Volta ao Algarve: Kwiatkowski wins stage 2 mountain finish to Foia

Michal Kwiatkowski (Team Sky) took his first win of the season during stage 2 the Volta ao Algarve after beating a select group of climbers to the top of the 15km climb to Fóia. He jumped through the final bend with a few hundred metres to the finish line to beat Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) and teammate Geraint Thomas. Dan Martin (UAE Team Emirates) was fourth and Jaime Roson (Movistar) fifth.

Thomas now leads the overall classification ahead of Roson, while Kwiatkowski is in third place, Martin in fifth and Mollema sixth, all with the same time.

Team Sky's Kwiatkowski-Thomas duo was always going to be tough to beat, Kwiatkowski winning the overall title in 2014 and Thomas winning in 2015 and 2016.

Cognizant of their rivals' teams, BMC Racing, Trek-Segafredo, and Movistar stayed near the front with their GC men as they approached the final GC-decisive climb. This stage was one of the most important for the week for men like Kwiatkowski, Thomas and Mollema along with former winner Richie Porte (BMC Racing) and Dan Martin (UAE Team Emirates).

The peloton charged into the last 15 kilometres to Fóia on a climb that started at a gentle 4.7 per cent, but they sat up slightly and spanned out across the road. The brief moment of reprieve and calculation in the field allowed the last two breakaway riders, Ben King (Dimension Data) and Lukas Pöstlberger (Bora-Hansgrohe), to push their margin back out to 50 seconds.

The grade kicked up to 8 per cent and then 9 per cent at the midway point, between 10 and five kilometres to go. Team Sky used the steeper pitches to pare down the group; only the stronger climbers could hang on. Two of their riders led the charge, while Kwiatkowski and Thomas sat slightly further back.

King and Pöstlberger stood no chance and watched as the Team Sky-led pack caught up to them and then raced on for the stage win and GC placings.

Those left in the bunch didn’t sit back to watch Team Sky take all the glory. Attacks started, and a small group emerged with Philippe Gilbert (Quick-Step Floors), Šimon Spilak (Katusha-Alpecin), Sepp Kuss (LottoNL-Jumbo) and Dan Martin. Vasil Kiryienka (Team Sky) jumped into the mix.

There was no organization, and Kiryienka took advantage and jumped ahead alone. The move shifted the odds of Team Sky winning the stage even more in their favour.

The slope softened to 6 per cent in the final three kilometres to the finish line, which suited Kiryienka, a former time trial world champion (2015). He used his powerful pedalling to increase his lead while the race's best young rider Sam Oomen (Sunweb) and Valerio Conti (UAE Team Emirates) scrambled to close the gap.

Team Sky kept the pace high in what was left of the group, catching the stragglers and then their teammate Kiryienka, as Geraint Thomas set Kwiatkowski up for the win.

How it unfolded

The first tough day of the Portuguese stage race started in Sagres and finished 187.5km later on the ascent to Fóia. Climbs in between were category 4 Monte Ruivo (50.8km), three category 3 climbs, Marmelete (71.2km), Alferce (107km) and Sapeira (123.4km), and then the final category 1 climb to the finish on Fóia. Two intermediate sprints broke up the rolling terrain at Aljezue (63.4km) and Portimao (163.4km)

The first attack happened just 10km into the stage. In the group were King and Pöstlberger, along with Yves Lampaert (Quick-Step Floors), John Degenkolb (Trek-Segafredo), Marcos Jurado (Efapel), Oscar Pelegri (Rádio Popular-Boavista) and Ricardo Mestre (W52-FC Porto).

The seven men quickly gained 50 seconds, and by the time they reached the 45-kilometre mark they had a seven-minute lead.

King raced to the top of the Monte Ruivo, Marmelete, Alferce and Sapeira, sweeping up the all the top-placed mountain points ahead of the finish. He also took full points at the intermediate sprint in Aljezue.

There were high stakes for the GC contenders with the stage ending on the slopes of Fóia. UAE Team Emirates, working to set up Dan Martin for the finale, took control of the peloton with 30 kilometres to go, bringing the gap down to two and a half minutes, and slashed that in half less than two kilometres later.

As the breakaway approached the base of the last climb, Pöstlberger attacked, and King chased, but the remaining men decided to sit up and wait for the peloton that was a mere 10 seconds behind them.

The two antagonists raced on and pushed their lead back out to 50 seconds on the lower slopes of the final climb. They looked over their shoulders with 10km to go, to see the shadows of the peloton behind, and with that their efforts for the day came to an end.

Slowing down on the other side, they could see the beginning of the Team Sky set-up for Kwiatkowski to win the stage and Thomas to move into the overall lead.

The race continues with a 20.3km rolling time trial on stage 3 in Lagoa, a flatter stage 4 to Tavira, and a decisive stage 5 finale atop Alto do Malhão.

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