Fabio Jakobsen retained the points jersey, which he will sport during Friday’s individual time trial.
The highest point of the entire Algarve region, Alto da Foia was the first test for the climbers, especially those who had escaped Wednesday’s crash and remained in contention for a good result in the general classification. Averaging 6.3% over 8 kilometers, the first-category made an important selection early, the stiff gradients in the lower part taking their toll on several riders and leaving only 20 riders in the elite group, including Deceuninck – Quick-Step’s Enric Mas and Zdenek Stybar.
Up until that point, Tim Declercq and Yves Lampaert had taken the spotlight by working hard at the front of the peloton, controlling the gap of the six-man group which snapped the elastic after the start in Almodovar and built a maximum lead of three minutes, which helped them remain in the front until the penultimate climb. The duo continued to ride hard and push quite the tempo even after the CCC duo of Amaro Antunes and Riccardo Zoidl attacked, clawing them back before it came down to crunch time on Foia, which returned at the race for the third consecutive year.
When the road went up and other teams took over the pace-setting, Stybar brought Enric Mas into fourth wheel, from where the Spaniard kept an eye on his opponents, at all times looking comfortable, as more and more riders were being shot out the back of the peloton. Eventually, only a handful of men went under the flamme rouge in the main group, the 24-year-old Vuelta a España runner-up being one of them and taking third at the end of the day – behind Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) and Wout Poels (Team Sky) – Deceuninck – Quick-Step’s second top 3 finish in as many days.
“I am happy with my result, especially as it comes after a long break, with my last race having been Il Lombardia, four months ago. The team was amazing and rode for me today, controlling the breakaway and then positioning me near the front of the peloton as we hit the final climb. I am just three seconds off the lead and I must say it’s nice to be up there after the first mountain stage. We’ll just see what the rest of the race brings, but I hope for some more good results”, said Enric Mas, third overall ahead of the 20.3km-long individual time trial in Lagoa, which stage 1 victor and Fabio Jakobsen will ride in the red jersey, after keeping the lead in the points classification.
Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele/ Getty Images
