA, st

8. Luis León Sanchez (Spa) Astana Pro Team, st

9. Tony Gallopin (Fra) Lotto Soudal, at 18s

10. David de la Fuente (Esp) Louletano-Hospital de Loule, st

Final general classification

1. Primoz Roglic (Slo) Team LottoNl-Jumbo

2. Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky, at 22s

3. Tony Gallopin (Fra) Lotto-Soudal, at 55 secs

4. Luis Leon Sanchez (Esp) Astana, at 59 secs

5. Amaro Antunes (Por) W52-FC Porto-Porto Canal, at 59s

6. Dan Martin (Irl) Quick-Step Floors, at 1-36

7. Jonathan Castroviejo (Esp) Movistar, at 1-40

8. Tiesj Benoot (Bel) Lotto Soudal, at 1-42

9. Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) Sporting Clube de Portuga/Tavira, at 1-56

10. Edgar Pinto (Por) LA Alumínios-Metalusa, at 2-19

André Greipel (Lotto-Soudal) beat John Degenkolb (Trek-Segafredo) and Dylan Groenewegen (LottoNL-Jumbo) in a photo finish to win stage four of the Volta ao Algarve on Saturday.

Devoid of a lead-out train, Greipel showed a wicked turn of speed to come from far back and overturn Degenkolb's lead in the closing metres, with Groenewegen joining the pair in a finish separated by the smallest of margins.

It is Greipel's second win of the season - he won his opening race of the campaign at Challenge Majorca - and his fourth in the history of the race.

Primož Roglič, who took the race lead after stage three's time trial, finished comfortably in the bunch to ensure that he goes into Sunday's final stage as leader.

>>> André Greipel set to focus on Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix in 2017

Ireland’s Ryan Mullen (Cannondale-Drapac) helped to initiate the breakaway after just six kilometres. He was joined by Taco van der Hoorn (Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij), former One Pro Cycling rider Dion Smith (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) and João Matias (LA Alumínios-Metalusa).

They were allowed to build a lead of over 6 minutes after 55km, and even though they lost Matias with 30km left, the remaining three riders started to believe they had a chance of prevailing when 2:40 was their advantage with 22km until the finish.

10kms later and they still had 80 seconds, with a peloton headed by Quick-Step Floors furiously doing the pacing to reign the trio in.

They were eventually caught with just over two kilomotres to go by a peloton that was spearheaded by Degenkolb’s Trek-Segafredo.

Quick-Step and Trek swamped the front of the race in the final kilometre and Jasper Stuyven led Degenkolb expertly into the final 500 metres, just as Quick-Step did for stage one winner Fernando Gaviria.

Greipel started his sprint from deep, but it appeared to help him as he was allowed to get between Gaviria’s and Degenkolb slipstream before forcing himself beyond the former and in line with his German compatriot.

Arnaud Démare (FDJ) and Groenewegen (LottoNL-Jumbo) also both came from far out, but it was Groenewegen who edged himself parallel with the two Germans, requiring the race jury to turn to a photo finish that determined Greipel as the winner.

Roglič didn't lose any time and remains in the leader's jersey by 22 seconds going into Sunday's final stage, an 2.8km uphill finish to Malhão.

Results

Volta ao Algarve 2017, stage four: Almodôvar to Tavira, 203.4km

1. André Greipel (Ger) Lotto-Soudal in 4-57-51

2. John Degenkolb (Ger) Trek-Segafredo

3. Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo

4. Arnaud Démare (Fra) FDJ

5. Jasper Steven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo

6. Andrea Pasqualon (Wanty-Groupe Robert)

7. Fernando Gaviria (Col) Quick-Step Floors

8. Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) Cofidis

9. Michael Schwarzmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe

10. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data all at same time

General classification after stage four

1. Primoz Roglic (Slo) Team LottoNL-Jumbo, in 14-34-20

2. Michael Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky, at 22 secs

3. Jonathan Castroviejo (Esp) Movistar, at 36 secs

4. Tony Gallopin (Fra) Lotto-Soudal, at 55 secs

5. Luis Leon Sanchez (Esp) Astana, at 59 secs

6. Dan Martin (Irl) Quick-Step Floors, at 1-31

7. Tony Martin (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin, at 1-40

8. Tiesj Benoot (Bel) Lotto-Soudal, at 1-49

9. Amaro Manuel Antunes (Por) W52-FC Porto-Porto Canal, at 1-54

10.  Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) Sporting Clube de Portuga/Tavira, 1-56

With the Tour of Oman, Ruta del Sol, and the Volta ao Algarve all taking place this week there's lots for cycling fans to enjoy, but all three races have seen pros take to Twitter to complain about motorbike outriders allowing riders to draft behind them.

The latest complaint came from André Greipel, who complained to the UCI about a motorbike rider letting Primoz Roglic draft behind him in Friday's Volta ao Algarve time trial.

Roglic finished third in the time trial and moved into the overall lead with his performance on the day.

Dan Martin, the man who preceded Roglic as the race leader in Algarve, was one of the other pros to complain about drafting, this time at the Tour of Oman where the Irishman spotted a motorbike giving a tow to the breakaway duo of Mark Christian and Preben Van Hecke.

To complete the set of this week's races, Tosh Van der Sande spotted a similar incident at the Ruta del Sol where a Trek-Segafredo rider was taking full advantage of a motorbike riding too close to the peloton

The complaints come just over a week after the UCI introduced new rules designed at regulating race motorbikes to improve the safety for riders.

According to the new regulations, camera motorcycles should film "from 3/4 in front of the riders [i.e. not directly in front of the riders] and not remain permanently in front of the peloton".

In a time trial there should be "around 100m/150m" gap between the motorbike in front of the rider, and the rider themself.

Primoz Roglic (LottoNL-Jumbo) followed up on his second place in Thursday's summit finish with a strong ride in today's time trial to take over from Dan Martin (Quick-Step Floors) at the top of the general classification at the Volta ao Algarve.

The Slovenian national champion produced a strong ride on the flat coastal course in southern Portugal, stopping the clock five seconds slower than stage winner Jonathan Castroviejo (Movistar) to finish third on the stage and take the overall race lead.

A time trial stage winner at last year's Giro d'Italia, Roglic was one of the favourites going into the stage, and rode well over the course of the generally flat stage, finishing just one second behind world time trial champion Tony Martin (Katusha-Alpecin).

Meanwhile Martin, wearing an ill-fitting yellow skinsuit, never looked comfortable, falling out of the contention for the overall race win, finishing nearly a minute and a half behind the leading riders.

Results

Volta ao Algarve 2017, stage three: Lagoa to Alto da Fóia, 189.3km

1. Jonathan Castroviejo (Esp) Movistar, in 21-24

2. Tony Martin (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin, at 4 secs

3. Primoz Roglic (Slo) Team LottoNL-Jumbo, at 5 secs

4. Michael Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky, at same time

5. Lars Boom (Ned) Astana, at 11 secs

6. Arnaud Demare (Fra) FDJ, at 12 secs

7. Alex Dowsett (Gbr) Movistar, at 16 secs

8. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data, at 20 secs

9. Nelson Oliveira (Por) Movistar, at same time

10. Tony Gallopin (Fra) Lotto-Soudal, at 21 secs

General classification after stage three

1. Primoz Roglic (Slo) Team LottoNL-Jumbo, in 9-36-29

2. Michael Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky, at 22 secs

3. Jonathan Castroviejo (Esp) Movistar, at 36 secs

4. Tony Gallopin (Fra) Lotto-Soudal, at 55 secs

5. Luis Leon Sanchez (Esp) Astana, at 59 secs

6. Daniel Martin (Irl) Quick-Step Floors, at 1-31

7. Tony Martin (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin, at 1-40

8. Tiesj Benoot (Bel) Lotto-Soudal, at 1-49

9. Amaro Manuel Antunes (Por) W52-FC Porto-Porto Canal, at 1-54

10.  Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) Sporting Clube de Portuga/Tavira, 1056

Dan Martin (Quick-Step Floors) opened his account for the 2017 season by winning the summit finish of stage two of the Volta ao Algarve.

The Irishman rode clear with LottoNL-Jumbo's Primoz Roglic, before out-sprinting the Slovenian in the final few hundred metres to win the stage by half a bike length.

Rather impressively, the win was Quick-Step's tenth of the season, and Martin's victory was built on strong teamwork as he was put in a perfect position at the base of the finishing climb by Zdenek Stybar and Enric Mas.

Martin then followed a counter-attack with Roglic, with formed a front group of four with Michal Kwiatkowski (Team Sky) and Amaro Manuel Antunes (W52-FC Porto-Porto Canal), before a Martin attack separated the front two who would contest the stage win.

Martin's win also gave him the overall lead in the race, although with a time trial on the cards tomorrow, and Roglic in second overall and having won the time trial at the 2016 Giro d'Italia, Martin could struggle to lead for more than a day.

Sunny skies greeted the riders of stage two of the Volta ao Algarve, and with a flat first two third of the stage, plenty of riders seemed keen to get into the day's break.

When the break eventually formed it consisted of eight riders: Edward Theuns (Trek-Segafredo), Kenneth Vanbilsen (Cofidis), Igor Boev (Gazprom), Brian Van Goethem (Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij), Adam De Vos (Rally), Joao Matias (LA Alumínios-Metalusa), and Luis Gomes and Daniel Sánchez (Rádio Popular Boavista).

With a tought finale to the race culminating in a summit finish, then break was never likely to succeed, and so it proved as Quick-Step Floors led on to the final climb with so much speed that three of the Belgian team's riders, Stybar, Mas, and Martin, managed to open a slender gap.

A small group was able to quickly regain contact, one of whom was Roglic who counter-attacked with Martin, Kwiatkowski, and Antunes.

The foursome briefly worked together before an attack from Martin was only followed by Roglic to leave the two riders out-front with a gap of around 15 seconds. Martin tried a couple of unsuccessful moves, before settling in to cooperate in extending the gap to Kwiatkowski chasing solo behind.

Their collaboration lasted until the 250m to go, when Martin opened up the sprint, and while Roglic was able to stay on Martin's wheel he wasn't able to come around, with the Irishman winning the stage by half a bike length.

Results

Volta ao Algarve 2017, stage two: Lagoa to Alto da Fóia, 189.3km

1. Daniel Martin (Irl) Quick-Step Floors, in 4-46-35

2. Primoz Roglic (Slo) Team LottoNL-Jumbo, at same time

3. Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky, at 20 secs

4. Amaro Manuel Antunes (Por) W52-FC Porto-Porto Canal, at 33 secs

5. Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) Sporting Club de Portugal/Tavira

6. Luis Leon Sanchez (Esp) Astana

7. Jonathan Castroviejo (Esp) Movistar

8. Tony Gallopin (Fra) Lotto-Soudal

9. Edgar Pinto (Por) LA Alumínios-Metalusa, all at same time

10. Tiesj Benoot (Bel) Lotto-Soudal

Fernando Gaviria (Quick-Step Floors) won the bunch sprint on stage one of the Volta ao Algarve, comfortably beating André Greipel (Lotto-Soudal) and Nacer Bouhani (Cofidis) in southern Portugal.

The Colombian sprinter has great form already this season, taking two stage wins at the Vuelta a San Juan, and showed a fast finish once again to take a comprehensive stage win in Lagos.

A chaotic final few kilometres saw no one team able to control the front of the peloton, and for a few seconds it even looked as if Gaviria's lead-out man Maximiliano Richeze might take the stage win after jumping early around Bouhanni's Cofidis lead-out train.

Richeze didn't quite have the legs to pull off a surprise victory, but Gaviria was decisive in opening his sprint a moment before Bouhanni to take the stage win by a bike length ahead of Greipel.

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The break of the day consisted of five riders who escaped within the first three kilometres: Christoph Pfingsten (Bora-Hansgrohe), Justin Oien (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Brian van Goethem (Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij) and João Benta (Radio Popular-Boavista).

The escapees quickly built up a gap of more than six minutes, sharing the early intermediate sprint points and KOM points between them.

However the stage was set for a bunch sprint, with the break being caught by what looked like a fairly relaxed peloton with 26km remaining.

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From that point on it was the sprinters's teams that took control, with the pace steadily being ramped up as Bora-Hansgrohe, FDJ, Cofidis, Lotto-Soudal, and even Continental outfit Rally Cycling battled it out at the front.

Into the final five kilometres and the front of the peloton was still very fluid, with no one team able to take control as the race was split in half by substantial road furniture down the middle of the road.

A chaotic finish saw Gaviria's team-mate Maximiliano Richeze jump early with 400m to go, as Gaviria bided his time before coming around Bouhanni to take the stage win.

Results

Volta ao Algarve 2017, stage one: Albufeira to Lagos, 182.9km

1. Fernando Gaviria (Col) Quick-Step Floors, in 4-28-31

2. André Greipel (Ger) Lotto-Soudal

3. Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) Cofidis

4. Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo

5. John Degenkolb (Ger) Trek-Segafredo

6. Baptise Planckaert (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin

7. Matteo Trentin (Ita) Quick-Step Floors

8. Andrea Pasqualon (Ita) Wanty-Groupe Gobert

9. Lukasz Wisniowski (Pol) Team Sky

10. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data, all same time

With Adriano Malori in hospital recovering from a crash at the Tour de San Luis, the Movistar team were dealt another blow when fellow time trial specialist Jonathan Castroviejo crashed after the end of the final stage at the Volta ao Algarve.

Having finished the stage atop Alto do Malhao, Castroviejo rode back down the hill to the team bus, but suffered a nasty crash on the descent.

According to the Movistar website, a spectator moved into his path as he descended, causing him to crash. The Basque rider was taken to the hospital in Faro with pain in his neck and left arm, which were later diagnosed as fractures.

It had been a successful race for Castroviejo, having finished sixth in the stage three time trial where Movistar riders secured fourth to seventh place.

Castroviejo will remain in Portugal until his injuries are fully assessed, with the possibility of being transferred back to his native Spain.

Geraint Thomas knew what it would take to win the Volta ao Algarve, having claimed victory 12 months ago, but heading into the 2016 race as the clear team leader led to a lot more pressure on his shoulders.

Last year, Team Sky's Thomas teamed up with Richie Porte as joint leaders, but with the Australian coming off a strong performance at the Tour Down Under Thomas could have slipped under the radar a little.

But as the team's sole leader - especially after the late withdrawal of Michal Kwiatkowski - Thomas says he felt the pressure more second time round.

"I didn’t know what to expect coming here. I’ve had the longest off-season ever – about five weeks completely off the bike – so to come here and win again is really nice," he said after the final stage.

"This year I had more pressure, coming here as the leader of the team and as the previous winner. Last year I was with Richie Porte as a second leader, so it was a bonus to win. So to come here and have the boys riding for me is really nice."

In an interview with BBC Wales, Thomas admitted the win was a nice confidence boost for him heading into Paris-Nice and Milan-San Remo. But although many have tipped him as a future Grand Tour champion, the Welshman is happy to play the teammate at this year's Tour de France.

"The plan for me is to go to the Tour de France in the best shape possible to help [Chris] Froome," he said. "If I can look after myself a little better than last year and get a result myself then that’ll be really good, but the main thing is to win with Froome."

Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) has won the 2016 Volta ao Algarve in Portugal, successfully defending his victory in the race from last year.

Welshman Thomas placed fifth on the final, climb-filled stage behind Alberto Contador (Tinkoff). Contador's solo move on Alto do Malhao shows that his early-season climbing form is in a good place on a day that Grand Tour rivals Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) and Alejandro Valverde (Movsitar) also took significant wins elsewhere.

Vuelta a España winner Fabio Aru (Astana) finished second on the stage, with Frenchman Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) in third.

Race leader Tony Martin (Etixx-QuickStep) was distanced relatively early on, during the first ascent of Alto do Malhao, and quickly lost time and any chance of standing on the top step of the final podium.

Thomas won last year's edition of Volta ao Algarve before a standout season that saw him claim the victory in E3 Harelbeke and an extended spell in the top 10 of the Tour de France, before eventually finishing 15th. This season Thomas is concentrating on stage races, rather than the classics, as he seeks to establish himself as a GC leader at Team Sky.

Although Thomas did not win any stages in this year's Volta ao Algarve, his third place in Friday's time trial stage saw him gain valuable time on his GC rivals and his final climbing performance was enough for him to claim the race win ahead of Ion Izagirre (Movistar) by 19 seconds and Contador in third at 26 seconds.

Results

Volta ao Algarve 2016, stage five: Almodovar to Malhao, 196km

1. Alberto Contador (Spa) Tinkoff

2. Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana at 20 secs

3. Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ at same time

4. Manuel Amaro (Por) LA Aluminios at 21 secs

5. Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky at 28 secs

6. Primoz Roglic (Slo) LottoNL-Jumbo

7. Rigoberto Uran (Col) Cannondale at same time

8. Dries Devenyns (Bel) IAM Cycling at 30 secs

9. Julian Arredondo (Col) Trek-Segafredo at same time

10. Jarlinson Pantano (Col) IAM Cycling at 31 secs

Final general classification

1. Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky

2. Ion Izagirre (Spa) Movistar at 19 secs

3. Alberto Contador (Spa) Tinkoff at 26 secs

4. Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ at 32 secs

5. Primoz Roglic (Slo) LottoNL-Jumbo at 49 sces

6. Tony Gallopin (Fra) Lotto-Soudal at 50 secs

7. Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha at 1-03

8. Jarlinson Pantano (Col) IAM Cycling at 1-04

9. Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana at 1-25

10. Manuel Amaro (Por) LA Aluminios at 1-27

Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) could move into the overall lead at the Volta ao Algarve after the stage three time trial, where the Welshman is among the favourites to win the stage.

Thomas will face stiff competition for the stage win, with the likes of Tony Martin (Etixx-Quick Step), Fabian Cancellara (Trek-Segafredo) and Alex Dowsett (Movistar) also present in Portugal.

Unfortunately this race doesn't seem to be on television at all, so you won't be able to see your favourite riders actually doing the time trial, but here are the times they will hit the 18km stage.

Selected riders:

12:46:00 Matthias Brandle (Swi) IAM Cycling

13:45:00 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Movistar

14:22:00 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Trek-Segafredo

15:07:00 Nelson Oliveira (Por) Movistar

General Classification top 20:

15:09:00 Alberto Contador (Spa) Tinkoff

15:10:00 Ricardo Vilela (Por) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA

15:11:00 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Etixx-Quick Step

15:12:00 Andre Cardoso (Por) Cannondale

15:13:00 Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana

15:14:00 Sébastien Reichenbach (Swi) FDJ

15:15:00 Fränk Schleck (USA) Trek-Segafredo

15:16:00 Tony Gallopin (Fra) Lotto-Soudal

15:17:00 Tony Martin (Ger) Etixx-Quick Step

15:18:00 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha

15:19:00 Jarlinson Pantano (Col) IAM Cycling

15:20:00 Tiesj Benoot (Bel) Lotto-Soudal

15:21:00 Hector Saez (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA

15:22:00 Amaro Antunes (Por) La Aluminios/Antarte

15:23:00 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ

15:24:00 Tiago Machado (Por) Katusha

15:25:00 Ion Izaguirre (Spa) Movistar

15:26:00 Primoz Roglic (Slo) LottoNL-Jumbo

15:27:00 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky

15:28:00 Luis León Sánchez (Kaz) Astana

Geraint Thomas (Sky) put in a strong ride to finish second behind stage winner Luis Leon Sanchez on the mountain-top finish of Volta ao Algarve stage two in Portugal on Thursday.

Defending champion Thomas now sits in second place overall behind Spaniard Sanchez.

The day started with seven riders forming at escape group, but they were never really given a free hand to forge a significant gap and the race was back together with 40km to go.

Dries Devenyns (IAM Cycling) put in an attack soon after, but was reeled back in as the terrain became more mountainous.

It was then the turn of Alberto Contador (Tinkoff) to show himself, as the Spanish Grand Tour champion crested the second category Pomba climb out front. Behind, the peloton was breaking apart.

As the lead group hit the final climb of Alto de Fóia, Zdenek Stybar (Etixx-QuickStep), Diego Rosa (Astana), Nelson Oliveira (Movistar) and Robert Gesink (LottoNL-Jumbo) went clear and ground out a small advantage, but were caught within the final 2km and passed by a chase group that included Sanchez and Thomas.

Thomas opened up a sprint for the line first, but was caught by Sanchez, who claimed the victory and overall race lead.

One high-profile non-finisher was Joaquim Rodriguez (Katsuha), who withdrew from the stage with an illness.

The UCI 2.1-ranked Volta ao Algarve continues on Friday with stage three, a flat 18-kilometre individual time trial that should see the general classification riders and TT specialists out to make their mark.

Along with Thomas, watch out for British time trial champion Alex Dowsett (Movistar), who is sure to try and create an impression over a distance that should suit him well. However, the man to beat will be Tony Martin (Etixx-QuickStep) who looms in 12th place overall, just 25 seconds adrift of Sanchez and 20 seconds behind Thomas.

The five-day race concludes on Sunday, February 21.

Results

Volta ao Algarve 2016, stage two: Lagoa to Alto da Fóia, 198.6km

1. Luis Leon Sanchez (Spa) Astana

2. Geraint Thomas (GBr) Sky at 1 sec

3. Primoz Roglic (Slo) LottoNL-Jumbo at 3 secs

4. Ion Izagirre (Spa) Movistar at 3 secs

5. Tiago Machado (Por) Katusha at 5 secs

6. Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ at 6 secs

7. Manuel Amaro (Por) LA Aluminios-Antarte at 9 secs

8. Hector Saez (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA at 13 secs

9. Tiesj Benoot (Bel) Lotto-Soudal at 14 secs

10. Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana at 15 secs

General classification after stage two

1. Luis Leon Sanchez (Spa) Astana

2. Geraint Thomas (GBr) Sky at 5 secs

3. Primoz Roglic (Slo) LottoNL-Jumbo at 9 secs

4. Ion Izagirre (Spa) Movistar at 13 secs

5. Tiago Machado (Por) Katusha at 15 secs

Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) sealed overall victory in the 2015 Volta ao Algarve on Sunday, as German André Greipel (Lotto-Soudal) sprinted to victory on the final stage.

The win in Portugal is makes it a successful weekend for the Welshman's Sky team, as Chris Froome took overall victory at the Ruta del Sol on the same day.

Thomas had initially put himself into the yellow leader's jersey after a solo win on stage three before extending his lead in the individual time trial on stage four. He then finished safely on the final stage to maintain his 27 second lead over his nearest rival Michal Kwiatkowski (Etixx - Quick-Step).

Geraint Thomas's greatest hits... and misses

André Greipel took the stage victory when the race finally came together in the last kilometre, after Movistar riders Adriano Malori and Jonathan Castroviejo made an attack late in the day to join the five rider breakaway already out front.

Greipel then sprinted to the line to take his first victory of the season, but it was Thomas who took the overall spoils in the early season race, displaying fine form as he prepares to embark on a spring classics campaign.

Result

Volta ao Algarve 2015, stage five: Almodôvar - Vilamoura, 184 km

1 Andre Greipel (Ger) Lotto Soudal, 4-15-40

2 Tom van Asbroeck (Bel) LottoNL-Jumbo, same time

3 Raymond Kreder (Ned) Team Roompot, st

4 Rudiger Selig (Ger) Katusha, st

5 Gianni Meersman (Bel) Etixx – Quick-Step, st

7 Roy Jans (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert, st

8 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Lotto Soudal, st

9 Alexander Porsev (Rus) Katusha, st

10 Ben Swift (GB) Team Sky, st

Final overall classification

1 Geraint Thomas (GB) Team Sky, 19-46-13

2 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Etixx – Quick-Step, at 27 seconds

3 Tiago Machado (Por) Katusha, at 1-11

4 Richie Porte (Aus) Team Sky, at 1-14

5 Luis Leon Sanchez (Esp) Astana, at 1-18

6 Rein Taaramae (Est) Astana, at 1-19

7 Sergei Chernetckii (Rus) Katusha, at 1-32

8 Alberto Losada (Esp) Katusha, at 1-55

9 Ruben Fernandez (Esp) Movistar, at 2-04

10 Ion Izagirre (Esp) Movistar, at 2-21

Team Sky had a great day at the Volta ao Algarve in Portugal on Saturday, with Richie Porte winning the tough, hilly stage four and Geraint Thomas maintaining his overall race lead.

Porte hit the finish line on the Alto do Malhão to take a solo win three seconds ahead of last year's overall winner and current world champion Michal Kwiatkowski (Etixx-QuickStep), with Ion Izagirre (Movistar) six seconds back.

It's Porte's third win of the season so far, after the Australian time trial title and the queen stage of the Tour Down Under in January.

Crucially, Thomas managed to limit his losses against key rival Kwiatkowski, coming in fourth and just nine seconds behind Porte.

Geraint Thomas's greatest hits... and misses

Thomas has a comfortable buffer of 27 seconds in the general classification over second-placed Kwiatkowski going into Sunday's relatively flat final stage, which is predicted to end in a bunch sprint.

Home favourite Tiago Machado (Katusha) lies in third place overall at one minute and 11 seconds. Porte's stage win moves him up to fourth overall.

With Chris Froome taking the stage win and overall lead in the concurrently running Ruta de Sol in Spain, it sets up the distinct possibility on Sunday of two British Sky riders winning key early-season races.

Results

Volta ao Algarve 2015, stage four: Tavira to Malhão, 216km

1. Richie Porte (Aus) Sky

2. Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Etixx-QuickStep at 3 secs

3. Ion Izagirre (Spa) Movistar at 6 secs

4. Geraint Thomas (GBr) Sky at 9 secs

5. Michael Woods (Can) Optum at 13 secs

Overall classification after stage four

1. Geraint Thomas (GBr) Sky

2. Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Etixx-QuickStep at 27 secs

3. Tiago Machado (Por) Katusha at 1-11

4. Richie Porte (Aus) Sky at 1-14

5. Luis Leon Sanchez (Spa) Astana at 1-18

Geraint Thomas (Sky) increased his overall lead in the Volta ao Algarve on Friday after placing third in the key individual time trial stage.

Thomas was just three seconds adrift of the time set by stage winner Tony Martin (Etixx-QuickStep) and second-placed Adriano Malori (Movistar), who both clocked 21 minutes and 51 seconds on the 19-kilometre course.

Defending Algarve champion and road race world champion Michal Kwiatkowski (Etixx-QuickStep) placed fourth on the stage.

Geraint Thomas solos to win Tour of the Algarve stage two

Welshman Geraint Thomas takes Volta ao Algarve race lead after stage victory

The Sky man had set the fastest time at the 10km intermediate time check before fading slightly in comparison to Martin over the remainder of the course from Vila do Bispo to Cabo de São Vicente.

Thomas took the race lead on Thursday after taking a solo win on stage two. He now leads runner-up Martin by 30 seconds.

Just two stages of the race remain: a tough 216km route from Tavira with a mountain finish at Malhão on Saturday; and Sunday's flatter finale from Almodôvar to Vilamoura.

Thomas said via Sky's website that he will try and defend the race lead: “Saturday is a long, difficult stage, with a really testing finish. Having Richie [Porte] and a few of the other guys close by on the GC means we’ll have plenty of cards to play, and that’s always a nice situation to be in.”

Results

Volta ao Algarve 2015, stage three: Vila do Bispo to Cabo de São Vicente, 19km

1. Tony Martin (Ger) Etixx-QuickStep in 21-51

2. Adriano Malori (Ita) Movistar at same time

3. Geraint Thomas (GBr) Sky at 3 secs

4. Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Etixx-QuickStep at 9 secs

5. Anton Vorobyev (Rus) Katusha at 19 secs

Overall classification after stage three

1. Geraint Thomas (GBr) Sky

2. Tony Martin (Ger) Etixx-QuickStep at 30 secs

3. Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Etixx-QuickStep at 39 secs

4. Rein Taaramae (Est) Astana at 53 secs

5. Luis Leon Sanchez (Spa) Astana at 1-02

Geraint Thomas (Sky) took a fine solo win at the end of stage two of the 2015 Volta ao Algarve on Thursday.

Thomas attacked on the final climb of the hilly 197-kilometre stage from Lagoa to Monchiqu, finishing ahead of a trio of Astana riders headed up by Rein Taaramae, and Valerio Agnoli in third.

It's the 28-year-old Welshman's first win of the season, and his first since the Commonwealth Games road race last August.

Thomas's victory in Portugal means that he now moves into the overall race lead, 30 seconds ahead of Taaramae.

>>> Geraint Thomas, Ben Swift and Andy Fenn in Tour of the Algarve

Thomas's win goes one better than fellow Brit and Sky team-mate Ben Swift, who came in as runner-up behind stage one winner Gianni Meersman (Etixx-QuickStep) on Wednesday.

Thomas is using the race to fine-tune his form ahead of the 2015 Spring Classics season, where he will again be an important part of Sky's Classics squad. Last year, Thomas placed seventh in Paris-Roubaix, eighth in the Tour of Flanders and second in the E3 Harelbeke.

The Volta ao Algarve continues on Friday with a key 19-kilometre time trial, which could suit Thomas's talents. He won last year's Bayern Rundfahrt overall after winning that race's 25km individual time trial stage.

Results

Volta ao Algarve 2015, stage two: Lagoa to Monchique, 197km

1. Geraint Thomas (GBr) Sky

2. Rein Taaramae (Est) Astana at 19 secs

3. Valerio Agnoli (Ita) Astana at 23 secs

4. Luis Leon Sanchez (Spa) Astana

5. Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Etixx-QuickStep

6. Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Etixx-QuickStep

7. Alberto Losada (Spa) Katusha

8. Sergei Chernetckii (Rus) Katusha

9. Lars Petter Nordhaug (Nor) Sky

10. Salvatore Puccio (Ita) Sky at same time

Overall classification after stage two

1. Geraint Thomas (GBr) Sky

2. Rein Taaramae (Est) Astana at 30 secs

3. Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Etixx-QuickStep at 33 secs

4. Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Etixx-QuickStep at 33 secs

5. Luis Leon Sanchez (Spa) Astana at 33 secs

Team Sky fields British trio Geraint Thomas, Ben Swift and Andy Fenn in the 2015 Volta ao Algarve, starting today (Wednesday February 18) in Portugal.

Sky is backing team leader Richie Porte, who won the race in 2012. Porte has already claimed the Australian time trial title and the key climbers' stage of the Tour Down Under so looks in good shape to tackle the five-stage Volta ao Algarve, which includes a 19-kilometre time trial on Friday.

Swift will have his chance to contest bunch finishes on the flatter stages (one and five), although the parcours is decidedly hilly. On paper, German Andre Greipel (Lotto-Soudal) will be Swift's biggest rival in the sprints with many of the other big-name fastmen currently occupied in the Tour of Oman or Ruta del Sol.

Last year's edition was won overall by the man who went on to become world champion: Michal Kwiatkowski (Etixx-QuickStep). Kwiatkowski returns this year to defend his title with a strong line-up to back him that includes double Algarve winner Tony Martin, Zdenek Stybar and Giani Meersman.

Along with the individual test against the clock on stage three, the general classification will receive a big shake-up on Saturday, with a long 216-kilometre trawl from Tavira to Malhão that concludes with a mountain-top finish.

There are a further five WorldTour squads in the race in addition to Sky, Etixx-QuickStep and Lotto-Soudal: Cannondale-Garmin, LottoNL-Jumbo, Movistar, Katusha and Astana.

The UCI 2.1-ranked Volta ao Algarve runs from Tuesday February 18 to Sunday February 22.

>>> Chris Froome eager to test Alberto Contador as 2015 season begins

Volta ao Algarve 2015: Stages

Stage one, Wednesday February 18, Lagos to Albufeira, 167km

Stage two,  Thursday February 19, Lagoa to Monchique, 197km

Stage three, Friday February 20, Vila do Bispo to Cabo de São Vicente, 19km

Stage four, Saturday February 21, Tavira to Malhão, 216km

Stage five, Sunday February 22, Almodôvar to Vilamoura, 184km

Volta ao Algarve: Recent winners

2014: Michal Kwiatkowski

2013: Tony Martin

2012: Richie Porte

2011: Tony Martin

2010: Alberto Contador

2009: Alberto Contador

2008: Belgium Stijn Devolder

2007: Alessandro Petacchi

2006: João Cabreira

Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) secured his first win of the season, taking the victory on the final stage of the 2014 Tour of the Algarve on Sunday.

Cavendish took the bunch sprint ahead of French duo Arnaud Demare (FDJ) and Bryan Coquard (Europcar).

It was a double celebration for Omega Pharma-QuickStep after Michal Kwiatkowski also topped the general classification.

Kwiatkowski finished the race 19 seconds ahead of Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) and 32 seconds ahead of world champion Rui Costa (Lampre-Merida) in third.

Results
Tour of the Algarve 2014, stage five: Tavira to Vilamoura, 155.8km
1. Mark Cavendish (GBr) Omega Pharma-QuickStep in 3-24-10

2. Arnaud Demare (Fra) FDJ

3. Bryan Coquard (Fra) Europcar

4. Jose Rojas (Spa) Movistar

5. Sacha Modolo (Ita) Lampre-Merida

6. Alexey Tsatevitch (Rus) Katusha

7. Danilo Napolitano (Ita) Wanty-Groupe Gobert

8. Igor Boev (Rus) Rusvelo

9. Thomas Leezer (Ned) Belkin

10. Yoann Offredo (Fra) FDJ all same time

Final overall classification

1. Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Omega Pharma-QuickStep in 16-29-57

2. Alberto Contador (Spa) Tinkoff-Saxo at 19 secs

3. Rui Costa (Por) Lampre-Merida at 32 secs

4. Alexandre Geniez (Fra) FDJ at 1-13

5. Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Belkin at 1-32

Alberto Contador wins Tour of Algarve stage four

Michal Kwiatkowski retains overall lead after placing third behind Alberto Contador on mountain stage

Michal Kwiatkowski smashes ITT to extend lead at the Tour of Algarve

Michal Kwiatkowski solos to win Tour of the Algarve stage two

Omega Pharma-Quick Step rider Michal Kwiatkowski holds off the charging Alberto Contador and world champion Rui Costa after bold attack

Sacha Modolo continues winning streak in Tour of the Algarve

Lampre-Merida sprinter Sacha Modolo wins opening stage of the 2014 Volta ao Algarve

Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) took his first victory of the season, winning stage four of the Tour of the Algarve on Saturday.

World champion Rui Costa (Lampre-Merida) placed second at the mountain-top finish of Alto do Malhao, with race leader Michal Kwiatkowski (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) in third.

With one stage remaining in the race, Kwiatkowski now looks set to take the overall victory as he leads Contador by 16 seconds, and Costa by 29 seconds.

Results
Tour of the Algarve 2014, stage four
1. Alberto Contador (Spa) Tinkoff-Saxo in 4-02-08

2. Rui Costa (Por) Lampre-Merida at 3 secs

3. Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Omega Pharma-QuickStep at 10 secs

4. Eduard Prades (Spa) OFM-Quinta Da Lixa at 13 secs

5. Tiago Machado (Por) Netapp-Endura at same time

Overall classification after stage four
1. Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Omega Pharma-QuickStep in 13-05-50

2. Alberto Contador (Spa) Tinkoff-Saxo at 16 secs

3. Rui Costa (Por) Lampre-Merida at 29 secs

4. Alexandre Geniez (Fra) Fdj at 1-10

5. Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Belkin at 1-29

Michal Kwiatkowski smashes ITT to extend lead at the Tour of Algarve

Michal Kwiatkowski solos to win Tour of the Algarve stage two

Omega Pharma-Quick Step rider Michal Kwiatkowski holds off the charging Alberto Contador and world champion Rui Costa after bold attack

Sacha Modolo continues winning streak in Tour of the Algarve

Lampre-Merida sprinter Sacha Modolo wins opening stage of the 2014 Volta ao Algarve

Omega Pharma-Quick Step's brilliant start to 2014 continued today as Michal Kwiatkowski soloed to win stage two of the Tour of the Algarve in Monchique.

The 23-year-old Pole attacked with around seven kilometres of the stage remaining, and managed to hold off a late chase from Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) and world champion Rui Costa (Lampre-Merida) on the two short climbs into the finish to take his second win of the season.

Costa, on home soil, took second, with Contador completing the podium.

The pace was frantic for the final part of the stage, with numerous attacks and counter moves made.

Caja Rural's Pello Bilbao was the last of those to chance their arm approaching the uphill finish; he attacked with 24 kilometres remaining, but was caught shortly after the start of an 18-kilometre finishing circuit.

Kwiatkowski's team-mate Tony Martin, who won the race in 2011 and 2013, found the pace too hot, and was distanced before the finish.

Belkin and Tinkoff-Saxo shared the work at the front of the peloton on the lower slopes on the first of two third-category climbs to the finish, but were slow to react when Kwiatkowski made his move.

He quickly gained a 10-second advantage over a depleted peloton, and despite a frantic chase behind, took the victory.

Results
Volta ao Algarve, stage two: Lagoa to Monchique, 196km

1. Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Omega Pharma-Quick Step in 4-57-57
2. Rui Costa (Por) Lampre-Merida at 0-06

3. Alberto Contador (Spa) Tinkoff-Saxo at st.

4. Eduard Prades (Spa) OFM-Quinta de Lixa at 0-07

5. Alexandre Geniez (Fra) FDJ.fr at 0-17

6. Sergey Chernetski (Rus) Katusha

7. Chris Horner (USA) Lampre-Merida

8. Sergey Firsanov (Rus) RusVelo

9. Edgar Pinto (Por) LA Aluminos-Anarte

10. Ruben  Fernandez (Spa) Caja Rural all at st.

Overall classification after stage two

1. Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Omega Pharma-Quick Step in 8-49-33
2. Rui Costa (Por) Lampre-Merida at 0-04

3. Alberto Contador (Spa) Tinkoff-Saxo at 0-12

4. Eduard Prades (Spa) OFM-Quinta de Lixa at 0-16

5. Edgar Pinto (Por) LA Aluminos-Anarte at 0-27

6. Ruben  Fernandez (Spa) Caja Rural

7. Sergey Chernetski (Rus) Katusha

8. Jonathan Castroviejo (Spa) Movistar

9. Simon Spilak (Slo) Katusha

10. Chris Horner (USA) Lampre-Merida all at st.

Sacha Modolo continues winning streak in Tour of the Algarve

Lampre-Merida sprinter Sacha Modolo wins opening stage of the 2014 Volta ao Algarve

Cavendish to the Tour of Algarve with Renshaw and Petacchi

Tony Martin wins Tour of the Algarve

Volta ao Algarve 2013: Tony Martin blitzes final time trial stage to take the victory in Portugal

Italian sprinter Sacha Modolo (Lampre-Merida) has continued his strong start to the 2014 season, winning the opening stage of the Volta ao Algarve to add to his victories in the Tour de San Luis and Mallorca Challenge.

Modolo took the bunch sprint and early race lead at the end of an undulating stage in Portugal ahead of team mate and world champion Rui Costa, with Alessandro Petacchi (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) in third.

British sprinter Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) did not figure in the finale, and cam home in 92nd place.

Home favourite Costa will no doubt be eyeing the second stage on Thursday, a hilly route with a sharp climb in the final 10km that will suit an attacking rider.

Results
Volta ao Algarve, stage one: Faro to Albufeira, 160km
1. Sacha Modolo (Ita) Lampre-Merida

2. Rui Costa (Por) Lampre-Merida

3. Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Omega Pharma-QuickStep

4. Bryan Coquard (Fra) Europcar

5. Danilo Napolitano (Ita) Wanty-Groupe Gobert

6. Arnaud Demare (Fra) FDJ

7. Edgar Pinto (Por) LA Aluminios-Antarte

8. Daniel Schorn (Aut) NetApp-Endura

9. Alexey Tsatevich (Rus) Katusha

10. Juan Jose Lobato (Spa) Movistar all same time

Overall classification after stage one

1. Sacha Modolo (Ita) Lampre-Merida

2. Cesar Fonte (Por) Radio Popular at 1 sec

3. Rui Costa (Por) Lampre-Merida at 4 secs

4. Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Omega Pharma-QuickStep at 6 secs

5. Luis Alfonso (Por) LA Aluminios-Antarte at 6 secs

6. Bryan Coquard (Fra) Europcar at 10 secs

7. Danilo Napolitano (Ita) Wanty-Groupe Gobert at 10 secs

8. Arnaud Demare (Fra) FDJ at 10 secs

9. Mikael Delage (Fra) FDJ at 10 secs

10. Edgar Pinto (Por) LA Aluminios-Antarte at 10 secs

Cavendish to the Tour of Algarve with Renshaw and Petacchi

Sacha Modolo wins Trofeo Palma

International cycling race round-up: Results from Trofeo Palma, Etoile de Besseges and Jayco Herald Sun Tour

Mark Cavendish pipped by Sacha Modolo in San Luis

Italian Sacha Modolo pips Manxman to take race lead in Argentina

Mark Cavendish's Omega Pharma sprint train will aim to get back on track at the five stage Tour of Algarve that starts tomorrow in Portugal. After an initial, unsuccessful outing in Dubai, the Manxman will again ride with his new lead-out men Alessandro Petacchi and Mark Renshaw.

"Mark and Alessandro are the two smartest guys in that position in the world," Cavendish said last month in Argentina. "I have no problem in following those two guys. I don't have to think for myself, I just have to follow. I'm in the luckiest position to have those two."

Despite success for the team elsewhere, the Omega Pharma sprint machine is yet to reach top speed. Cavendish began in Argentina at the Tour de San Luis but worked for Tom Boonen, while at the Dubai Tour Renshaw and Petacchi couldn't deliver a win for Cavendish as Marcel Kittel (Giant-Shimano) won all three sprint stages.

Arnaud Démare (FDJ.fr), and José Joaquín Rojas (Movistar) will be the other sprinters to watch at Algarve.

"We are lucky that we can swap between everyone, not just those guys [Petacchi and Renshaw] and me, but we have a lot of strong guys on the team: Tom Boonen, Stijn Vandenbergh, Guillaume Van Keirsbulck, Nikolas Maes..." Cavendish explained. In Portugal, he is also joined by last year's overall winner Tony Martin, Michal Kwiatkowski, Michal Golas, Thomas De Gendt and Julien Vermote.

Renshaw teamed up with Cavendish again after two years trying to make it as a sprinter with Rabobank then Belkin. How long it will take them to reach a level of understanding they had in their pomp at HTC remains to be seen. Success in the 2013 Tour of Britain aside, Petacchi still has to find his position in a lead out train, although his experience alone is priceless. "We'd been speaking about riding for the same team for a few years," Cavendish said. "He signed for Lampre and it wasn't possible. When he announced his retirement; I had a phone call from Patrick and he asked what I think of Alessandro. I said, 'F**k yeah.' We tried to make it happen as quickly possible, convince him to come out of retirement. It didn't take much."

Cavendish said Petacchi slotted in immediately. They tried three times and won three times in the Tour of Britain last year. "His rhythm was perfect, his vision of the peloton in the bunch is remarkable, he's so clever," Cavendish said. "I think he's the only guy in cycling who tactically worked out how to beat me. He's beat me on a number of occasions, he's the only guy who sat and watched how I sprinted and worked out the tactics to beat me rather than just being better on the day."

Cavendish, Petacchi and Renshaw must now perfect the lead-out before the Grand Tours start. Algarve gives them another chance before the cycling peloton switches it's focus to the one day classics in northern Europe.