Race leader takes 16 bonus seconds from aggressive moves to extend GC lead
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Race leader Magnus Cort wins stage 3 in explosive sprint(Image credit: Roberto Bettini/SprintCyclingAgency)
Magnus Cort (EF Education-Easypost) in the Yellow Leader Jersey finishes uncontested ahead of Filippo Ganna on stage 3(Image credit: Tim de Waele/Getty Images)
Magnus Cort (EF Education-Easypost) in Yellow Leader Jersey drives the pace of the breakaway close to the finish(Image credit: Tim de Waele/Getty Images)
Filippo Ganna takes a turn in front of Ineos Grenadiers teammate Tom Pidcck in the breakaway(Image credit: Tim de Waele/Getty Images)
Rui Costa of Intermarché-Circus-Wanty accelerates at the front of the breakaway(Image credit: Tim de Waele/Getty Images)
Magnus Cort in race leader's jersey on an aggressive ride takes top points on final intermediate sprint(Image credit: Tim de Waele/Getty Images)
Portugal's Andrade Pedro of Team Abtf Beto-Feirense leads the breakaway(Image credit: Tim de Waele/Getty Images)
Race leader Magnus Cort (EF Education-Easypost) rides in the Yellow Leader Jersey(Image credit: Tim de Waele/Getty Images)
A general view of the peloton passing through Portela da Corcha during stage 3(Image credit: Tim de Waele/Getty Images)
Sam Oomen and Jumbo-Visma pass by grove of orange trees during stage 3(Image credit: Tim de Waele/Getty Images)
The peloton passes through Feder City (Image credit: Tim de Waele/Getty Images)
Eritrean riders Merhawi Kudus (left) of EF Education-Easypost and Natnael Tesfatsion of Trek-Segafredo compete in the peloton(Image credit: Tim de Waele/Getty Images)
Magnus Cort in Yellow Leader Jersey talks to EF Education-EasyPost teammate Julius Van Den Berg(Image credit: Tim de Waele/Getty Images)
Tom Pidcock of Ineos Grenadiers rides alongside Gage Hecht of Human Powered Health for a chat(Image credit: Tim de Waele/Getty Images)
The peloton begins 203.1km stage 3 while fans cheer (Image credit: Tim de Waele/Getty Images)
Victory salute for Magnus Cort (Image credit: Tim de Waele/Getty Images)
Magnus Cort (EF Education-Easypost) celebrates for a second day in a row as a stage winner at Volta ao Algarve, this time in Tavira for stage 3(Image credit: Tim de Waele/Getty Images)
Race leader Magnus Cort (EF Education-EasyPost) claimed a dramatic victory on stage 2 of the Volta ao Algarve in Tavira to increase his overall lead, sprinting from a six-man break just as they had been caught by the bunch on the cusp of the finishing straight.
The Dane had sparked the attack at the intermediate sprint with 24km remaining and he still had the strength to claim a dominant victory just when it appeared the peloton had finally snuffed out the move.
Cort opened his effort from 300 metres on the rise towards to the line, ripping clear of fellow escapee Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers), who had to settle for second place, while Jordi Meeus (Bora-Hansgrohe) sprinted from the bunch to take third ahead of Paul Penhoët (Groupama-FDJ).
“I was not expecting it all,” Cort said. “Actually, the idea was just to get through the stage as easy as possible and not even try in the sprint, but QuickStep were keeping the break very close so then we had the idea of going for the bonus sprint to see if I could get some seconds for the classification.”
Cort got that and more. The stage had long appeared to be ambling towards the anticipated bunch sprint, but the race suddenly ignited at the intermediate sprint at Vila Real Santo António, where Ganna stretched out the peloton in a bid to tee up teammate Tom Pidcock.
Cort snagged the bonus seconds ahead of Rui Costa (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert) and Pidock, and he didn’t need much convincing to continue his effort when it became clear that he had dragged a small group clear of the bunch.
With Ganna, world time trial champion Tobias Foss (Jumbo-Visma) and Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ) also on board, there was no shortage of firepower out in front, nor was there any lack of motivation – all six riders will have designs on high overall finishes on Sunday.
“It was a hard sprint on cobbles, and suddenly there a small group with a gap,” Cort said. “I didn’t really think about it, but the Ineos guys and Foss, they came straightaway and said, ‘Hip, hip, let’s go.’ I was keen straightaway to go on the attack with those guys. It was a great group to ride the last 25km. It was the perfect team time trial team we put together.”
Within 5km, the sextet had opened a lead of half a minute over the bunch, with first Soudal-QuickStep and then Uno-X working desperately to sew the race back together again. The cohesion and quality of the group ahead meant the chase was a thankless task, however, and with 7km remaining, the gap was still 15 seconds.
The break appeared to be caught just within sight of the line, however, only for Cort to kick once again, and his well-timed acceleration carried him clear of both the break and the closing bunch towards his second stage victory in as many days.
In the overall standings, Cort now holds a lead of 18 over Rui Costa and 20 over Ilan Van Wilder (Soudal-QuickStep) ahead of Saturday’s decisive summit finish on the Alto do Malhão.
How it unfolded
Stage 3 of the Volta ao Algarve was a long day in the saddle with 203 kilometres from Faro to Tavira. The flat profile of the final 30km and only two categorised climbs early in the stage meant it looked destined to be a big day for the sprinters.
Fabio Costa (Glassdrive-Q8-Anicolor) sparked the day's early, rather hopeful breakaway with an attack from kilometre zero, and he was joined by five riders from the regional Continental teams, all keen to get television time.
Daniel Viegas (Aviludo-Louletano-Loulé Concelho), Gonçalo Amado (Tavfer-Ovos Matinados-Mortágua), Pedro Andrade (ABTF Betão-Feirense) and Guillermo Garcia Janeiro (Radio Popular-Paredes-Boavista) all made the move, as well as Aleksandr Grigorev (Efapel), who had been both an attacker and a faller the previous day.
Grigorev clearly recovered well, taking the points on the two climbs of the day, the category 3 Portela de Corcha and Cachopo. The five riders weren't given a very long leash, however, gaining a few minutes before Soudal-Quickstep began bringing the gap steadily down for Fabio Jakobsen.
Viegas was the first rider dropped as the gap hovered just over one minute. Soon another Continental rider, Samuel Blanco (AP Hotels & Resorts-Tavira-SC Farense) defied the Soudal-Quickstep pacesetting and attacked with 58km to go in a futile attempt to bridge.
Blanco never made it and the gap remained at a minute until Costa attacked his companions on an unclassified climb with 48km to go, and gained a bit more time as the other four dangled like a carrot in front of Tim Declercq. By 35km to go, Costa was in sight on the wide-open highway and his TV time would be over soon afterwards.
At that point, Tavira looked destined to play host to the expected bunch sprint, but the script took an unexpected deviation in the fishing town of Vila Real de Santo António, not far from the Guadiana river and the border with Spain. It wasn’t a surprise to see Ganna wind up the pace for Pidcock ahead of the intermediate sprint there, nor was it remotely out of character for Cort to be wise to the danger and claim the bonus seconds.
It was perhaps only to be expected, too, that the impromptu coalition of strongmen in front would press on once they found themselves with a gap, and it was immediately clear that Soudal-QuickStep and Uno-X would struggle to peg them back.
When UAE Team Emirates joined the chase in the final two kilometres, however, it looked as though the day was returning to its preordained script, and the six leaders seemed to have been caught with a shade under 500 metres to go. Cort, however, was able to conjure up one last deviation from the script.
Barry Ryan was Head of Features at Cyclingnews. He has covered professional cycling since 2010, reporting from the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and events from Argentina to Japan. His writing has appeared in The Independent, Procycling and Cycling Plus. He is the author of The Ascent: Sean Kelly, Stephen Roche and the Rise of Irish Cycling’s Golden Generation, published by Gill Books.
