Dylan Groenewegen (LottoNl-Jumbo) won stage four of the Volta ao Algarve as Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) maintained his overall lead.
The Dutchman began his sprint from the pole position and easily took the stage win. He beat Matteo Pelucchi (Bora-hansgrohe) and John Degenkolb (Trek-Segafredo) in the bunch sprint.
Geraint Thomas (Sky) kept his lead in the general classification over his teammate Michal Kwiatkowski. The Pole is 19 seconds back of Thomas.
“This is a very beautiful day”, Groenewegen said. “The team did a great job today. Not only with the leadout but also with controlling the race all day. It was a fast stage with a few short climbs and a very hectic final, but we didn’t panic. Not even when Philippe Gilbert and Dylan Teuns attacked on the last hill. The boys led me out perfectly and I finished it off. Everything worked out as we had hoped”.
https://youtu.be/K7tU8IiF41I?t=2186
Volta ao Algarve 2018 – stage 4 results (Almodôvar – Tavira):
| 1 | Dylan Groenewegen (LottoNL-Jumbo) | 4:33:49 |
| 2 | Matteo Pelucchi (Bora-hansgrohe) | ,, |
| 3 | John Degenkolb (Trek-Segafredo) | ,, |
| 4 | Florian Senechal (Quick-Step Floors) | ,, |
| 5 | Jurgen Roelandts (BMC) | ,, |
| 6 | Timothy Dupont (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) | ,, |
| 7 | Hugo Hofstetter (Cofidis) | ,, |
| 8 | Jasper De Buyst (Lotto Soudal) | ,, |
| 9 | Loïc Vliegen (BMC) | ,, |
| 10 | Michal Kwiatkowski (Team Sky) | ,, |
General classification after stage 4:
| 1 | Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) | 14:35:50 |
| 2 | Michal Kwiatkowski (Team Sky) | +19” |
| 3 | Nelson Oliveira (Movistar) | +32” |
| 4 | Bob Jungels (Quick-Step Floors) | +52” |
| 5 | Tejay van Garderen (BMC) | +53” |
| 6 | Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) | +01’01” |
| 7 | Jaime Roson (Movistar) | +01’18” |
| 8 | Maximilian Schachmann (Quick-Step Floors) | +01’19” |
| 9 | Felix Grossschartner (Bora-hansgrohe) | +01’20” |
| 10 | Vasil Kiryienka (Team Sky) | +01’24” |
