Fabio Jakobsen (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) sprinted to victory at the opening stage of the Volta ao Algarve after a crash in the final 7km wrecked the chances of some of his big-name rivals.
Jakobsen was able to use the slipstream of Simone Consonni (UAE Team Emirates) in the final hundred metres after the Italian had gone early to try and surprise the other sprinters.
Arnaud Demare (Groupama-FDJ) closed late, sneaking past Pascal Ackermann to take second place ahead of the German.
“It’s amazing to win my first race of the season after all the training in the winter, it’s a perfect start to the year,” Jakobsen said.
The Volta ao Algrave continues on Thursday with a 187.4km stage to a summit finish to Alto de Foia.
https://youtu.be/Umz-fV5CUYo
Volta ao Algarve 2019 – stage 1 results (Portimão – Lagos):
| 1 | Fabio Jakobsen (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) | 4:52:59 |
| 2 | Arnaud Demare (Groupama-FDJ) | ,, |
| 3 | Pascal Ackermann (Bora-hansgrohe) | ,, |
| 4 | Simone Consonni (UAE Team Emirates) | ,, |
| 5 | Jasper De Buyst (Lotto Soudal) | ,, |
| 6 | Søren Kragh Andersen (Team Sunweb) | ,, |
| 7 | Edward Theuns (Trek-Segafredo) | ,, |
| 8 | Jon Aberasturi (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) | ,, |
| 9 | Christophe Laporte (Cofidis) | ,, |
| 10 | Neilson Powless (Jumbo-Visma) | ,, |
