Pogacar wins 2019 Volta ao Algarve

Image 1 of 14

Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) sealed overall victory at the 2019 Volta ao Algarve after a dramatic final stage that saw Zdeněk Štybar (Deceuninck-QuickStep) take the stage win.

Søren Kragh Andersen (Team Sunweb) took second, three seconds behind Štybar after the duo were part of a long-race attack 20km from the line. Wout Poels (Team Sky) took third on the day, nine seconds down, but the day belonged to Pogačar, who was a minute behind Kragh Andersen and in danger of losing the race at the bottom of the final climb.

The 20-year-old Slovene staged a miraculous recovery on the Alto de Malhão, however, despite coming under attack from Poels and Enric Mas (Deceuninck-Quick Step). Pogačar’s recovery saw him close the gap to Kragh Andersen to just 15 seconds at the finish line, clinching the yellow jersey in only his third professional race.

Kragh Andersen took second overall, 14 seconds down, while Poels rounded out the GC podium at 21 seconds. Pogačar, meanwhile, was overjoyed to save his yellow jersey at the death.

"Yeah, it was a crazy fast day and my teammates did a really good job on the front all day," Pogačar said after the stage. "They were working more than 100%, so I'm really proud of them and really happy to win.

"I panicked a bit but I knew that [Simone] Petilli and [Valerio] Conti were still good, so it was pretty OK for us. This is definitely a dream come true. It's hard to believe that I won."

For Štybar, the victory represents a triumph of perseverance, having attacked on the race's final stage before.

"It's already third year in a row I was in the break on the final stage," he said. "Last year I was caught with 1km to go.

"It was my plan to wait and help Enric Mas on the final climb. But when I saw the move from David de la Cruz and Kragh Andersen, I thought it was a good time to go.

"I had one guy in front with Tim Declercq and I had Mas behind, so I was in a perfect situation just waiting. I am happy I could finish it off – it was a big reward for me."

How it happened

A strong break of 13 riders got away during the opening 30km of the stage. Andreas Schillinger (Bora-Hansgrohe), Jonas Koch (CCC Team), Tim Declerq (Deceuninck-Quick Step), Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ), Jasper de Buyst, Frederkik Frison and Nikolas Maes (all Lotto-Soudal), Maarten Wynants (Jumbo-Visma), Nils Politt and Mads Würtz Schimdt (Katusha-Alpecin), Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo), Kenneth van Bilsen (Cofidis), and Vicente García de Mateos (Aviludo-Louletano) were the men involved.

The fast opening hour saw the break struggle to gain much of a gap on the peloton, which was led by UAE Team Emirates. Their advantage topped out at just under four minutes, but was down to two by the first ascent of the Malhão, some 40km from the line.

There, the breakaway splintered with Koch, Declercq, Küng and de Buyst emerging as the new lead group out front, and Pedersen chasing on soon after the summit.

On the penultimate climb of the Alto de Vermelhos, Team Sky sent David de la Cruz on a long-range attack. Zdeněk Štybar (Deceuninck-Quick Step), Steven Cummings (Dimension Data) and Søren Kragh Andersen (Team Sunweb) soon joined him – a big threat to Pogačar with just 20km to race.

Heading into the final 10km, the attackers (minus de la Cruz) had passed the remains of the break and were approximately a minute up the road, with Pogačar's lead looking in grave danger. Only one of the neo-pro's UAE teammates remained alongside him, making the task of preserving his lead even tougher.

Cummings was the first to drop as the leaders hit the bottom of the final climb. Still, 1:20 separated Kragh Andersen and the peloton, with the Dane looking set for overall victory.

Back in the peloton it was mountain classification leader Amaro Antunes (CCC Team) who kicked off the attacking, though the chance to take the stage win looked out of reach. An attack by Enric Mas (Deceuninck-Quick Step) with 2km to go saw Pogačar make his move, though the Spaniard looked to have too much for the young Slovene.

Poels jumped away soon after, with even Pogačar’s podium spot looking under threat. But then came a surprising time check, which showed just 30 seconds between the front of the race and the yellow jersey.

In the final several hundred metres, Kragh Andersen was visibly struggling to keep his momentum up, and Štybar took advantage to leap away for the stage win. Meanwhile, Pogačar paced himself well to keep his rivals in sight, saving his race and finishing within 20 seconds of stage winner Štybar.

Full Results