‘I just wasn’t strong enough’ – Wout van Aert rues second missed chance in as many days in Volta ao Algarve

For the second day running, Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) was one of the pre-race favourites for the Volta ao Algarve bunch sprint, but once again the Belgian star had to settle for seventh place in the finale.

Stage 3 to Tavira was the same finish where Van Aert won in 2024 with a last-minute blast to the line, and the even more markedly uphill finish in Faro on Saturday’s stage 4 also looked to be ‘made’ for the Belgian to try for his first win of the season.