Deceuninck – Quick-Step Floors Cycling Team (Portugal) - Press Release: Our rider’s imperious display on stage 2 of the Volta ao Algarve propelled him to his first ever uphill victory.

Remco Evenepoel continued his exceptional start to the season Thursday afternoon, when he capitalised on João Almeida’s tremendous work and stunned his rivals on Alto da Foía, where he surged to victory in spectacular fashion and took not just the stage (making it two in a row for Deceuninck – Quick-Step in Algarve), but also the yellow jersey.

As expected, despite some skirmishes on the penultimate ascent, stage 2 came down to the final kilometer, where Evenepoel launched a perfectly timed and perfectly executed attack at 500 meters to go, a fantastic acceleration which saw him zip clear of the reduced bunch that up until that point had been kept together by Almeida. The Portuguese’s superb effort was instrumental, the fierce tempo he laid down preventing attacks and allowing Remco to dose his effort carefully on the 7.5km climb before emerging from the group at a speed that would have made the famous Road Runner envious.

Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele / Getty Images.