Volta ao Algarve: Kittel wins stage 1 in Albufeira

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Marcel Kittel (Etixx-QuickStep) continued his early-season winning streak, after claiming the opening stage of the Volta ao Algarve in Albufiera.

The German beat compatriot Andre Greipel (Lotto Soudal) and Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo) to give the Etixx-QuickStep team their tenth win of the season. Wouter Wippert (Cannondale) was fourth and Alex Dowsett (Movistar) was eighth.

Two late crashes disrupted the peloton in the final kilometres but Alberto Contador (Tinkoff) and Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) finished in the front group, two seconds behind Kittel. Fabio Aru (Astana) was further back and lost 11 seconds.

How it happened

Contador was the centre of attention in Lagos before the 163km stage began but the racing quickly came alive after the flag was dropped, with Kamil Gradek (Verva ActiveJet), Domingos Gonçalves (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) and Alexandr Kolobnev (Gazprom-RusVelo) going in the early break of the day. The race marked the return to competition for Kolobnev and he clearly wanted to show off his new blue Gazprom jersey.

The trio quickly opened a gap of six minutes after an hour of racing and the gap rose to eight minutes after 55km. The peloton awoke at this point, with the Etixx-QuickStep and Lotto Soudal teams leading the chase, with help from local team Alumínios-Antarte.

Gradek won the early mountain points and was also first over the line in the three intermediate sprints, to secure him the lead in both competitions. However, the Lotto Soudal team was serious about the chase and put five riders on the front for the second half of the stage, quickly bringing the gap down to a manageable three minutes.

The peloton let the break hang out front until the 156km mark after carefully studying the finish area during a passage through the line. Two crashes inside the final 10km caused some problems in the peloton but the sprinters and their teams stayed out of trouble up front.

The peloton stayed together in the final run into Albufeira but another crash raised the tension before the final sprint. The peloton stayed together and despite Greipel being helped by several teammates, it was Kittel who emerged to win by more than a bike length ahead of Greipel, Stuyven, with the rest of the peloton further back.

Thursday’s 198.6km second stage is a much hillier affair, with a tough uphill finish on Alto da Foia, where the overall contenders are expected to show their true intentions.

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