On Saturday’s Stage 4 of the Volta ao Algarve, Visma – Lease a Bike went all in trying to set up their team fastman Wout van Aert for the win. However, he finished 7th behind fellow Belgian Milan Fretin. Van Aert said that a small group broke away quickly and was given quite a bit of space. As a team, they decided to take control early on.
The hilly course had a fast finish—which seemed to be in Van Aert’s favour. But it turns out another Belgian, Cofidis’s Fretin, was gunning for the win.
“I was in the perfect spot for the sprint. It was just about going full gas and trying to hold on as long as possible,” Fretin said to Sporza. “This is definitely my best win so far. Last week at the Clásica Almería was very nice, but this week, there are even bigger names at the start. So I hope this is my breakthrough win.”
“I’m no longer among the fastest Belgians, I guess,” Van Aert said, seemingly joking. “This was a finale that suits me. Even though it was tough, it would have needed to be just a bit harder for me to drop all the other sprinters.”
The Belgian said he thought he was in a good position for the last corner, but the lead-out changed after that. He added that the Visma – Lease a Bike made the final hard, but he missed the final bit of speed in the sprint. “The stage wasn’t as hard as I had hoped before, but it was a good test for my legs leading into next week’s Flemish opening weekend,” he said.
The final stage of the Portuguese stage race is a tough 20 km TT, which will serve as a good test for Grand Tour riders like Jonas Vingegaard and Primož Roglič.
You can watch the Volta ao Algarve on Flobikes.com.
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Canadian Cycling Magazine…