The Belgian runner Gerben Thijssen He won the first stage of the Vuelta al Algarve, in the south of Portugal, on Wednesday by winning the final sprint and taking the yellow jersey.
The 25-year-old Intermarché-Wanty cyclist covered the 200.8 kilometer route, the longest test, between the cities of Portimão and Lagos in 4 hours, 52 minutes and 4 seconds. He confirmed his excellent form after winning the Palma Trophy at the end of January. In Lagos he showed his power, beating the Dutchman Marijn van den Berg (EF Education-EasyPost) and the Belgian Jordi Meeus (BORA-hansgrohe) by one length.
“First I focused on Arnaud’s (Démare) tire, which seemed to me the strongest, then I accelerated. As usually happens in sprints, everything is a question of time,” declared the winner.
Favorites for the general classification Remco Evenepoel, Geraint Thomas, Sepp Kuss and Tao Geoghegan Hart finished in the peloton despite a spectacular collective crash in the final kilometers, particularly dragging Belgians Wout Van Aert and Tiesj Benoot on the ground.
In the first kilometer, a breakaway formed with seven runners, including five Portuguese. The difference in the peloton never exceeded four minutes, and the escapees got about thirty kilometers from the finish line.
Colombian Santiago Mesa, from Efapel Cycling, finished 11th, while fellow ‘coffee maker’ Daniel Martínez (BORA-hansgrohe), the defending champion and one of the big favourites, crossed at the finish line in 81st position.
The Spaniards entered with the peloton: the most advanced in the general classification were Jaume Guardeño, Gorka Sorrarain and Sergio García, in positions 43, 44 and 45, respectively.
Mikel Landa, one of the favorites, finished in 96th position, seven seconds behind the winner.
During the teams’ presentation last weekend, Landa, 34, was surprised to have such a large following in Portugal. “I have no idea,” he told the Lusa agency, after seeing that it sparked enthusiasm among the country’s fans.
The event in the Algarve (border region with Andalusia, Spain) will continue this Thursday in its second stage, which will start in the municipality of Lagoa and end in Alto da Fóia, at 171.9 kilometers and the highest point in the region.
Source: La Verdad
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