Place Name: Avenida Dos Descobrimentos
Address: Avenida Dos Descobrimentos 23, 8600-645 Lagos, Faro, Portugal
Details: February 19, 2025
The start list is packed with some of the best talent in professional cycling and may be the best start list the Volta ao Algarve has ever had. The 51st edition kicks off with a traditional run from Portimāo to Lagos. There are 2,200M of climbing over 192KM but the finish line on the seaside is set up for a sprint.
Gonçalo Oliveira of Anicolor-Tien 21, Francisco Morais of Tavfer-Ovos Matinados-Mortágua, Victor Cesar de Paula of Feirense-Beeceler, Carlos Miguel Salgueiro, and Francisco Campos of APHotels & Resorts, Noah Campos of GI Group Holding, Diogo Narciso of Credibom, and German Nicolás Tivani of Aviludo-Louletano-Loulé went up the road from the start and were holding 2 minutes with 72KM to go. Salgueiro attacked the break with 45KM to go and hit the Atlantic Coast near Praia da Bordeira with a gap of 1 minute 20 seconds back to the EF-Education EasyPost led peloton. Salgueiro was finally brought back with 22KM to go. There were many of roundabouts, traffic islands, and turns to negotiate so every major team was pushing towards the front to be safe. Cooler heads prevailed and some of the bigger teams got together and blocked the road when it narrowed with 17KM to go. They continued on until 8KM to go when the road widened again allowing more teams to sneak through the cracks.
The real race for position began at 4KM from the line when Soudal Quickstep clicked down the gears and increased the pace to take the front. A few twists and turns between 1500M and 1000M split up the sprint trains and no team really had control. With 800M, the road split with a central reservation, The riders were meant to move to the left with race vehicles to the right but the signaling was not clear and the majority of the riders went right, onto the deviation at full sprint speed. Filippo Ganna of Ineos was the best positioned rider that went left and he rode as hard as he could to the finish. He put has hands in the air with almost no one behind him in one of the most bizarre finishes we have seen. The race jury decided to annul the stage as if it never happened. It was a complete farce but fortunately no riders or spectators were injured in the ordeal. With the chaos of traffic in Bessèges and traffic furniture on Tour de la Provence, the riders rightly have become more vocal about safety and proper race organization.
Tags: Volta ao Algarve em Bicicleta, 2025, February, Stage 1, Volta ao Algarve em Bicicleta 2025, Portimão, Lagos, Gonçalo Oliveira, Francisco Morais, Victor Cesar de Paula, Carlos Miguel Salgueiro, Francisco Campos, Noah Campos, Diogo Narciso, German Nicolás Tivani, Filippo Ganna