And once more ! Daniel Martinez (Bora-Hansgrohe) who had already won his duel against Remco Evenepoel on Thursday, at the top of Alto de Foia, won again this Sunday during the 5th and final stage of the Tour of the Algarve, in front of Evenepoel. But the Belgian can console himself since he still wins the general classification, for the third time after 2020 and 2022. On Saturday, the world champion in the discipline won the time trial and gained a significant advantage in the general, taking 47 seconds ahead of his runner-up, Martinez.
There were indeed, in this stage from Faro to Alto do Malhao, breakaway attempts, such as that, 39 kilometers from the finish, by Wout Van Aert, who then formed a leading trio with Ben Healy and Gijs Leemreize. He managed to gain more than a minute’s lead over the peloton, before his gap melted drastically as the final approached. Resumed, the three men left the leaders of the event to fight for the stage victory, while the Malhao wall still had to be climbed (2.6 km at 9.23% average), during which Martinez and Evenepoel engaged in a mano a mano.
The two men, who now share the Tour of the Algarve since 2022 (Martinez having won it in 2023), also finish in the first two places overall this year. Slovenian Jan Tratnik (Visma-Lease a Bike) completes the podium. Also in the top 10 are Tom Pidcock (6th), Van Aert (7th) and Sepp Kuss (8th).
