Sam Bennett wins opening sprint at the Volta ao Algarve
Sam Bennett took the opening stage of the Volta ao Algarve 2021 after his team delivered him to the front of the race beating Danny Van Poppel and Jon Aberasturi
Teammates Davide Ballerini and Michael Mørkøv brought him to the front with 500 metres to go before his launched his sprint.
Tomorrow's stage 2 will finish atop the Fóia will be the first opportunity for candidates for the yellow jersey to show themselves, in a climb in which, in the last three years, the stage winner also became the winner of the Volta ao Algarve: Michal Kwiatkowski, in 2018, Tadej Pogacar, in 2019, and Remco Evenepoel, in 2020.
Sam Bennett, "I was on the limit today, team did an incredible job to deliver me to the front of the race and stay upright, legs were hurting today, glad I managed to pull it off. Will be looking for a stage win on stage 3 on Friday, I've got to get through tomorrow's mountain stage, still got some work to do."
VIDEO: 2021 Volta Ao Algarve Stage 1 Highlights
2021 Volta Ao Algarve Stage 1 Top 10
1 Sam Bennett (Irl) Deceuninck-QuickStep 4:37:42
2 Danny van Poppel (Ned) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux 0:00:00
3 Jon Aberasturi Izaga (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:00:00
4 Stanislaw Aniolkowski (Pol) Bingoal Pauwels Sauzen WB 0:00:01
5 Iúri Leitão (Por) Tavfer-Measindot-Mortágua 0:00:01
6 Michael Mørkøv (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:00:01
7 Rui Oliveira (Por) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:01
8 Ethan Hayter (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers 0:00:01
9 Mikel Aristi Gardoki (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0:00:01
10 Michael Schwarzmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:01