News | Volta ao Algarve • February 15, 2018
Dan Martin already among the bigs in Portugal
Super fourth place for the Irish cyclist on the second ride of the 2018 season
Daniel Martin’s determination and desire to win are already at the top in Algarve.
In the Volta ao Algarve’s second stage today in Portugal, 187.9km from Sagres to Fòia (Monchique), UAE Team Emirates’s new hire battled at the head of the race for the 15km uphill finish at 9.5%. It was Martin, in his second day of racing in 2018, who tried to attack at eight kilometres remaining with Spilak, Gilbert and Kiryienka. Then Kwiatkowski, with the line on the horizon, found the winning kick from the small group sprint. Martin (photo Bettini) was 4th.
“I always like to race to win, unfortunately the victory just slipped away,” Daniel Martin said “The important thing, though is that the team raced well, with authority, with everyone moving with precision and with the right timing. We knew that we had an opportunity to play for the win and we created the right conditions to try to hit the big target.
In the final, I waited for the sprint. It was important to go into the final curve first and I was beside Kwiatkowski, but I wasn’t able to move to the right and in that moment, I knew that I would not be able to pass him.“.
Stage 2 results
1 Michal Kwiatkowski (Sky) 4h49’51”
2 Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) s.t.
3 Geraint Thomas (Sky) s.t.
4 Daniel Martin (UAE Team Emirates) s.t.
General classification after stage 2
1 Geraint Thomas (Sky) 9h37’49”
2 Jaime Roson (Movistar) s.t.
3 Michal Kwiatkowski (Sky) s.t.
4 Daniel Martin (UAE Team Emirates) s.t.
