February 21, 2026
The run into Lagos has been the opening stage of the race for the last few years and has always been a bunch sprint. The finish last year was marred by the peloton going on two different sides of a separated highway resulting in the results being annulled. The riders sign in at the start in Albufeira with two climbs ahead of them on course, both of which will be completed after 92KM of the 175KM stage. With 33KM to go, the peloton enters Lagos and will pass through the finish line for one lap of a clockwise circuit that should suit the sprinters down to the ground.
Race Summary
A group of nine got away and hoovered up the KOM points with Mountain's Leader Tomas Contte of Aviludo-Louletano-Loulé scoring maximum points. With 51KM, six of his breakaway companions remained out front including Hugo Nunes of Credibom-LA Alumínios-Marcos Car, Victor Cesar de Paula of Feirense-Beeceler, João Silva and Fábio Costa of Feira dos Sofás-Boavista, Noah Campos of Tavira-Crédito Agrícola, and Rubén Fernández of Anicolor-Campicarn. Alpecin-Premier Tech and Soudal Quickstep had things well under control at 50 seconds with the bulk of the work being done by Dylan van Baarle.
The break was far more interested in attacking each other than working together to stay away from peloton. Attacks were flying like it was the last few kilometers of the race but all they managed to do was tire each other out and, as a result, the steady nature of the chase caught the break with 36KM to go. A counter attack immediately went with three of the original break including João Silva, Hugo Nunes, and Noah Campos. They had 20 seconds through the finish line at 33KM to go but it was all back together 6KM later.
The bunch went into blocking formation with riders spread across the road in team order with Lidl-Trek, Ineos, UAE-XRG, and Tudor Pro Cycling all present. The road turned into two narrow lanes making it easy for those teams to hold their position and slow the race down before the finale. Unbelievably, the road stayed blocked with those same teams until 3KM to go when Tudor Pro Cycling accelerated and everyone else was forced to match the pace. EF-Education EasyPost was the first team to break through the ranks and hit the front just outside 2KM to go with four riders in a line. As quickly as they had arrived, they were washed away and it was Tudor Pro Cycling who led through a chicane and into the final kilometer.
There were riders all over the place with 500M to go. Tudor Pro Cycling were still near the front but no single team had more than two riders together and the majority of the sprinters were just surfing the wheels and waiting. The first moves came at 300M when Marijn van den Berg of EF-Education EasyPost opened up with his teammate Noah Hobbs in his wheel on the left side of the road. Van den Berg couldn't increase the pace and he and Hobbs both the left the door open on their left which allowed Tim Torn Teutenberg of Lidl-Trek to squeeze through at 200M. On the right side of van den Berg came Paul Magnier of Soudal Quickstep. The Frenchman hung in tight for as long as he could and started his sprint at 175M from the line. In the first five or six pedal strokes, Magnier powered passed Teutenberg and won the sprint comfortably with more than a bike length. Jordi Meeus of Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe followed Magnier through the scrum to finish second with Oded Kogut of NSN Cycling doing the same for third place.