DISCUSSION | UAE 4/ Algarve 2/ Andalucia 2 - Seixas and Romeo the wonder kids, Milan the ruthless

A day with three different menus. The United Arab Emirates, the Algarve and Andalucia gave us almost eight hours of cycling, full of nuances, suspense and excitement right up to the final pedal strokes.

Let’s start in the Middle East. Today’s stage at the UAE Tour was flat. Flat but tough. 2,360 metres of elevation gain, 182 kilometres… ridden at high speed.

After multiple attacks in the peloton, the breakaway of the day finally formed with five riders. The peloton, almost always controlled by Lidl-Trek and INEOS Grenadiers, kept them under control, never allowing the gap to go beyond the two-minute mark.

The breakaway was determined to fight hard for the stage win. The kilometres ticked by and, even at a very high pace, the peloton could not take time back from the men up front. The teams with ambitions for the stage had to move forward… and work.

In the final tens of kilometres, INEOS Grenadiers and Lidl-Trek were joined by Soudal–Quick-Step, NSN Pro Cycling Team, Uno-X Mobility and UAE Team Emirates in the chase to try to close the gap to the escapees.

The breakaway was caught with 150 metres to go. Chaotic lead-outs, disorganised positioning, a fierce pursuit… But the Lidl-Trek rider launched decisively, powerfully, and gave his rivals no chance.

The peloton faced a 25-kilometre climb right at the start of the stage, which sparked plenty of fireworks. Attacks and counterattacks, small groups forming on the ascent, but none could truly break away.

Until near the summit, when three riders decided to attack. Andreas Leknessund, Iván Romeo and Josh Burnett gradually gained time, increasing their advantage to nearly three minutes.

Behind them, the peloton began organising the chase, but the two engines at the front of the race were setting off alarm bells. Iván Romeo and Andreas Leknessund worked perfectly together, setting up a real tug-of-war between the breakaway and the main teams targeting both the stage and the general classification.

Even with several teams working in the chase over the final tens of kilometres, the race seemed increasingly decided. In the closing kilometres we still saw a counterattack from Vlasov and Aranburu, but both were caught shortly afterwards.

In the fight for the stage win, Iván Romeo launched a decisive move about three kilometres from the finish. Andreas Leknessund tried to hold the wheel of the Movistar rider, but the force imposed by the Spaniard prevented the UNO-X Mobility rider from getting back on.

Iván Romeo rode solo to the finish line, raising his arms and delivering an important victory for his team.

An early breakaway animated much of the day, with nine riders gaining an advantage that they managed to capitalise on well.

The first two climbs of the day were tackled without major difficulties, and although the breakaway lost a few members on the second ascent, the efforts were still taking a toll on the riders’ legs, especially with the toughest part of the stage coming in the second half of the route.

Things began to heat up when the riders entered the final 35 kilometres, with the main teams’ blocs taking control of the chase across the full width of the road.

On the climb to Casais, the breakaway split apart and only Tomas Contte, Hugo Nunes and Gorka Sorarrain remained out front. The peloton was rapidly approaching the final climb, with Lidl-Trek setting the pace.

On the last climb, Hector Alvarez first, Carlos Verona next and finally Lennard Kämna prepared the attack of Juan Ayuso. The Spanish rider was followed by Paul Seixas and João Almeida, and the three moved clear at the front of the race.

Seixas increased the pace and put Almeida under pressure, but the Portuguese rider managed to fight his way back. Chasing behind were Oscar Onley and Matthew Riccitello, who managed to bridge across with around 2 kilometres to go.

Inside the final kilometre, Almeida attacked and reduced the group to three. He attacked again, but Ayuso and Seixas responded immediately. Entering the final metres, Ayuso and Seixas saw their chance, attacked Almeida and reached the final corner with a small gap.

In the finishing sprint, young Paul Seixas of Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team proved stronger than Juan Ayuso, winning the second stage of the 2026 Volta ao Algarve.

At the UAE Tour we had a stage that was almost slipping away from the sprinters. The breakaway of the day was not large, but they worked very well together. For most of the day only two teams worked to make sure the escapees never went more than three minutes clear. Lidl-Trek and INEOS. It was only with less than 40 km to go that other teams started to contribute.

And they had to work hard, very hard. The kilometres ticked by and the break refused to give in. They entered the final kilometre with suspense hanging in the air.

However, the riders in the break stopped cooperating, there was a brief hesitation, and with that the peloton caught them with just 150 metres to go. Jonathan Milan had no difficulty winning the stage.

In Andalucía, the 25 km climb that came right at the start of the route caused some fireworks. Some big names attacked, but never gained much of a gap.

Once at the top, three riders went clear… and two of them had huge engines, Iván Romeo and Andreas Leknessund.

The peloton let them gain about three minutes and they effectively sealed the race. How was it possible to let them get that advantage? The result? They rode alone until the final kilometres and once there, Iván Romeo dropped his breakaway companion and rode solo to victory.

In the Algarve everything came down to the final climb and the much-talked-about head-to-head between two former teammates, João Almeida and Juan Ayuso.

Lidl-Trek set a strong pace with Álvarez, Verona and Kämna, preparing Ayuso’s attack. When the Spaniard attacked, Almeida and Paul Seixas followed his wheel.

The Portuguese rider showed he was not at his very best, losing contact when Seixas increased the pace. He rejoined and then attacked twice in the final kilometre, but never managed to open a gap.

Seixas was the strongest, Onley looked in good shape for this stage of the season, and Ayuso seemed to be in better form than Almeida. The battle for the overall continues tomorrow, with the ITT.

At the UAE there was an interesting stage. Everything pointed towards a bunch sprint, and it did happen, but the peloton miscalculated what the breakaway could do and it led to a very intense finale. Yes Jonathan Milan took the stage win, as predicted, but we did no have a dull finale.

The lack of sprint stars this year is also giving way to a few secondary figures having breakthrough results at the race's sprints, and I'm quite fond of seeing Matteo Milan - the brother of Jonathan - himself finishing third.

Not only proving his worth in the peloton but also showing himself as a potential future rival to the throne his brother currently holds.

In Andalucia we've had a very tactical stage. I must say this is how I imaged the race to be decided (the GC, that is), because the race lacks a mountain stage or any truly difficult finale. Hence, it was designed for this type of early attacks and tactical racing. On that note, the organizers can be happy.

Movistar can be happy, it is hard for Iván Romeo to find a day and race scenario that perfectly suits him, but he did today, and somehow he is still underestimated by his rivals. Both he and Andreas Leknessund are massive engines who could never have been given over a minute in such a rolling stage that is perfect for both.

The victory was worthy, I believe the two now fight for the overall win; whilst UAE, Groupama, BORA and Pinarello have to go on big raids if they want to win the GC. This can happen, but it will be difficult. The lack of big climbs towards the finale also saw Wellens, Pidcock and Grégoire for example not hit the wind; even though they were seeing the GC flee in front of their eyes.

In that sense, I very much do not understand their tactics, as the energy was not saved towards an attack in the finale. Weird dynamics. But again, that is what this route was made for.In the Algarve the organizers chose not to repeat last year's route which provided the most exciting and eventful finale on the Fóia ever, but did go for a new side which had some tough gradients.

However overall, the climb still wasn't hard enough to make serious differences. But we got, in return, another very tactical finale we could enjoy.

The big engine Almeida didn't have the gradients to really make the difference but is there and perhaps the main contender to win GC as the key riders go almost tied into the time-trial...Juan Ayuso showed his very best level, a good sign for Lidl-Trek, and with a strong time trial he could also go on to win the overall; and then Paul Seixas who takes his first pro win on the very same climb that Tadej Pogacar took his first.

The GC win is to be battled between these three, and the technical high-speed sprint between Seixas and Ayuso was definitely a highlight for the week. Strong point for Alessandro Pinarello of NSN, 7th of the day, a very good surprise for a rider who has showed himself to the world as a rider who from today onwards can be considered for such a stage.