For half an hour, it looked like the floodgates had truly opened. After Michał Kwiatkowski won the Clásica Jaén last Monday - Ineos Grenadiers’ first pro win in 226 days - and Josh Tarling won the time trial at the UAE Tour - the team’s first WorldTour win in 254 days - Filippo Ganna looked like he had won stage one of the Volta ao Algarve on Wednesday. The dream of three wins in three days wasn’t to be, with that opening stage cancelled in farcical circumstances, but it was close.
However, these wins - or ghost wins - were not an end to Ineos’ exciting week of European racing. At the Ruta del Sol, Brandon Rivera challenged Tom Pidcock to the win on stage two, before Ben Turner almost won stage three, out-sprinted by Alexander Kristoff only, and then Connor Swift battled to third after a day in the breakaway on stage five. Meanwhile, at the concurrent Volta ao Algarve, Filippo Ganna almost won again, finishing third on stage four, before Laurens De Plus came third overall.
