Volta ao Algarve: Groenewegen wins stage 1

Dylan Groenewegen (LottoNL-Jumbo) won the opening stage at the Volta ao Algarve that finished in a bunch sprint in Lagos. The Dutchman won the close sprint ahead of Arnaud Démare (FDJ) and Hugo Hofstetter (Cofidis, Solutions Credits).

Groenewegen's stage victory puts him in the first leader's jersey of the five-day race, a position he has already been in this season after he won the opening stage at the Dubai Tour earlier this month.

Cofidis tried to get into the final mix but weren't strong enough to take on the dominant lead-out trains for LottoNL-Jumbo and FDJ.

FDJ led through the final roundabout onto the finishing stretch, but Groenewegen mastered the final sprint, patiently keying off of his lead-out men while keeping a close eye Démare.

Starting in Albufeira with a rolling 192.6km to Lagos it was always going to be a day for the sprinters.

There were two gentle climbs; a category 4 over Aldeia do Matos (43.9km) and a category 3 over Eira da Cevada (84.6km). The stage also included two intermediate sprints; in Loule (69.6km) and Odiaxere located at roughly 15km to the finish line in Lagos.

With limited opportunities to shake up the stage, it came as no surprise that a breakaway emerged on the first climb of the day. It included Josu Zabala (Caja Rural), Nuno Almeida (L.A. Aluminios), David Livramento (Sporting Travira), Luis Afonso (Vito-Feirense) and Joao Rodriguez (W52-FC Porto).

Rodriguez out-manoeuvered his break companions to take the full points at the top of Aldeia do Matos. He went on to take the points again over Eira da Cevada, and in doing so, ended the day with the mountains jersey.

The five men regrouped after the ascent and worked well enough together to gain 3:34. They would need to squeeze out every watt if they hoped to make it to the finish line ahead of a peloton, even if it seemed futile given the quality of the field behind them.

WorldTour teams brought contenders like former winner Richie Porte (BMC) and Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo), his first time at the Portuguese race, Dan Martin (UAE Team Emirates), and former overall winners Geraint Thomas and Michal Kwiatkowski (Team Sky). Some had already begun seasons in Australia or the Middle East, while others were making their season debuts.

With a flat opener, the likes of Groenewegen and Démare were favourites for the stage. So too were Jurgen Roelandts (BMC Racing), Edvald Boasson Hagen (Dimension Data), John Degenkolb (Trek-Segafredo), Matteo Pelucchi (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Ben Swift (UAE Team Emirates), among others. They all waited patiently behind their teammates, bided their time and saved their energy for the final sprint and a shot the first leader's jersey.

For the five out front, there was still racing to be had in the battles for intermediate classifications. Just as Rodriguez started the race for the mountain jersey, Zabala sprinted to take the full points in Loule and again in Odiaxere to give himself a healthy set of points in the sprint classification.

BMC initially took it upon themselves to steadily bring back the breakaway, cutting their time in half with still 80km to go and then bringing it to within 20 seconds in the final 30km.

Just as the breakaway was about to be swept up, Zabala and Afonso made their last efforts out front, pushing the gap out to a minute. But the pair were inevitably brought back into the fold 13km to go.

The catch gave way to a flurry of new opportunists looking to foil the sprinters' chances at a stage win; Tony Martin (Katusha-Alpecin) was the first to go, but it was too dangerous a move considering he has won the overall title twice (2011 and 2013). His teammate Jose Gonçalves was next, followed by Tom Devriendt (Wanty-Groupe Gobert).

LottoNL-Jumbo, FDJ, BMC and Lotto Soudal stormed passed the duo with four kilometres to go, setting up the sprinters for the run-in to the finish line in Lagos.

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