Volta ao Algarve stage 5 LIVE: Race leader Juan Ayuso under pressure as strong breakaway goes clear

Prior to this five-man break going clear, there was a flurry of short-lived attacks at the start of today’s stage, including this one from Marijn van den Berg.

Despite Lidl's work, the Schachmann group is now growing it's lead, to just over a minute.

In response to the threat, it’s Ayuso Lidl’s team that are leading the chase in the peloton.

One issue for the break is that the GC favourites can’t afford to give Max Schachmann. The German is only 1:45 down on GC, and therefore won’t be allowed that much time by Ayuso and the others defending their places on GC.

Still the situation remains in the balence, with the break about 40 seconds ahead of the bunch. It's been a breathless start to the stage.

90KM TO GO

The break has gone through the second intermediate sprint of the day and hoovered up all the bonus seconds, so Juan Ayuso wasn’t called into action once again in the peloton.

The gap remains about the same, hovering at 40 seconds. It remains touch and go whether the peloton will let them go clear.

100KM TO GO

Historically, steep uphill finishes like today's are the kind that Alaphilippe would eat up, so he’d really fancy his chances of winning if the break does indeed stay clear. But Schachmann also has a powerful kick, while not as explosive a puncheur, Tratnik could be very hard to bring back if he manages to slip off and ride tempo on the less hilly terrain.

The gap is growing, to 45 seconds. This might indeed be our break.

First, they have to snap the elastic between themselves and the peloton. They haven’t yet, the gap still at only 25 seconds.

That’s a much more illustrious group than those which have formed in previous stages. Could they be in with a chance of competing for the stage win?

It’s a strong group, too. Julian Alaphilippe, Max Schachmann and Jan Tratnik are there, along with Tobias Bayer and Luca Van Boven.

A break of five has now been established at the front, and has a promising lead of about 20 seconds.

110KM TO GO

Magnier at the start today, in the green jersey he is seeking to defend.

While Ayuso was sprinting for the bonus seconds at the intermediate sprint, Paul Magnier was doing so to defend his lead in the points classification. Here’s what those rankings look like now:

1 Paul Magnier 53 points

2 Jordi Meeus 40

3 Paul Seixas 25

4 Juan Ayuso 25

5 João Almeida 16

6 Pavel Bittner 16

We're almost 30km into the stage, and still the break has not been formed. This has been a less straightforward start than all of the stages preceding it.

120KM TO GO

Following António Morgado’s DNS, we have a first DNF of the day - João Silva, who was present in both the stage one and stage four breakaways.

Filippo Ganna is among those to have attacked, trying to go clear with Hugo Nunes, but has been brought back.

The Volta ao Algarve is one of three stage races that comes to a close today. The first was the UAE Tour, which recently finished - you can read our report to find out how it went down.

It seems the Lotto duo who went clear are no longer out front, and a breakaway has yet to form.

130KM TO GO

One second might not be much, but it's a good confidence boost for Ayuso, and turns a potentially stressful situation into an advantage.

Ayuso got in the mix for the sprint - and successfully so! He was third over the line behind Magnier and Iúri Leitão, and therefore adds 1 second to his overall lead.

Two riders have gone clear after that sprint - Arnaud De Lie, and his Lotto teammate Huub Artz.

The riders have gone through the sprint. We'll confirm the results once they are reported.

John Degenkolb has needed to change wheels.

The question now is whether Paul Seixas will try to challenge Juan Ayuso for some seconds.

Ayuso should be OK, as he's a quick sprinter himself, and has specialist Tim Torn Teutenberg to also defend the points, but will need to be attentive.

But Ivanov has been brought back. It looks like we're going to have a sprint in the peloton for these bonus seconds at the intermediate sprint.

Viacheslav Ivanov has attacked alone, and got a small gap.

No sign of any breakaway going clear just yet.

And they're off!

OFFICIAL START

Ayuso and Magnier, waiting at the unofficial start a little earlier.

We'll find out soon enough - the riders are moving through the neutralised zone and will see the flag very soon.

Interestingly, there’s an intermediate sprint within the first 10km of the start. Will the GC riders get involved to try and capture some bonus seconds?

A reminder of what happened yesterday.

Volta ao Algarve: Paul Magnier doubles up with another sprint victory on stage 4

One of Portugal’s best riders, António Morgado, will not start today pulling out with illness. He hasn’t quite looked his best this race, but will still be missed by UAE leader João Almeida as he plots to take the overall victory today.

Here’s yesterday’s winner Paul Magier at the start this morning in Faro. Having won two stages at this race, his job is done, though he’ll want to make sure he finishes safely today and seals the green jersey he’s wearing as leader of the points classification.

The first thing to report is that there has been a correction in the GC rankings since yesterday’s finish. At the time a spit of seven seconds was given in the peloton, with Seixas caught the wrong side of it and losing 7 seconds as a result. But they have now all been given the same time, meaning Seixas is just 7 seconds down on Ayuso on GC, rather than 14.

We’re all set for the final stage of the Volta ao Algarve, where the fate of the yellow jersey will be determined.

Can Juan Ayuso hold on to his overall lead? Or will Paul Seixas gain the time he needs to depose him? Or can João Almeida or one of the riders further behind pull off a surprise? The stage is set for an exciting finale.

Hello and welcome to the fifth and final stage of the 2026 Volta ao Algarve!