Volta ao Algarve: Lopez wins on Alto do Malhão

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Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) won stage 4 of the Volta ao Algarve, attacking at the right time on the short but steep Alto do Malhão to distance his rivals enough to give him enough time to celebrate his first win of 2020.

Daniel Martin (Israel Start-up Nation) fought hard to close the gap but finished two seconds behind Lopez. Remco Evenepoel (Deceuninck-QuickStep) was not quite as strong; he chased Lopez and Martin but finished two further seconds behind.

Despite the time loss, Evenepoel managed to hold onto the leader's yellow jersey before Sunday's decisive 20km time trial around Lagoa. However, he is now on the same time as Martin and Schachmann.

Lopez opted to skip the Colombia 2.1 race and made his season debut at the Volta ao Algarve. Like Astana teammate Jakob Fuglsang at the Vuelta a Andalucía Ruta Ciclista Del Sol, he appears to have superb early-season form. He made two attacks to soften up his rivals and then made his final move with 400 metres to go.

"We wanted to win the second stage but things did go right. Today they did. I've got to thank the team for great work today all day. This is the first fruit of the great work we've done. It's for them and my family in Colombia," Lopez said happily.

Evenepoel was not as happy, collapsing on the ground after he went deep to limit his losses. However, he knows he can still win the overall classification.

"It was really important to keep the jersey. The two climbs of the Malhão were really hard, especially after the attack from Miguel," he explained after recovering.

"I was a bit boxed in behind [Rui] Costa, so on the wrong side, so I could have reacted earlier. But it doesn't matter, I'm still the leader and tomorrow I hope it's going to be my day.

"I saw my power from the attack and it was not easy. The maximum was about 1100 watts, after the final attack, so it was all out until the finish.

"The most important thing is that I'm still the leader and can start the time trial in the yellow jersey. It gives me a lot of motivation. I just have to trust my power and shape. It'll be 20km full gas and then I hope I can take this yellow jersey home."

How it unfolded

Another stage at the Volta ao Algarve and another day racing in the sun but with a promise of a painful finale and the uphill finish at Alto do Malhão.

With stage finishes coming late in the day, the riders again rolled out at lunchtime for 169km in the saddle. After some early attacks, the break of the day soon formed, with Dries de Bondt (Alpecin-Fenix), David González (Caja Rural), Tom Devriendt (Circus-Wanty Gobert), Daniel Hoelgaard (Uno-X), Luís Mendonça and Tiago Antunes (Efapel), Rafael Lourenço (Kelly-InOutBuild-UDO), Daniel Freitas (Miranda-Mortágua) and João Rodrigues (W52-FC Porto) in there.

However, the peloton never let them go more than three minutes clear, with the local Atum General-Tavira-Maria Nova Hotel team leading the chase after missing out on the break. That helped Evenepoel and Deceuninck-QuickStep who saved their strength and numbers for later on.

After a flat opening 50km, the hills began to hurt more and more during the stage, with Rodrigues, Antunes and de Bondt taking turns to take the king of the mountains points but the peloton chipped away at their lead, bringing it down to 2:00 with 70km to go.

The steep climb of Alte marked the start of the finale with 30km to race; with the first assault of Alto do Malhão coming with 25km to go.

Local hero Rodrigues surged away from the break on the Alte climb and soon distanced his rivals and the peloton.

He also led over the Alto do Malhão, cheered on by the numerous and vocal Portuguese cycling fans but the race came alive in the peloton behind him with Jasper Stuyven attacking with Vincenzo Nibali on his wheel. When the Belgian pulled off, Nibali had a ten-second lead and pushed on alone. However, the Bora team led the chase as they rode for Schachmann.

At the summit of the first passage of the Alto do Malhão, Rodrigues led by 30 seconds, with Nibali about ten seconds ahead of the peloton after the UAE Team Emirates squad drove the pace in pursuit to set up Rui Costa.

The fast descent put an end to Nibali's attack and eventually to Rodrigues' solo effort too but the race soon took another twist as Bora-Hansgrohe hit the front to up the pace to try to isolate Evenepoel on a plateau. It worked with only João Almeida with him. Yves Lampaert got back on at one point but Evenepoel was suddenly forced on the defensive as the final two-kilometre, 9.4 per cent climb to the finish approached. It was a sign of things to come.

The CCC Team hit the front just before the sweeping turn right onto the climb, riding for Simon Geschke and Greg van Avermaet. However 22-year-old Astana neo-pro Harold Tejada set such a painful pace for Lopez he spat Geraint Thomas, Michał Kwiatkowski and many others out the back.

Amaro Antunes (W52 / FC Porto) tried to go away with a kilometre to go but he only set up Lopez for his moves. Evenepoel and the others responded twice when Lopez attacked but 'Superman' found an extra gear near the finish and went again to win alone, revealing that Evenepoel is human after all, even if the prodigious Belgian is still set to win the Volta ao Algarve after Sunday's final time trial.

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