Remco Evenepoel takes assured overall win at Volta ao Algarve

Remco Evenepoel sealed an assured overall victory on the final stage five, finishing in the lead group on the summit finish and having enough of a buffer on GC to celebrate as he crossed the line.

The Belgian let his rivals go as they contested the stage victory on the upper slopes, Sergio Higuita (Bora-Hansgrohe) edging out his Colombian compatriot Dani Martínez (Ineos Grenadiers) to take the win.

Brandon McNulty, who also finished in the lead group, finished second overall, 1-17 in arrears to Evenepoel.

On the final stage, Ineos' Ethan Hayter managed a 10th-place finish, 43 seconds behind Higuita, to seal fourth overall, 1-39 in arrears to Evenepoel.

How it happened

It was full steam ahead for the final stage of the Volta ao Algarve, the pace so high no breakaway managed to establish itself for more than 40km.

A small move including Ineos' Jonathan Castroviejo went away and then was brought back in, before Fabio Jakobsen sealed his points classification jersey with a minor placing in the second intermediate sprint of the day.

Then, as the road went uphill, a group of around 20 riders broke free, including Quick-Step's Yves Lampaert and Lukas Pöstlberger (Bora-Hansgrohe), before Ineos' Tom Pidcock also got involved.

The break's gap stabilised before Fabio Jakobsen got to work to make sure it didn't go above three minutes, before Dries De Bondt (Alpecin-Fenix) countered, then leading over the next climb, Quick-Step chasing behind, shutting down an attack from Martinez and catching all riders who had been up the road.

The uptick in action caused splits in the peloton, Ethan Hayter caught out before chasing back on. Lampaert then came to the fore, shadowed by Evenepoel, keeping any potential threats to his GC lead at bay up the final climb.

As Yves Lampaert finally fell away Evenepoel took over, asserting his race lead, dragging away a quintet of the top GC men. 

Then it was Brandon McNulty who took the initiative, sprinting into the final lengths of tarmac, before Dani Martinez came through, then Sergio Higuita, the latter edging out his compatriot to take the stage win as Evenepoel celebrated behind, drinking in his latest stage victory.

Volta ao Algarve 2022, stage five: Lagoa to Malhão (173km)

1. Sergio Higuita (Col) Bora-Hansgrohe, at 4-14-53
2. Dani Martínez (Col) Ineos Grenadiers, at same time
3. Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Team Emirates
4. David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
5. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl
6. Tobias Foss (Nor) Jumbo-Visma, at 22 seconds
7. Jay Vine (Aus) Alpecin-Fenix, at 23s
8. Frederico Figueiredo (Por) Glassdrive Q8 Anicolor, at 40s
9. Sven Erik Bystrøm (Nor) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux, at 42s
10. Ethan Hayter (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers, at 43s

Final general classification

1. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl, ini 19-35-03
2. Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Team Emirates, at 1-17
3. Dani Martínez (Col) Ineos Grenadiers, at 1-21
4. Ethan Hayter (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers, at 1-39
5. David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ, at 2-00
6. Tobias Foss (Nor) Jumbo-Visma, at 2-04
7. Stefan Küng (Sui) Groupama-FDJ, at 2-16
8. Thibault Guernalec (Fra) Arkéa-Samsic, at 2-41
9. Sven Erik Bystrøm (Nor) Intermarché- Wanty-Gobert, at 3-13
10. Dylan van Baarle (Ned) Ineos Grenadiers, at 3-38