It has been 48 hours since Jordi Meeus thought he had a bunch dash ‘victory’ in stage 1 of the Volta ao Algarve, solely to find he and a big proportion of the peloton had been despatched off target. On stage 3’s end in Tavira, the Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe rider was the quickest as soon as once more – with the slightly vital distinction that this time spherical, the triumph was his for retains.
Last yr’s Tavira stage winner Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) was boxed in, however Belgium nonetheless had one thing to cheer about as Van Aert’s compatriot Meeus set his report straight in model on the marginally rising Avenida Zeca Alfonso.
Stage 1 would have already got been Meeus’ first win of the 2025 season, and after the frustration and frustration of Wednesday’s annulled day within the saddle, Friday within the Algarve gave him the triumph he had regarded for therefore arduous in Lagos two days earlier.
‘I’m joyful there was an actual line to cross this time,” Meeus advised reporters afterwards. “I’m glad I might end off the group’s work in one of the simplest ways doable.
Asked if he thought-about this the primary win of the season or the second, he answered “It’s formally the primary one. I’m actually proud of it”.
“I knew the end suited me with the marginally uphill gradient, so it was nearly timing.” With a kilometer to go I used to be nonetheless a bit too far out, however I might nonetheless achieve some positions in the direction of the final nook.
“Casper van Uden (Picnic-PostNL) began his dash fairly early, however I might observe on his wheel, take the final nook in a great place and and time my transfer completely.
The division of a group between a GC contender like Primož Roglič and a sprinter like Meeus will not be at all times a contented one, however in Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe on the Algarve it was figuring out effectively, he mentioned.
“We had clear targets earlier than beginning for the 2 of us right here, the 2 teams [in the team to support Roglič and Meeus] work effectively collectively, anyway we needed to keep in entrance till three kilometres to the end for Primož after which the sprinters’ group may gain advantage from that,” he identified.
Meeus recognised that he’s “not a frequent winner”, though he has taken victories as prestigious because the Champs Elysées stage of the Tour de France in 2023 – a end typically described because the unofficial ‘world championships for sprinters’.
“My confidence was already good, however that is an additional increase to my motivation,” he mentioned, having taken over the dash classification and the inexperienced jersey on Friday.
Next week, Meeus will head to Omloop Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne previous to an altitude coaching camp to construct for the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix.
But earlier than that, he might but add a second win to his Algarve tally on Saturday in Faro, additionally presumably set to finish in a bunch dash.
