Geraint Thomas seals Volta ao Algarve victory as Andre Greipel wins final stage
Last Updated: 22/02/15 5:38pm
Team Sky’s Geraint Thomas completed overall victory of the Volta ao Algarve as Andre Greipel sprinted to victory on the final stage.
Thomas took a 27-second lead into the last day and stayed out of trouble on the flat run into Vilamoura to seal the third stage-race title of his career.
Etixx - Quick-Step's Michal Kwiatkowski consolidated second place overall, while Katusha's Tiago Machado finished 1min 11sec adrift in third. Richie Porte, Thomas’ Team Sky team-mate, was three seconds further back in fourth.
Greipel, meanwhile, claimed his first win of the season by beating Tom van Asbroeck into second place and Raymond Kreder into third.
Thomas, who took the race lead by winning stage two, told teamsky.com: “Richie was the leader coming into the race but I took my chance on the second day and I happened to get the jersey.
“You look at the previous [Volta ao Algarve] winners and there are a lot of strong guys there. There are a lot of strong teams here, too. I don’t get to win very often so it’s really nice."
Thomas willl now turn his attentions to his main goals for the spring, starting with Paris-Nice from March 8-15.
He added: "We have got a big month ahead with Paris-Nice and the classics. The form seems to be building nicely so I’m looking forward to the next few weeks."
Stage five result
1 Andre Greipel (Ger) Lotto Soudal, 4:15:40
2 Tom van Asbroeck (Bel) LottoNL-Jumbo, same time
3 Raymond Kreder (Ned) Team Roompot, st
4 Rudiger Selig (Ger) Katusha, st
5 Gianni Meersman (Bel) Etixx – Quick-Step, st
6 Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Bora-Argon 18, st
7 Roy Jans (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert, st
8 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Lotto Soudal, st
9 Alexander Porsev (Rus) Katusha, st
10 Ben Swift (GB) Team Sky, st
General classification
1 Geraint Thomas (GB) Team Sky, 19:46:13
2 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Etixx – Quick-Step, +27secs
3 Tiago Machado (Por) Katusha, +1:11
4 Richie Porte (Aus) Team Sky, +1:14
5 Luis Leon Sanchez (Esp) Astana, +1:18
6 Rein Taaramae (Est) Astana, +1:19
7 Sergei Chernetckii (Rus) Katusha, +1:32
8 Alberto Losada (Esp) Katusha, +1:55
9 Ruben Fernandez (Esp) Movistar, +2:04
10 Ion Izagirre (Esp) Movistar, +2:21
