Hello, Bon Dia and welc༒ome to our live coverage of stage 2 of the Volta ao Algarve!

The peloton has just heade𝕴d out to the start of the stage in Lagoa and the flag has dropped.

A reminder of the results of yesterday's🅺 ope🌳ning stage which ended with a bunch sprint finish...

Volta ao Algarve: Gerben Thijssen fastest in opening sprint stage to take first leader's jersey

A messy bunch sprint opens five-day race in Lagos

Fo🔜ur classified climbs on today's stage – Alto da Choça (1.8km at 6.3%) Alferce (3 km🐼 at 7.2%), Pomba (3.8 km at 8%), and the finisher at Fóia (7.5km at 5.9%).

Two-time race winner Remco Evenepoel is among 🥀the big favourites for glory today...

Remco Evenepoel squeaks past big crash on first day of Volta ao Algarve – Belgianꦦ returns to scene of summit victory in 💎2020 at Alto da Fóia on stage 2

164km to go

Attacks flying off the front at this early stage. A🌞stana Qazaqstan's Max Walker is among the riders trying a move.

He's joined out front by Mar🍸tin Urianstad Bugge (Uno-X Mobility), Pedro Silva (ABTF Betão-Feirense), Aleksandr Grigorev (Efapel), and César Martingil (Tavfer-Ovos Matinados-Mortágua).

Several more riders chasing.

Ruben Simão (APHotels & Resorts-Tavira-SC Farense), Oliver Rees (Sabgal-Anicolor), Gonçalo Amado (Tavfer-Ovos Matinados-Mort&aacut💯e;gua) are trying to get across.

1:40 between the leaders and the peloton.

Meanwhile, the chasers have 30 seconds💛 to make up.

Nine months on, Tao Geoghegan Hart back to 'race rhythm' at Volta ao Algarve

Lidl-Trek racer 'back in the routine' and avoids💙 crashes to finish safely in main peloton on opening stage

158km to go

The ꦰtwo breakaway grou🧸ps are together now. Eight riders in the lead.

The men out front today – Max Walker (Astana Qazaqstan), Martin Urianstad B🌟ugge (Uno-X Mobility), Pedro Silva (ABTF B♌etão-Feirense), Aleksandr Grigorev (Efapel), Ruben Simão (APHotels & Resorts-Tavira-SC Farense), Oliver Rees (Sabgal-Anicolor), César Martingil, Gonçalo Amado (Tavfer-Ovos Matinados-Mortágua)

Amado was in t♋he break yesterday, picking up four mountain classification points along the way to take second in the competition behind Tomas C🐭ontte (Aviludo-Louletano-Loulé Concelho).

Three minutes between break a𝓀nd peloton now. The peloton are happy to let this group mostly made up of riders from Portuguese Continental teams escape.

Around 60km to go on largely flat road🌃s before the riders hit the first climb of the day, the Alto da Choça.

Magnus Sheffield opens up about seeing aftermath of Gino Mäder's fatal crash

American says 'The crash reminded me of how f💧ragile liꦏfe can be'

It s༺hould be quite a quiet run to the first climb now, with the breakaway of the day already sorted.

154km to go

There are more hills after that opening climb, but the final three classified climbs of the day are packed into the final 35🐠km of the stage.

A look at the jersey holders at the start of the s🎃tage – plus Geraint Thomas.

Gerben Thijs𒉰sen is in the race leader's yellow jersey while Tomas Contte is in the blue of mountain classification leader. Marijn van den Berg wears the green points jersey after taking second on stage 1. Magnus Sheffield (not pictured) is i💙n the white best young rider's jeresy.

Alpecin-Deceuninck go double denim with new kit for 2024 season

Belgian team's new look harks back to the Carrera Jeans kits of the 1990꧑s

With Remco Evenepoel keen to win the stage, it's no s🐓urprise to see his Soudal-Quick Step team working on the fro🎉nt of the peloton and chasing the attack. 

Intermarche-Wanty are also helping as stage 1 winner 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Gerben Thijssen wears the leader's yellow jersey.

It has started to rain on the riders. Spr☂ing has still to arrive in the Algarve.  

The hills are starting to stand out on he profile of the 171km stage but 🤡only get more frequent and harder as the stage goes on.

The wind and rain are an extra difficulty.  

Geraint Thomas spoke to Eurosport before the start, explaining why he is mak🤡ing his season debut in the Algarve. 

"It’s a nice way to start the season: a couple of sprints, two hard days and a TT as well. It’s a bit of everything, with a strong field, generally good weathe♓r too, so a go🅠od place to start," he said.

Thomas will ride both the Giro and the Tour this ⛄year and so made it clear he will not be a GC contender this week. 

"I won’t bಌe racing too much before the Giro but I’ll do some good hit outs and this is the first of them," he said.  

"I feel okay, better than🔜 this time last year. But that&▨rsquo;s not too hard to be honest, with the start (to 2023) that I had. 

"I feel good enough to help the boys. I certainly won’t be going for the win myself. It’s all about just working hard and 🌞getting in some good intensity."  

The possible headwind on the climb to the finish could have an impact on the race. It was so strong there was some speculation that the stage could be changed but no longer se𒈔ems to be the case.  

However it will change race tactics. 

"If🌄 there’s a sꦏprint at the top and a headwind, it could be a stalemate for the majority of the climb," Thomas suggested.  

"It might play into Pippo’s (Filippo Ganna) hands. We꧂’ll see how everyone is on the road and how it goes."  

The gap to the peloton is up to 4:40.

This is the break of the day. 

It's great to see Britain's Max Walker in the attack. He only joined Astana from the Continent𝓀al Saint Piran team ten days ago.♏  

Tom Pidcock could be a contender for the finish and the GC on his season debut. 🥀ꦇ;

He revaled to Sporza that he has been working on his time trialing a𓂃ไnd so could limit any losses to the likes of Remco Evenepoel.

"Yesterday I had a bit of a hard time because I still lack competitive rhythm. But it already felt better than last year," the Brit told Renaat Schotte, Sporza's man on the race.

"My (TT) position is better and I feel more comfortable on the time trial bike. Iᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚ'm curious to see where I will end up." 

The cat💧egorised climbs are about to begin. This is the menu for the day: 

94.2 km from the finish: Alto da Choca (1.8 km and 6.3% average)

25.6 km from the finish: Alferce (3 km and 7.2%)

13.7 km from the finish: Pomba (3.8 km and 8%)

7.5 km from the finish: start of the final climb Alღto da Foia (7.5 km and 5.9%)  

The f💎i✱nal 30km are especially difficult. It should make for a great finale. 

Max Walker (Astana Qazaqstan) leads ൩thಞe break at the Volt ao Algarve.

100km to go

The riders 🗹will soon face the Altoꦯ da Choca climb. There are no easy roads from this point.

Neo pro Warre Vangheluwe (Soudal Quick-Step) has lead the chase 🍌🍷so far but Evenepoel has now sent two more teammates to the front. He wants the attack under control, so he can have a chance of the stage victory.

The peloton has slowed on the cliℱmb. The gap to the eight-rider attack is up to 5:20. 

Alasd𝔍air Fotheringham is at the finish of the stage for Cyclingnews.

He s🉐ent us this photograph, showing that it is misty but not too cold at the suꦑmmit of the Alto da Foia.

87km to go

Meanwhile, the break is on the climb up to the mid-stage plateau, as the peloton de🐓scend off the Alto da Choca. 

Gonça♛lo Amado is the first rider to drop back from the break. He has ꦕa knee problem. 

The roads are dry for the moment as Soudal-Quick Step lead൲ the ch𒈔ase of the attack. 

75km to go

The rest of the peloton is tucked in behind them.

Andreas Leknessund and Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility) have attacked the peloton together. This is an interestingꦅ tactical move. 

Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick Step) has placed four teammates on the front toꦡ lead the𝓀 chase. He has taken full control of the chase.

Martin Urianstad Bugge (Uno-X Mobility) is ജthe attack and so Uno-X could soon have three riders up front. 

The gap to the duo is only 1:20.🌳 This an audacious and interesting move.

That was quick!  

Andreas Leknessund and Jonas Abrahams�ꦅ�en (Uno-X Mobility) have caught the break. 

60km to go

The r💃iders are going through a forest, wi🃏th the high trees protecting them from the strong winds.   

The peloton is also moving fast, with ﷺthe gap to the attackers down༺ to 2:30.

The riders face a fast 20km of descending off the plateau♛. The GC rider teams are gathering on the front to protect their leaders.

45km to go

The break is pushing on, driven by the three Uno-X riders but the peloton does not want to let the gꦅap rise.&nb🅺sp;

EF 🅺are now also on the froꦯnt, leading the chase.  

Lidl-Trek, EF Education EasyPost, and Al🅘pecin-Deceuninck have joined fo♏rces in the chase, ramping up the intensity of the chase and the race.

40km to go

The gap is up to 2:40. 

There is a lot of 𝕴c🥀limbing to come and time bonuses at intermediate sprints too, but the peloton face a huge challenge to catch the 7 riders left up front. 

𒊎The riders are in t꧟he valley now. In 5km the climbs begin. Get ready! 

These are the climbs🅠 to come. They ramp up one after another with v🥂ery little descending. 

25.6 km from the finish: Alferce (3 km and 7.2%)

13.7 km from the finish: Pomba (3.8 km and 8%)

7.5 💙km from the finish: start of the final climb Alto da🐓 Foia (7.5 km and 5.9%)  

The Uno-X riders are naturally ❀driving the break along afteไr putting three riders in the move. 

Their red jerseys are taking turns on the front, ridiไng at close to 50km/h. 

30km to go

The peloton is packed across ဣhe road on a rising section. 

There🦂 is an air of ܫpanic amongst them. Did they let the break and the UNo-X rider gain too much time? 

Upfront, Jonas Abrahamsen is doing a lot of the w🤪ork for Uno-X Mobility. 

He appears to be the lesser climber and so is sacrificing his legs to help his teammates st♔ay way.ꦫ 

It's tough for the GC teams because the climbs and hilly terrain mea☂n they don't have a lot of riders to sacrifice for the chase. 

20km to go

As th൲e gradient hurts, the break falls apart. 

Russia's Grigorev sprin🌸ts to ♑take the mountain points at the top of the Alferce climb. 

Now Martin Urianstﷺad Bugge leads the attack for Uno-X.&💮nbsp;

There are only 4 riders left up front.

The ch🌟ase is at 1:30 but the clock keeps changing. The chase is definitely on, with EF,🍬 Visma and other teams all driving the pace. 

Ouch! A h🍨airpin bend is steep and hurts the break. 

Andreas Leknessund (Uno-X) takes off alone in pursuit of a stage victory.  

Behind the peloton is splitting a๊s James Knox rides on the front for S𝔉oudal.  

15km to go

Soudal have four riders ahead o🔜f Evenepoel, wi𝔍th Visma lined out behind him. 

The Soudal riders are Knox, Cattaneo and La🅰nda.&n🧔bsp;

168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Gerben Thijssen (Intermarché-Wanty) has already been dꦺropped and so we will see new race leader at the hilltop finish at Alto da Foia. 

As Lidl-Trek point out, its windy at the finish.

Andreas Leknessund  (Uno-X Mobility) powers on out fron🦹t but he is suffering on the steepest sections of the climb. 

He has reached the top of the Pomba climb✨. The final climb Alto da Foia climb&nb🍬sp;(7.5 km and 5.9%) starts in 6km. 

Britain's Max Walk൩er is still out front but will soon be caught by the 🥂peloton.

The stee🌄p final section of the🤡 Pomba climb hurts  many, including Geraint Thomas and Pippo Ganna. 

🌱As they warned they would, Souꦡdal want to get rid of many of Evenepoel's rivals. 

The gap to Andreas Leknessund (Uno-X) iౠs now 45 🌳seconds. 

Andreas Leknessund (Uno-X) t🤪akes the lat♛e intermediate sprint and so six seconds.

So💞on behind, Wout Van Aert surges to finish second and take four seconds. He was playing a stopper role 🃏to stop Evenepoel of others taking them. 

Poor Andreas Leknessun🤪d (𝐆Uno-X). The GC group can see him now. 

He is going to be caught with 6km to race. He is the most combative of the day but surely ღwanted more from his attack.&nb⛄sp;

Up close to Evenepoel are Sepp 𒁏Kuss, Tao Geoghegan Hart and Tom Pidcock.   

Aresmann is there alongside Pidcock. 

There are 20 or so riders in the GC group. A danger? Ma🌳gnus Cort.  

Morgado of UAE is also there. 

Bob Jungels is t♏here for Higuita and Martinez. That's a nice trio for Bora. 

James Knox is doing a superb job for Evenepoel. Heℱ's been on the front for a long spell. 

Magnus Cort won the stage last year after ♍survivin🐻g on the climb. Can he do the same? 

4km to go

The road is rising but its not steep, so the speed i�♛�s high and slipstreaming is vital. 

Bagioli of Li𓆉dl-Trek and Del Toro of UAE are dr🍸opped. 

Marc Hirschi is dropp🐭ed and Luca Vergallito of Alpecin too.  

Magnus Sheffield is also turfed out the back⛦. The back door is wide op💛en.

Knox is still on the front, putting out the painfu𒁃l watts and so hurting👍 everyone else. 

3km to go

Remco Evenepoel looks so, so good and may soon make a move.&n꧑bsp;

Th wind is blowing fro the riders' left and ♌so slows the pace.&🌸nbsp;

Bang! Jan Christen of UAE attacks first. 

L⛎anda hits the front to take control and close things down.𓆉 

Kung is the latest big man to be dropped. 

1km to go!

Get ready for Remco to launch! 

The riders climb into the mist.

Only ten riders are still on the wheels. 

Boom! Remo attacks! 

Dani Martinez goes with him!  

Martinez h🍃its the front and Evenepoel can't get back to him. 

Martinez wins the stage! 

Everyone el🌱se is lined out b💮ehind them at the line after a 400m sprint to the line.  

Remco wanted the stage win but Martinez surged pas﷽t him. 

Sepp Kuss ♑wa🐎s third just a few seconds back, with Tao Geoghegan Hart just behind too.  

Thanks 🎉to his stage win, Dani Martinez, who ♔won the Volta ao Algarve in 2023, is the new race leader.

Tom Pidcock fꦐiniꦆshed sixth, at eight seconds, like Geoghegan Hart.

Thanks to th❀e time bonuses, Martinez leads Evenepoel by four seconds, with Kuss third on GC at 12 seconds.

Dani Martinez smiled after his win. It's not often anyone defeats Remco Evenepoel on🍌 a fast rising finish like that. 

"We faced some difficult rivals but everyone did a fantastic job. In the final, in the spꦯrint, I had✱ good legs and I won it well," he said.  

Martinez won the GC at the Volta ao Algarve and appears ready to target a second victor꧋y. The Col🐲ombian can time trial well and is clearly on form.  

"I came with the mentality of doing 🐈well again this year but the riders here are on good form," he said modestly.

"Today was an important stage.🃏 We got through it well and so we’re ready for the next few days. 

"Marco Hller, my teammate, fell yesterওday and Alex Hajek abandoned but we’ll still work toge🦄ther 100%." 

This is the shot as Dani Martinez won the stage.&ꩲnbsp;

He had time to look b♔ack to check where Remco Eveneopol wa💧s he hit the finish line. 

This was the moment Remco crossed the line. 

He might not be too happy about being beaten but Dani Martine🎃z was clearly stronger in the sprint to the final corner and ten through the curves to the line.  

Tao Geoghegan Hart was a few seconds further back but he is surely happy with his performance🐻, his his first important test on a hilly finish since his terrible crash at the 2023 Giro.

Thanks for joining our full live coverage of stage 2 of the Volta 🌺ao Algarve. 

To read our fu🍃ll stage report and see the a growing photo gallery and race results, click below. 

꧅It ꦓwas a fascinating day of racing in the Portuguese hills. 

Volta ao Algarve: Dani Martínez out-sprints Remco Evenepoel on Alto da Foia

Evenepoel op🐎ted to warm down on his TT bike after the finish. 

Evenepoel had an air of disappointme♏nt after all the work by his Soudal-Quick Step teammates but sportingly acknowledged that Martinez was a deserved winner.

“It's sad that we're the only ones working all day and then not being able to finish it. But that's just the way it is, you can't win everything. We have to be content with what we have don🍎e,” he told HLN as he warmed down near the finish. 

Evenepo🍰el started his sprint wi𝐆th more than 300 metres to go.

“It might have been a mistake to start so early.ඣ It was more like a headwind than a tailwind. Starting my sprint so quickly is the only mistake I made today,” he said.

“Martínez came over and took the best line. I had the feeling that I was getting eve🍎n closer in the last metres, but h♛e was just stronger today,”

“The conclusion is good, I saw a very strong team today. In the end there was only one rider faster, that's no shame.&r🍸ඣdquo;

Thanks for joining us today. 

Alasdair Fotheringham is at the Alto da Foia finish for Cyclingnews and will soon have news and inte♌rviews from the finish. 

The Cyclingnews 🍰livﷺe coverage will return on Friday for stage 3. 

We're expecting a final chance for the sprinters after the 192km ride from Vila Real de Santo António to Tavira. However 150km are in the hills and so the stage might suit a breakaway or a rider able t🐲o climb with a fast finish.

Our pick? 

Magnus Cort (Uno-X Mobility).

Vejo você a꧟manh&atilꦓde;!  - That's 'See you tomorrow!' in Portuguese.