Volta ao Algarve: Groenewegen wins stage 4 sprint in Tavira

Dylan Groenewegen (LottoNL-Jumbo) won stage four of the Volta ao Algarve, his second of the race and fourth of the season. The bunch sprint in Tavira saw him beat Matteo Pelucchi (Bora-Hansgrohe) into second place, while John Degenkolb (Trek-Segafredo) finished third.

The Dutchman’s victory sees him retake the points jersey from Team Sky’s Michał Kwiatkowski ahead of Sunday’s final stage.

Groenwegen’s team had been prominent on the run-in and were once again leading from the front on the final straight. Degenkolb hit the front early, but the LottoNL leadout proved too strong for everyone, leaving Groenewegen to outlast Pelucchi and make victory look easy.

Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) retains the leader’s jersey. The Welshman enjoys a 22-second lead over teammate Kwiatkowski going into the final stage, which features a hilltop finish on the Alto do Malhão.

How it unfolded

At a shade under 200km, stage 4 was an near carbon copy of last year’s corresponding stage, which saw a sprint finish and an André Greipel (Lotto-Soudal) victory.

Two category 4 climbs dotted the stage, the first at Neves 98.3km in and the second at Santa Marta after 121km. The stage also included two intermediate sprints; Rosário at 39.2km, and Alcoutim at 132.5km. The final 67km was largely flat with a handful of uncategorised climbs, but nothing to dissuade the sprinters.

A group of six riders made up the break of the day, escaping from the peloton 7km after the start. Ben King (Dimension Data) was there to hoover up mountain points in order to consolidate his mountains classification lead, which he duly did by leading over both classified climbs.

King was joined in the break by Rory Sutherland (UAE Team Emirates), Julen Amezqueta (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Bruno Silva (Efapel), Aleksandr Grigorev (Sporting-Tavira), and João Rodrigues (W52-FC Porto).

While King took the climbs, the largest lead the group enjoyed was 4:30 - sadly for them nowhere near enough for dreams of a stage victory to come true. Riding into the final 30km, their advantage hovered at around the minute mark with the peloton not in any rush to close it down.

With 20km to race and the gap still not moving, Philippe Gilbert (Quick-Step Floors) jumped off the front and was quickly joined by Dylan Teuns (BMC Racing), Guillaume Bonnafond (Cofidis), and a few kilometres later, Jasha Sütterlin (Movistar).

The break groups merged in the final 10km, while 15 seconds further back the peloton closed. FDJ, LottoNL-Jumbo and Trek-Segafredo were among the teams leading the way, eventually bringing the escapees back 3km from the line.

Degenkolb and his leadout man looked in prime position heading into the final corner, but the finishing straight proved too long to hold a full-on sprint. With Groenwegen benefitting from additional teammates who dropped him off in a perfect position, it was a clear victory.

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