António Morgado (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) powered away from the big-name contenders in the peloton with 21km to race to became the first Portuguese winner at Figueira Champions Classic in Figueira da Foz.
The Portuguese time trial champion blasted to the finish to win his second race of the early season. He opened 2025 with victory at GP Castellón-Ruta de la Cerámica.
A reduced group of 19 riders gave chase, with Paul Magnier (Soudal-QuickStep) taking the bunch sprint for second, ahead of Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek) and Sam Watson (Ineos Grenadiers).
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The third edition of Figueira Champions Classic served as the opening contest of the year for many notable riders, including Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor Pro Cycling), Tao Geoghegan Hart (Lidl-Trek), Ilan Van Wilder (Soudal-QuickStep), Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost), Romain Bardet (Team Picnic PostNL) and Laurens De Plus (Ineos Grenadiers). Alaphilippe finished eighth while Bardet was 12th.
The victory on Sunday showed superb form for 21-year-old Morgado as he sets his sights on another home race, Volta ao Algarve, later this week.
"This win feels really special for me. I've been training well and my sensations are very good on the bike so I knew if all went well that I would have a chance today," Morgado said.
"From last year I knew the critical moment would probably be on the steep climb where I attacked so I saw my moment to move and I took it.
For me I'm so happy and proud to win here in Portugal. Like the Belgians want to win in Belgium and the French want to win in French,I'm no different. This is the only professional classic we have here in Portugal and to win it is a big deal for me."
How it unfolded
The Figueira Champions Classic covered 197.2km of rolling terrain along and near the central coast of Portugal. A combination of nine Spanish and Portuguese riders formed the early breakaway - Javier Ibañez (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Nil Gimeno (Equipo Kern Pharma), Nicolás Alustiza (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Rafael Reis (Anicolor-Tien 21), Jorge Gálvez (Aviludo-Louletano-Loulé), Diogo Narciso and João Medeiros (Credibom-LA Alumnínios-Marcos Car), Delio Fernández (APHotels & Resort-Tavira-SC Farense) and André Ribeiro (GI Group Holding-Simoldes-UDO).
The nine held a four-minute margin as they began the second half of the race on the finish circuit, covering the climb of Rua Parque Florestal (2.3km at 7.1%) for the first of three times. However, once across the category 1 climb, the peloton had already taken back 2:20.
The nine leaders completed a full circuit and managed to push their lead back out to 2:45. Lidl-Trek led the peloton with a steady tempo but no rush as they rode through Figueira da Foz, with 60km and two laps to go.
Hitting the Rua Parque Florestal climb a second time, Fernández and Narciso faded, leaving seven riders to hold off the charge from behind, led by Tudor Pro Cycling and Equipo Kern Pharma. Such was the speed behind that by the mid-point of the 2.3km climb, the catch was completed and a new race began.
Dylan Teuns (Cofidis) Alaphilippe and Morgado were twitchy and keen to go on the attack but nothing stuck. Then Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) made a bold move and he opened a 20-second gap with 41km to go.
Michael Valgren (EF Education-EasyPost) and Natnael Tesfatsion (Movistar) gave chase behind Ganna as he approached the short Enforca Cães ascent but they were simply something to aim at for the peloton. While Ganna survived the climb on his solo charge, Valgren and Tesfatsion were caught and a new focus emerged at the start of the final lap to close down the 43 seconds to the Italian.
Once Ganna was caught, opportunities to make any significant moves were fading. Passing through an intermediate sprint with 25km to go and serving as a signal for the final climb of Rua Parque Florestal, the attacks began to fly. Morgado's acceleration at the base of the climb proved most convincing, as he hunched over his handlebars to fight for time. He got a gap, scaring his rivals behind.
With just 10km remaining, Mikkel Frølich Honoré (EF Education-EasyPost) and Jon Aguirre (Euskaltel-Euskadi) joined forces in an effort to reach the young Portuguese rider. They were caught too by a reduced peloton that seemed hungry to catch Morgado too.
However he wanted to win on home roads and fought all the way to the finish.
24 riders were in the chase group but Morgado had the strength to hold them off and celebrate his solo victory as they fought for the placing in the sprint. Their disappointment made for a perfect backdrop to his victory celebrations.
Results
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