Volta ao Algarve 2025 - Analysing the contenders
Volta ao Algarve route undergoes major changes in 2025
Volta ao Algarve 2025 - Everything you need to know
How to watch the Volta ao Algarve 2025 – Live streams, TV channels
Race situation
Welcome to Cyclingnews' live coverage of stage 1 at the Volta ao Algarve.
We’re about 20 minutes away from the start of what is arguably the most star-studded race of the 2025 season so far — the Volta ao Algarve.
Most notably, the race sees two of the peloton’s most famous riders make their season bows for 2025 - Jonas Vingegaard and Primož Roglič.
For Vingegaard, this will be his first time racing since all the way back last August, at the Tour of Poland. He was both physically and mentally exhausted by then, after a season severely affected by his horror crash in the spring.
If he’s feeling fresh, he could be unstoppable. At his season opener last year, O Gran Camiño, he won three out of the four stages en route to overall victory.
The riders are currently making their way through the lengthy 4.7km neutralised one, but will be racing for real soon.
Vingegaard’s main rival for the GC is likely to be his old teammate, Primož Roglič. Roglič was another whose 2024 season was compromised by injury, but he remained as prolific as ever in the race’s he did manage to finish, winning GC in two out of three of them.
192KM REMAINING
And we're off!
Vingegaard, Roglič and co will be more focussed on surviving today, rather than trying to gain any time. The parcours is mostly flat, which should make this a day for the sprinters.
Rafael Durães, one of the riders representing the local Portuguese Rádio Popular - Paredes - Boavista team, has had to deal with a rear wheel problem.
Here's a glimpse of some of the riders in the peloton at the start today.
8 riders have got up the road and got a small gap.
All but 2 of those riders are Portuguese, representing a variety of the many lower tier local teams competing this week.
Over 30 seconds now for the leading octet. It seems we may have our break of the day.
180KM REMAINING
That does indeed seem to be the case - it's nearly two minutes for the 8 riders out front, and the peloton has sat up.
So, here's a full list of those 8 riders who look set to spend much of the day leading the race:
Carlos Miguel Salgueiro (APHotels & Resorts / Tavira / SC Farense)
Francisco Campos (APHotels & Resorts / Tavira / SC Farense)
Francisco Morais (Tavfer-Ovos Matinados-Mortágua)
Diogo Narciso (Credibom / LA Alumínios / Marcos Car)
Noah Campos (GI Group Holding - Simoldes - UDO)
Gonçalo Oliveira (Anicolor / Tien 21)
Victor Cesar de Paula (FEIRENSE - BEECELER)
German Nicolás Tivani (Aviludo - Louletano - Loulé)
The only riders present in this group who aren’t Portuguese are from South America - Cesar de Paula, from Brazil, and Tivani, from Argentina. Cesar de Paula will also have the benefit of speaking the same language as his fellow escapees.
170KM REMAINING
2-20 now for the break, who can rest assured they won't be brought back any time soon.
Ivo Oliveira (UAE Team Emirates) has had a mechanical to deal with, and Jacopo Mosca and Jan Tratnik have been seen with their respective Lidl-Trek and Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe team cars, but other than that it’s all quiet on the road.
It has all kicked off at the UAE Tour, where the race's first summit finish has just finished. You can find out what happened here.
160KM REMAINING
Back here in the Algarve, the gap continues to grow. It's 3-40 for the leaders now.
So which sprinters should we be looking out for come the likely bunch finish?
Certainly the headline name on the startlist is Wout van Aert, but his form doesn’t look especially encouraging. At his only race of the season so far, Clásica Jaén, he switched roles during the race from leader to domestique when he realised he didn’t have the legs to compete for the win.
That said, it can take less time to come into sprinting form than for the classics, so Van Aert could yet open his account for the season today.
Here are the 8 riders out front, still with a lead of over 3 minutes.
One of the sprinting heroes of last year, Tour de France star Biniam Girmay, is another who hopes to compete for the spoils in today’s finale. He’s raced four times already this year, but hasn’t yet placed better than fourth (at Trofeo Ses Salines).
Another to look out for is Arnaud De Lie. He's set out his intentions by having his Lotto teammate Brent Van Moer lead the peloton.
De Lie was one of the riders defeated at the Clasica de Almeria bunch sprint three days ago to Milan Fretin. The 23-year-old Freten is again taking part today, and hopes to carry on that form.
Jordi Meus is another who may fancy his chances today. The Belgian started the season in impressive form at Etoile de Bessèges, registering a second and fourth place finish before leaving the race.
140KM REMAINING
Still nothing to report on the road, where the gap between the 8 leaders and the peloton is stable at around 3-30.
Not to make readers tuning in from the colder parts of the world too jealous of the riders, but conditions are lovely for racing - dry, not windy, and pleasantly warm at just shy of 20 degrees.
While we wait for the action to kick off, have a read of our rundown of the top contenders present here in the Algarve, both for the GC and stage wins.
Here's Jonas Vingegaard spotted in the peloton. He's managed to stay safe without any problems so far.
130KM REMAINING
More kilometres tick by, and the gap remains the same, at around three and a half minutes. The peloton has this firmly under control.
Here's more from Jonas Vingegaard about what he hopes to get out of this week of racing.
120KM REMAINING
Almost one third into the stage now, and the gap has crept down a little, to just over three minutes.
As well as Lotto, EF Education-EasyPost have taken it upon themselves to lead the peloton. They presumably have high hopes that their young talent Madis Mihkels can compete for the win today.
The 21-year-old Mihkels hasn’t delivered a notable result so far this year, but showed some serious potential throughout 2024 while riding for Intermarché - Wanty. EF Education-EasyPost evidently have great faith in their new sprinter.
110KM REMAINING
In about 10km time, the riders will start climbing the sole categorised hill of the day. It’s only rated category three, and is too far from the finish to prompt any action in the peloton, but there will be KOM points on offer for the riders in the break to fight over, and determine the first leader in the climber’s classification.
The pace is definitely up in the peloton now. Their deficit has dipped beneath three minutes, and continues to fall.
100KM REMAINING
Just 2-20 now for the leaders, a they take on the climb.
The climb they’re riding up now is 5.4km long at an average of 4.4%. So not especially hard, but might still be felt in the legs of the riders this early in the season.
There’s action now in the break as the attacks begin in pursuit of the KOM points.
Campos and Narciso have been dropped out the back.
However, that pair is back in the break again now.
The break has reached the summit, and Francisco Campos has won maximum points ahead of his APHotels & Resorts / Tavira / SC Farense teammate Carlos Miguel Salgueiro. With no more climbs to come, all Campos has to do is make it to the finish and he’ll be on the podium tonight.
90KM REMAINING
The action in the break has seen their lead increase again to 3-50 - the biggest margin so far today
It’s a busy day across the cycling world this Wednesday. Across the border in the south of Spain, the opening stage of Vuelta a Andalucia has just finished. Find out what happened here.
A correction from earlier: it seems that the KOM points were actually won by German Nicolás Tivani, ahead of Salgueiro in second and Noah Campos in third.
The riders might have reached the summit earlier, but had to continue to climb for the next few kilometres. Only now has the road levelled out, and they’ll continue on this plateau for a while before descending.
Last year’s opening stage of the Volta ao Algarve followed a similar route, with the same start and finish destinations of Portimāo and Lagos respectively. On that occasion Gerben Thijssen won the sprint for Intermarché - Wanty, and though Thijssen isn’t riding this year, the team still has a chance of triumphing again through their sprinter for the race Biniam Girmay.
80KM REMAINING
It's still a lead of 3-40 for the riders at the front. With 80km still to ride, the peloton aren't worried about bringing them back just yet.
70KM REMAINING
The chase has picked up in earnest these last few kilometres. The octet’s lead is back down to only just over two minutes.
James Shaw of EF Education-EasyPost is doing the donkey work at the front of the peloton. Behind him is a Lotto rider, then an Intermarché–Wanty rider - clearly Girmay is up for sprinting today.
Behind those three leading the peloton is a long line of Bahrain-Victorious riders. It could be 21-year-old Alberto Bruttomesso they’re riding for, following his handful of top tens at the AlUla Tour, or simply keeping their GC man Antonio Tiberi up towards the front and safe.
For now, Biniam Girmay is the very last man in the peloton. That’s down to how relaxed things are at the moment rather than him being in any trouble, although the pace is up in the bunch.
60KM REMAINING
The pace has been high enough for the gap to have dipped below two minutes. It currently stands at 1-55.
The riders are done descending, and now will traverse across rolling roads until the finish in Lagos. It’s an undulating pacours, but shouldn’t be enough to prevent a bunch sprint.
50KM REMAINING
Only one minute for the break now. There might be 8 of them, but even such strength in numbers will give these lower-tier riders little chance against the peloton.
An attack in the breakaway!
Carlos Miguel Salgueiro was the rider to make the move, and Francisco Morais has gone with him.
And now Salgueiro attacks again.
And successfully - Salgueiro has distanced Morais and is alone in front.
Morais is back with the other six riders from the breakaway, now all chasing the lone leader. Salgueiro is looking strong.
40KM REMAINING
Salgueiro has put some distance between himself and his former breakaway companions. With 40km to go, he's 40 seconds ahead of them, and a further minute ahead of the peloton.
Crash in the peloton, two riders down.
One of the riders to fall was Joan Bou of Caja Rural, the other a rider from Aviludo - Louletano - Loulé. Bou managed to get OK, but the other rider seemed more hurt.
Mathias Vacek did not go down in the crash, but was one of a few riders to get held up. He's back in the peloton now though.
Bou is also back in the peloton.
Meanwhile Salgueiro is still going strong at the front of the race, with a lead of 30 seconds over the chasers and 1-38 over the peloton.
A couple of attackers are trying to bridge up from the chasing group to the lone leader.
30KM REMAINING
Salgueiro goes over the intermediate sprint line first to take some bonus seconds and maximum points. His priority though is staying clear for as long as possible. Right now, his lead over the chasers remains at about 30 seconds, and 1-25 over the peloton.
The sprint trains are beginning to form in the peloton. Lots of teams have moved into long, single-file lines as the road opens up, including Wout van Aert’s Visma-Lease a Bike.
Salgueiro appears to be tiring. His lead over the chasers is down to 17 seconds. He might have dug too deep in gaining that gap to maintain it much longer.
The chasers are set to be caught by the peloton before catching Salgueiro, however They have them in their sights now.
A couple of riders from that group have already dropped back. For the others, it’s only a matter of time.
That’s it, they’ve been caught. The peloton swallows them up on a draggy uphill section. There's 24km still to ride.
That leaves Salgueiro out front. He only has a handful of seconds.
Salgueiro too has been caught, only moments later. It was a fine effort from the Portuguese rider, who is surely the day's most combative rider.
20KM REMAINING
So now the focus switches to the expected sprint finish. The peloton is strung out towards the back, and bunched up towards the front where the battle for positions is fierce.
Things have calmed down a bit, as the road narrows through some small towns. No team is taking it on at the front.
It's still subdued in the peloton. The calm before the storm.
15KM REMAINING
Still the peloton remains bunched together, with no team upping the pace to string it out.
Visma-Lease a Bike and Ineos Grenadiers are among the teams bunched together at the front of the peloton.
It’s still slow enough in the peloton for a Visma-Lease a Bike rider to have a chat with a Tudor Pro Cycling Team rider beside him.
10KM REMAINING
Only 10km to go!
The roads are wider than they were, but still the peloton is bunched. There are about ten riders widthways.
5KM REMAINING
Just 5km to go. The sprint trains will start winding things up very soon.
The pace is up and they're battling for positions intensely now.
Soudal-QuickStep lead.
EF and Lotto are looking the strongest, each opposite sides of the road with a long train of domestiques.
An attack from a Tavfer-Ovos Matinados-Mortágua rider, but he's not getting a gap.
The peloton is stringing out more as they near the final kilometre.
No one team has control of this as they enter the final kilometre.
Some riders have gone down the wrong road!
Ganna is going to take victory!
Ganna wins, in bizzare circumstances.
Most of the peloton went down the wrong road in the final, leaving Ganna and a few others to contest for the stage.
A huge amount of confusion in this finish.
On one side of the road were most of the peloton, believing they were on the finishing straight. On the other side, with a line of spectators separating them, was only a few riders, of which Ganna managed to break clear from and win by a few seconds.
As the peloton went down the wrong road, some riders still sprinted, apparently believing they were competing for the stage win.
I can't remember ever seeing anything like this at a bike race before!
Here's Ganna taking the win. As you can see, only a few rides are behind him, most of the rest having gone down the wrong road.
Marco Haller is explaining how the split in the road wasn’t properly cordoned off, and the riders followed the motorbikes not realising that they were going down the wrong road.
He isn’t happy at all.
“It’s pretty ridiculous. We suffer for 190 kilometres to put ourselves in the perfect position, and then it’s basically everything for nothing. That’s a joke. It’s really something where there needs to be consequences for the officials and the organisers.”
Behind Ganna, Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ) and Jan Christen (UAE Team Emirates) were two of the few riders to go down the right the road, and finished second and third respectively.
We wait to see exactly how the organisers will determine the time gaps for those who went the wrong way. Will they be given the same time as Ganna, or of one of the groups who came in seconds behind him?
Here’s the stage top ten in full:
1 Filippo Ganna
2 Romain Grégoire at 1sec
3 Jan Christen
4 Yves Lampaert
5 Stefan Kung
6 Gal Glivar all at st
7 Xandro Meurisse at 3secs
8 Ivo Oliveira
9 Gil Gelders
10 Jan Tratnik at 7secs
The chaos at the end is even more extraordinary when you consider that this is a familiar finish at the Volta ao Algarve, as the traditional race opener. Surely the organisers have had enough practice here to prevent this from happening?
It's now being reported that the race results have been anulled, with no winner.
Thanks for joining us today, for what was one of the strangest finishes to a bike race in recent memory. Make sure to read our report as we try to make sense of what exactly happened.
