Volta Algarve 2023 – Stage 1 [FULL STAGE]

February 15, 2023

Volta Algarve 2023 – Stage 1 – Portimão – Lagos : 200,2 km

For many, the Volta ao Algarve marks the beginning of the road racing season in Europe – the point at which most of the biggest names in men’s cycling make their seasonal debuts and begin their preparations for the biggest races of the season. The five-day stage race, which tours Portugal’s southern Algarve region, typically takes place in mid-February, prompting many one-day specialists to use it as a racing tune-up ahead of the Spring Classics. Grand Tour riders also use it as an opportunity to dust off the winter cobwebs. Just a year after its debut edition in 1960, the Volta ao Algarve experienced a 16-year hiatus and was struck off the professional cycling calendar. It made a grand return in 1977, however, and has taken place every year since. In recent times the race has followed a tried and tested formula, with four road stages across the hilly Algarve and one individual time trial.

Alexander Kristoff claimed the first major victory for his new team Uno-X, powering to victory in Lagos on stage 1 of the Volta ao Algarve.

The Norwegian fended off a late surge from Jordi Meeus (Bora-Hansgrohe), who got past Kristoff’s lead-out man Søren Wærskjold but ran out of space. The trio denied favourite Fabio Jakobsen, with the European champion losing contact with his Soudal-Quickstep team on a short climb inside 2km to go and having to fight his way back to the front.

The stage win gives Kristoff the first leader’s jersey of the Portuguese Pro Series stage race, with a four-second lead over Meeus and six on his teammate Wærskjold.

“It’s great. I did this two times before in my career and always sprinting quite well but it’s the first time I’ve won in Portugal. It’s a relief to start with a win early in the season, the pressure goes down,” Kristoff said at the finish.

“Me and Søren had a really good lead-out together and I think he finished third. He’s super strong – I just had to take advantage of his strength and he brought me in the perfect spot. It worked out great today. He also did a good race on Sunday in Almeria so we just tried to build on what we did there and today even did it a bit better.

“The feeling when you cross the finish line first is indescribable. It’s great.”

A slight rise with 1.7km to go shuffled the lead-outs somewhat, with Uno-X moving forward to bring Kristoff into contention, with Meeus not able to get around the big Norwegian.

“It was a super messy sprint because of the cross-headwind. The legs felt good but second in the end… Maybe I was coming but his teammate who did the lead out was also still there and I was searching for some space and found it too late,” Meeus said.

Meanwhile, Wærenskjold explained he wasn’t sprinting against Kristoff, rather he was holding the speed gained from his slingshot off the Groupama-FDJ train.

“I was afraid we were going to be a little blocked but then I found a gap and we were able to get good speed with a little slipstream from the other guys,” he said. “I was about to stop then saw I was going to be top three so I just had to sprint to the finish. After the finish my saddle broke, so luckily it didn’t break before.”

How it unfolded
The opening stage of the Volta ao Algarve got off to a chilly, wet start in Portimão but the skies cleared and temperatures became temperate enough for riders to shed their vests and arm warmers before the day’s end.

Rafael Lourenço (AP Hotels & Resorts-Tavira-SC Farense), Antonio Ferreira (Kelly Simoldes UDO), Aleksandr Grigorev (Efapel Cycling), Sergio Garcia (Glassdrive-Q8-Anicolor) and Danish champion Alexander Kamp (Tudor Pro Cycling) heated up the early kilometres in the breakaway but could never gain as much as three minutes on the 200.2-kilometre stage.

Of the 12 WorldTeams in the peloton most seemed uninterested in the chase except for Soudal-Quickstep and Bora-Hansgrohe. The local Continental outfit Aviludo-Louletano-Loulé Concelho came forward to show themselves for the cameras mid-stage as the gap hovered at two minutes to the quintets.

There were only two classified climbs on the stage and Lourenço sprinted away to claim the category 4 Cruz da Assumada, while 76 kilometres later it was Ferreira who summited first on the category 3 Nave at 63km to go.

The road kept tilting up after the KOM and Lourenço and Garcia could no longer hold onto the pace of the Danish champion, who kept pushing along with Grigorev and Ferreira. Kamp opened gaps to his two companions knowing full well that the WorldTeams were coming forward to lead the chase.

Ferreira had to let go as the gap fell under two minutes with 43km to go on the rolling plateau before the rapid descent to the intermediate sprint in Aljezur. While he went straight back to the peloton, Garcia continued in no man’s land.

Bora-Hansgrohe and Soudal-Quickstep were doing much of the work until ABTF Betão-Feirense took the lead on the descent at 100 kph, but resumed their position at the front before the sprint. They reeled in Garcia finally with 29km to go and then set out to catch the duo ahead, a feat they finally achieved with 12km remaining.

Then, Quickstep for Jakobsen and Bora-Hansgrohe for Meeus led as Trek-Segafredo, Ineos Grenadiers and Jumbo-Visma took a back seat.

A terrible crash with 8km to go saw a dozen of the local riders on the deck and Joel Suter (Tudor Pro Cycling) the worst off after crashing over a low stone wall onto the pavement. The race seemed as if it might be over, too, for Grigorev after his day-long escapade in the breakaway.

The final 1.7km was controlled by Uno-X to bring Kristoff to the front. Jakobsen was shuffled back but quickly rejoined his train but had to fight Groupama-FDJ for the lead in the final 500m, moving Jakobsen up the right side. He saw daylight and jumped right, but he was on the wrong side of the road. Kristoff jumped left in the shelter of the barriers and the Uno-X rider had more than enough to take the first win of the season for his new team.

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