Cees Bol produces powerful kick to win sprint finish on Stage 3 of the Volta ao Algarve
Team Sunweb's sprint train delivered Bol's to the front of the bunch and despite the sprinters best efforts, no one could come round him
After the climbers got their chance on yesterday’s finish, today’s stage at the Volta ao Algarve was one that suited the sprinters. A break of three riders established itself almost from the flag drop and with the peloton happy with the situation, they extended their advantage to almost four minutes.
Throughout the 200 kilometre long stage the gap slowly dwindled and the race was back together with 15 kilometres to go. The team worked well to protect Cees Bol throughout the afternoon and once the break was caught, they began to move up towards the front of the peloton as the nervous fight for position began.
With five kilometres remaining the Team Sunweb train came to the fore and took a strong position at the front of the bunch. As the kilometres ticked down and riders peeled off, Bol was left with Nikias Arndt and Casper Pedersen in front of him in the closing stages.
Pedersen produced a fantastic lead out on the uphill drag, delivering Bol into a perfect position with just 200 metres to go. Bol rewarded the team’s great work with a powerful kick to the line, taking a fantastic stage win in Tavira.
Sacha Modolo was second and Fabio Jakobsen third, Bol's held them at bay all the way to the line.
“It’s a good way to start the season,” beamed Bol at the finish. “We made some mistakes on the opening stage but today we really nailed it and I’m happy I could finish it off. We’re focusing more on the sprints this year and the guys were really strong today. I followed my lead out, Casper, and when I saw the sign at 200 metres I just went full gas; and I managed to be first at the line. It’s a sign that I did a good winter and it’s really nice that it paid off today.”
2020 Vuelta ao Algarve Stage 3 Top 10
1 Cees Bol (Ned) Team Sunweb 5:00:00
2 Sacha Modolo (Ita) Alpecin-Fenix
3 Fabio Jakobsen (Ned) Deceuninck-Quickstep
4 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
5 Daniel Hoelgaard (Nor) Uno-X Norwegian Development Team
6 Ryan Mullen (Irl) Trek-Segafredo
7 Elia Viviani (Ita) Cofidis
8 Roger Kluge (Ger) Lotto Soudal
9 Jon Aberasturi Izaga (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
10 Tom Devriendt (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert