On the same day on which his great Tour de France rival Tadej Pogačar raised the UAE Tour trophy, Jonas Vingegaard opened his account in Sunday’s time trial conclusion to the 51st Volta ao Algarve, a 2.Pro stage race in Portugal, winning both the stage and the overall. Wout van Aert placed second to his teammate.
The Situation
Following Wednesday’s ludicrous first stage, UAE-Emirates stamped its authority on the race, young Swiss Jan Christen and João Almeida finishing one-two on Stage 2’s summit finish of Alto de Foia. Jonas Vingegaard crossed the line 10 seconds later,
After two sprint stages, Christen led Almeida by four seconds, Vingegaard by 20 seconds and Primož Roglič by 23 seconds.
The Course
Sunday’s chrono was 19.6 km long and ended on a tough climb–2.3-km, 9.6 percent Alto do Malhão.
Koers 🚴♂️
Volta ao Algarve 🇵🇹
Ronde van de Algarve 🇵🇹#VoltaAoAlgarve 🇵🇹🚴♂️ #Eurosport📺 pic.twitter.com/8mFPzNE48V— Boertje Pummel (@BoertjePummel) February 23, 2025
Filippo Ganna, who was denied a victory in Stage 1’s calamity, had a fine ride, as did Wout van Aert. But Ganna couldn’t snatch the hot seat from Swede Jakob Söderqvist of Lidl-Trek’s development team. Van Aert, who switched to a road bike at the bottom of Alto do Malhão, succeeded in usurping Söderqvist’s throne.
The startlist hit the GC top-10. Intermediate time check 1 revealed that Vingegaard was on a good ride, but Roglič didn’t look like he would be vying for the title. Almeida trailed Vingegaard as well.
The second intermediate time check confirmed that Vingegaard was moving fast; he posted the fourth fastest time. Then he cracked van Aert’s finish time to take control of the GC. Almeida managed to hold on to second place with the sixth fastest time on Sunday.
Vingegaard will race Paris-Nice starting March 9.
2025 Volta ao Algarve, Stage 5
1) Jonas Vingegaard (Denmark/Visma-Lease a Bike) 28:25
2) Wout van Aert (Belgium/Visma-Lease a Bike) +0:11
3) Antonio Tiberi (Italy/Bahrain-Victorious) +0:15
2025 Volta ao Algarve Final GC
1) Jonas Vingegaard (Denmark/Visma-Lease a Bike) 13:19:31
2) João Almeida (Portugal/UAE-Emirates) +0:14
3) Laurens De Plus (Belgium/Ineos Grenadiers) +0:23
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