After an early break was caught with 30km to go some brilliant bike racing started when M. Cort and F. Ganna attacked after the last intermediate sprint. Six riders went clear from the bunch where BORA – hansgrohe was pushing hard with the other sprinter teams to pull back the strong leading group. After an amazing fight, just before the final corner Jordi Meeus was on the wheel of the group but it was M. Cort who survived in front after launching his sprint right after the turn.He surprised the sprinters. Ganna came in second with Jordi in third place.
“I wasn’t expecting anything, nor was it planned. In fact, the idea was to go through the stage as comfortably as possible and not even sprint”, admitted Magnus Cort Nielsen.
With the Soudal Quick-Step and INEOS Grenadiers keeping an eye on the peloton, the breakaway gap was never much beyond three minutes. Tavira seemed to be destined for the usual sprint finish… The guys in front were caught in the final 50 kilometers, with Fábio Costa resisting until 30.
Results
01 M. Cort 5:05:14
02 F. Ganna + 0:00
03 J. Meeus + 0:00
“From the intermediate sprint onward, it was a crazy fast race. We went never below 60km/h but still the gap didn’t come down. Three teams were full on chasing.
