Enric Mas sits in fourth overall going into the final stage.
A prosperous port during the Age of Discoveries, when it was used as a base for the Portuguese expeditions to North Africa, supplying salt, wine and dried fish, while at the same time trading salted fish, almonds, figs and wine to northern Europe, Tavira welcomed the Volta ao Algarve peloton again, for the fourth consecutive year, at the end of a 198.3km stage which started from Albufeira.
Tim Declercq continued to shine at the head of the peloton, putting in a huge amount of work and duly chasing the original five-man breakaway, whose adventure came to an end with 20 kilometers to go, and also keeping things together on the final climb, where several local riders tried to stir things up and apply pressure on the teams targeting a mass gallop.
The run-in to the finish line in Tavira was extremely technical, with narrow roads and three roundabouts which disrupted the sprinters’ teams, leaving every man for himself on the uphill drag that ended up impacting on the outcome more than anyone had expected. Dylan Groenewegen (LottoNL-Jumbo) was the one to capture the win, ahead of Arnaud Demare (Groupama-FDJ), while Fabio Jakobsen concluded the day as the highest finisher of Deceuninck – Quick-Step.
Despite conceding seven seconds after the group split in the final kilometer of the stage, 24-year-old Enric Mas remains well-placed in the general classification before the closing stage of the 45th Volta ao Algarve, which will see the riders go all-in on the short but brutal Alto do Malhão, the last of the day’s five classified climbs.
Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele/ Getty Images
