Volta ao Algarve em Bicicleta 2024 Stage 1

February 14, 2024 The Volta ao Algarve is the first appointment for the big stars who will have ambitions later in the season. Stage 1 was queued up for a sprint but the threat of wind was ever-present. The breakaway consisted of all Portuguese teams except for Tobias Bayer of Alpecin-Deceuninck. The theme of the day was start-stop by the peloton. One moment it looked like wind would whip up enough for aggression but as quickly as it started, it would calm. The main action in the break ocured when Bayer lifted his pace on a rise in the road, dropping all six of his companions. He set off alone, continuing until around 20KM to go. At 4KM, the group had gotten into color order with a definite sense of increased urgency. Arkéa–B&B Hotels took the front a 1KM rise with Arnaud Démare and looked to be in a great postion going into the technical last 2KM. At 500M, Démare realized he was too far forward and slotted back but it was at the exact wrong moment. Riders swelled up from behind, leaving Démare out of contention for a win. Tudor Pro Cycling led the charge but they ended up giving the perfect lead out Gerben Thijssen of Intermarché-Wanty. As soon as Thijssen started his sprint, it was clear he would go out the winner. Marijn van den Berg of EF Education-EasyPost was next to cross the line for second.