In a flat and tense stage that was marked by two late crashes, which luckily left Tinkoff unscathed, Contador was safely brought into the finish in the front group. Tomorrow’s hillier stage with a tough finish to Alto da Foia could set the stage for the GC battle.
The Volta ao Algarve, a race that has become an early-season form indicator, got underway with a nervous stage and the 163 kilometers from Lagos in Albufeira were not to be taken for granted, with several ups and downs that the 189 riders had to tackle.
A breakaway formed early on and its three riders managed to open a gap that rose to maximum of 7:45 minutes on the peloton. It was brought down to less than a minute with 25 km to go and was definitely caught with 7 km to go. The pace was quite steady overall, with an average speed of just over 40km/h. The sprinters had to sweat a lot for the final sprint due to constant series of ups and downs in the last few kilometers before the finish line.
“Today, for us, it was a stage where the goal was not to lose time in the general classification. It was obvious that the sprinter teams would take control of the stage and that we would have a bunch sprint. Luckily the wind was not very strong,” stated Sport Director Steven de Jongh “The team worked hard to keep Alberto in front and the guys did a very good job again. There were a lot of crashes but we were able to stay out of trouble.”
“It was a good day but this being one of the first races of the season”, commented team leader Alberto Contador, “there is always some tension. With a peloton of nearly 200 riders the race can be tense. I understand there were some crashes but, fortunately, the Tinkoff squad wasn’t affected. Last year, the start at the Ruta del Sol was quite similar, again with crashes and falls. It was windy but that didn’t cause much trouble. The field in the Volta ao Algarve is strong, with excellent sprinters and very good time-trialists, and the race level is similar to that of the WorldTour.”
“Yesterday, we carried out the recon of tomorrow’s stage and I expect it to be tough, although, in my opinion, the main GC contenders will reach the finish together. We will have to wait for the time-trail and the final stage to see how the GC shapes up”, concluded Contador.
“For tomorrow it will be exciting to see the final with an uphill finish and the riders fighting again for the first split in the GC”, concluded de Jongh.
The second stage is a different scenario with an uphill finish to Alto da Foia, at the end of a demanding 7.4km long climb. In addition, there will be some other tough challenges to take on in the finale, just like a solid big mountain stage which will bring some changes in the GC.
