Colombian Daniel Martinez has won the second stage of the Tour of the Algarve. The Bora-Hansgrohe rider made it just ahead of Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step). Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Lease-A-Bike) finished third, Wout van Aert had to let go in the last kilometer and finished sixteenth at 26 seconds.
The tough second stage in the Tour of the Algarve quickly had an early breakaway. Max Walker (Astana), Martin Urianstad (Uno-X), Oliver Rees (Sabgal), Pedro Silva (ABTF Betao), Ruben Simao (AP Hotels), Cesar Martingil (Tavfer), Gonçalo Amado (Tavfer) and Aleksander Grigorev (Efapel ) chose the clear water.
They were left with seven after Amado had to drop out with a knee injury, but sixty kilometers from the finish two more riders from Norwegian Uno Fast rider Jonas Abrahamsen piloted leader Andreas Leknessund to the front, so that the Norwegian formation together with Urianstad suddenly had three men at the front.
As a result, the pace in the peloton increased sharply. Leader in the general classification Gerben Thijssen could not follow and had to drop out before the final climb, while at the front Grigorev grabbed the points for the mountain jersey before disappearing into the background.
Slowly but surely, however, it became clear that Leknessund would not make it. Remco Evenepoel followed smoothly in the wheel of two servants – James Knox set the pace – and Wout van Aert also played attentively at the front in a thinned out group of about 25 riders. Striking: while he emphatically did not participate in the sprint yesterday, Van Aert now picked up bonus seconds.
In the last kilometer it rained attacks. Mikel Landa took over from Knox and dragged Evenepoel forward; Van Aert had to leave a gap. Evenepoel took his chance 250 meters from the finish, but was caught by Colombian Daniel Martinez. The Bora-Hansgrohe man went up and over Evenepoel, who gained a few seconds lead over the other favorites. Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) crossed the line third.
Top ten:
1. Daniel Martinez 4:40:21
2. Remco Evenepoel d
3. Sepp Kuss +0:06
4. Sergio Higuita +0:07
5. Jan Tratnik +0:08
6. Thomas Pidcock +0:09
7. Tao Geoghegan Hart z.t.
8. Thymen Arendsman +0:12
9. Mikel Landa +0:13
10. Christian Scaroni +0:17
