The French Paul Magnier, from Soudal Quick-Step, won this Wednesday, February 18th, the first stage of the 52nd Tour of the Algarve by bike, taking the lead in the general classification after a close finish sprint in Tavira.
The inaugural journey connected Vila Real de Santo António to Tavira, a distance of 183.5 kilometers, traditionally favorable to sprinters.
The race was encouraged from early on by a large escape made up of runners from Portuguese teams, who had an advantage of close to two minutes.
The peloton, led mainly by Soudal Quick-Step and later by Alpecin-Premier Tech, always controlled the situation and nullified the breakaway around 15 miles from the finish line.
In the decisive kilometers, the team trains sprinters organized the approach upon arrivallocated on a slight rise. Well placed by his teammates, Magnier launched the sprint finished with authority and crossed the finish line in 4:21.04 hours, beating the Belgian Jordi Meeus (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), second placed, and the Czech Pavel Bittner (Picnic PostNL), third. The main favorite, Jasper Philipsen, finished in fourth place.
With this triumph, the 21-year-old Frenchman wins his first victory of the season in his second race of the year and the most relevant of his short career. In the general classification, leads with a four-second advantage over Meeus and also over the Portuguese Hugo Nunes (Credibom-LA Alumínios-MarcosCar), who benefited from bonuses in the intermediate stages.
Among the candidates for the general, Juan Ayuso showed initiative by bonusing in intermediate sprints, gaining a few seconds over his rivals, while João Almeida was part of the main squad at the finish.
Magnier will therefore wear the yellow jersey in the second stage, which will take place between Portimão and Alto da Fóia, in Monchique, over a distance of 147.2 kilometers and ending in a first-category mountain count, where the first major selection among the favorites for final victory is expected.
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