Much has been made, especially in the Belgian media, of the talents of pro rider Ilan Van Wilder and the young Soudal-Quick Step looked like he had his first pro win in the bag today until his hear was broken by Magnus Cort (EF Education EasyPost).
Van Wilder (22) took it up very early on the uphill finish on stage 2 of Volta ao Algarve em Bicicleta (2.Pro), surging ahead of those around him and looking set for the win. However, as he raised his hand in the air in celebration, Cort popped up on the inside, lunging for the finish line to win.
The Dane came from a long way back, and was still fifth wheel with less than 100 metres to go. However, he was traveling much faster than the others in the sprint and also took the slightly shorter inside line as the road veered to the left on Alto da Fóia.
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In the end, Cort's lunge was enough to claim the stage victory, and the overall lead after stage 1 winner and yellow jersey Alexander Kristoff (Uno-X Pro Cycling Team) was dropped on the climbs today. A frustrated Van Wilder finished in 2nd place and the in-form Rui Costa (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty) was 3rd.
Van Wilder first signed for Team Sunweb, now Team DSM, in 2020 but the following year he cut his contract short and joined his current team. He has previously said his time as Team DSM was very difficult, adding he had too much talent and ambition to be a domestique.
Today Cort said he was delighted with his win, delivered thanks to a powerful kick and impeccable positioning and timing.
"I didn't know if I would be OK at the end of a seven or eight kilometre climb, but we thought we should try," he said. "I have one or two climbing wins, but usually in breakaways. I had never won a uphill finish over the GC favourite.
"I felt good during the climb. I wasn't in the comfort zone, but the kilometres went by and I felt I had the strength for the sprint. The pace of the climb was hard but steady which made me believe I had chances.
"In the last 500 metres everyone wanted to be well positioned, but the wind was head on and I was afraid to start too early. I fought to find a good position, found an opening in the last meters and managed to win."
