Vaugrenard victorious in Algarve opener

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There were two much-awaited appearances on today's opening stage of the Volta ao Algarve between Faro and Albufeira. The first was the return to racing of Alberto Contador (Astana) for his first serious outing since he rode up the Champs Elysées in the yellow jersey at the Tour de France. The second welcome appearance was made by the sun, which has been seen all too briefly in Europe in recent weeks.

The opening stage of the Algarve race started out along the coast towards, then cut along to bump along the ridge that looks out into the Atlantic. The route then dropped back to the coast for a finish that looked a dead cert for a sprint, especially with the in-form André Greipel (HTC - Columbia) and Robbie McEwen (Katusha) looking to add to recent successes.

However, the sprinters were outwitted by Française des Jeux's Benoît Vaugrenard, who took advantage of the confusion caused when Contador attacked the field late on to put in an attack of his own. Helped by a strong tailwind and a fast downhill run for 700 metres into the finish, Vaugrenard finished well clear of another late breakaway, Katusha's Joan Horrach, with Greipel leading in the pack three seconds behind.

"On the penultimate little hill [about 1.5km from the finish] there was an attack and I could see that Contador had attacked on his own," said Vaugrenard. "He stayed clear for a bit but the group came together again just as we reached the roundabout at the foot of that hill with about a kilometre to go. But as they caught him the bunch's speed slowed a little and I realised that even though I was a little way back I had a chance for an attack of my own. I went down the left-hand side of the road and managed to get a few metres clear. I managed to get up to a Katusha rider [Joan Horrach], who had also attacked, and I passed him going à bloc. I rode down the final descent into the finish in that same fashion.

"It's been a really great week for the team after all the success we had at the Tour of the Mediterranean. But it's going to be difficult to hang on to the yellow jersey bearing in mind the summit finish on Friday. The climb is only 3-4km I know from having done it last year, but it's still going to difficult to keep it there against riders like Contador, and then with the time trial following on the final stage on Sunday as well."

Contador, meanwhile, was pretty happy with his day too. "It was a pretty changeable day, with rain, wind and some cold. We had it all, but my feelings were good," said the Spaniard. "I'm very happy with the team," he also wanted to highlight. "My teammates worked to perfection, though it was only a transitional stage, with regard to what happens in the coming days. The important thing today was how my legs were, and they felt pretty good," he said, thinking ahead to Friday's stage with its climb at the finish and the last day's time trial.

Break of the day goes clear early

A four-man break containing Pedro Lopes (CC Loulé), Luís Pinheiro (Boavista), Hugo Sabido (L.A. Rota dos Móveis) and Jérôme Baugnies (Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator) attacked the peloton after only eight kilometres of racing and would spend the next 135 kilometres off the front.

The quartet's maximum advantage reached 9:55 at kilometre 85 but under the impetus of HTC-Columbia, working for their sprinter Greipel, the break's lead steadily decreased. With 14 kilometres remaining until the finish Lopes, the last of the escapees to remain off the front, was absorbed by the peloton.

The teams of the sprinters kept the pace high and the peloton together until late attacks by Contador, Vaugrenard and Horrach foiled their efforts at a field sprint finale.

The Frenchman's victory in the Volta ao Algarve's first stage also put him into the leader's jersey. With time bonuses from the stage, Vaugrenard leads Horrach by seven seconds and Greipel by 11 seconds on general classification.

The efforts of the four escapees did not go unrewarded as Hugo Sabido (L.A. Rota dos Móveis) leads the sprint classification while Jérôme Baugnies (Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator) heads the mountains classification.