Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a bike) took the stage 3 victory at the Volta ao Algarve, winning the bunch sprint to the finish line in Tavira.
Van Aert started his sprint from third position back and passed a fading Gerben Thijssen (Intermarché-Wanty) to take the day's win ahead of Rui Oliveira (UAE Team Emirates) and Marius Mayrhofer (Tudor Pro Cycling Team), while Thijssen finished fourth.
A crash in the final caused splits among the peloton and several general classification riders were caught behind those splits, but all were given the same time as the stage winner.
There were no changes to the top three in the overall classification and Daniel Martínez (Bora-Hansgrohe) continues to lead the race into stage 4 on Saturday. While Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) is second overall at four seconds back and Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike) holds third overall, at 12 seconds back.
"It's always important to take a win at the beginning of the season. It's good for the confidence and especially in a sprint. It was not easy and I'm happy," Van Aert said.
"It was a bit chaotic getting to the front because it was a wide leading into the finishing straight. I had to gamble a little bit and come from the back. I found a good position in the last corner and, with the uphill and headwind it was good to come from the back."
How it unfolded
Stage 3 at the Volta ao Algarve took the peloton on a 192.2km race from Vila Real de Santo António to Tavira. Although the route held two category 3 ascents, Alcaria (2.3km at 6.9%) and Faz Fato (4.7km at 3.3%), the descent and fast run-in to the finish meant the day was suited to the sprinters.
Daniel Martínez (Bora-Hansgrohe) started the day in the leader's jersey after winning the previous stage atop Alto da Fóia.
An early attack by seven riders led to the day's main breakaway that included Afonso Eulálio (ABTF Betão-Feirense), Carlos Miguel Salgueiro (APHotels & Resorts-Tavira-SC Farense), German Nicolás Tivani (Aviludo-Louletano-Loulé Concelho), António Ferreira (Efapel Cycling), Raúl Rota (Rádio Popular-Paredes-Boavista), Frederico Figueiredo (Sabgal-Anicolor) and Francisco Morais (Tavfer-Ovos Matinados-Mortágua).
Tivani took the mountain points over the top of the first climb Alcaria, but the four points were not enough to rival the point lead held by Bora's Martínez.
The breakaway held a two-minute gap with 70km to go as EF Education-EasyPost led the peloton to keep the gap at a manageable distance. Unfortunately, their rider, Rui Costa, was involved in a crash mid-pack and forced to abandon the race.
From the breakaway, Tivani took the full mountain points over the top of the second climb, Faz Fato, moving up to third overall in the mountain classification behind Martínez and Evenepoel.
The breakaway split inside 40km to go with Tivani, Salgueiro and Figueiredo pulling away from their break companions along the undulating roads toward Tavira.
As the trio raced closer to the finish, Salgueiro surged and opened a slim 10-second lead, but his efforts were short-lived, with the peloton bearing down in preparation for their respective lead-outs, and the catch was made 12km out.
Bora-Hansgrohe, Astana Qazaqstan, Soudal-QuickStep, Lidl-Trek, and Visma-Lease a Bike were the teams that pushed speeds in the final 7km. The peloton split through a roundabout inside 3km, and Uno-X Mobility surged to the front, followed by Lidl-Trek under the 1km to go banner.
A crash on the right side of the road at the roundabout took down several riders, which caused splits among the field and several classification contenders stuck behind, but inside the 3km rule, all were given the same time as the stage winner.
Intermarché-Wanty led through the final corner, but a gap opened that forced their sprinter and stage 1 winner Gerben Thijssen (Intermarché-Wanty) to have to close, and although he surged up the centre of the road in pursuit of the stage win, he soon began to fade.
Marius Mayrhofer (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) was positioned behind Thijssen and surged off his wheel, as did Van Aert, followed by Rui Oliveira (UAE Team Emirates) in the sprint to the line.
Results
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