Gerben Thijssen wins bunch sprint at opening Tour of Algarve stage

Gerben Thijssen (Intermarché-Wanty) collected his second victory of the season, taking out the opening stage of the Volta ao Algarve in a bunch sprint

The 50th edition of the Volta ao Algarve got underway with the longest stage of the week, from Portimão – home of the famous motor circuit that has hosted F1 and MotoGP races – to Lagos, a city with a long tradition in cycling, visited by a race for the first time more than 90 years ago, when a stage of the Volta a Portugal finished there.

The 200.8km leg that travelled close to the coast was a pretty quiet and flat one with the exception of some crashes.

The day’s breakaway was made up of seven riders, despite the flat profile, only five riders remained with 100 kilometers to go. Bayer attackd with 51km to go with a two-minute lead.

The Austrian was caught with 21 kilometers to go, just after a crash that involved riders such as Tiesj Benoot and Valentin Madouas, whilst the likes of Wout van Aert and Sepp Kuss were caught out. However soon after the pace in the peloton calmed down and most were able to return.

Arkéa - B&B Hotels led the peloton through the final kilometer as the peloton saw several splits. It was a chaotic sprint, but Gerben Thijssen powered through  and had by far the strongest sprint in the final meters. The Belgian sprinter beat Marijn van den Berg and Jordi Meeus to become the first race leader.

The Belgian Champion Remco Evenpoel came home in the same time as the winner Gerben Thijssen (Intermarche-Wanty) and is now looking forward to the first uphill test of the race: “It is mission accomplished for today. I was glad I could escape the crash and arrive here without any incidents. Thursday will be an important stage. We know the climb, it’s a nice one and we’ll go up the same side I won there in 2020, so I’m very motivated to do my best.”

2024 Tour of Algarve Stage 1

1  THIJSSEN Gerben Intermarché - Wanty 4:52:04
2  VAN DEN BERG Marijn EF Education - EasyPost 0:00
3  MEEUS Jordi BORA - hansgrohe 0:00
4  BOVEN Lars Alpecin - Deceuninck 0:01
5  DÉMARE Arnaud Arkéa - B&B Hotels 0:01
6  OLIVEIRA Rui UAE Team Emirates 0:01
7  STUYVEN Jasper Lidl - Trek 0:01
8  HEIDUK Kim INEOS Grenadiers 0:01
9  MENDONÇA Luís Sabgal / Anicolor 0:01
10  VAN UDEN Casper Team dsm-firmenich PostNL 0:01