"Philipsen took too long to launch": Paul Magnier seizes opportunity to defeat the sprinter star

The 2026 Volta ao Algarve got underway with a sprinters' day in Tavira. In the final, Paul Magnier was fastest and secured his opening victory of the season as Jordi Meeus and Pavel Bittner completed the podium. Tomorrow, the Portuguese race continues with a stage up the Fóia climb (8.8 km at 6.2%), one of the race's decisive ascents.

"It’s true that it’s a very good start to the season," Magnier told Domestique after the stage. "I had a quite good winter and today was the first time that I rode really with a very strong team. We managed to work together and I made the right decisions."

For Magnier, the victory carried extra shimmer thanks to the names he left behind including Jasper Philipsen or Arnaud de Lie. "I think in terms of the level of sprinters here, it’s my biggest win," he said. "It allows me to show that I’m in good form and the team really did good work, so it’s only positives for the future."

The key to Magnier's victory was hesitation from the stage favourites, as Magnier sees it. "Yes, I saw that Philipsen took a bit of time to launch so I decided to go on the left," he explained. "I felt really strong and it’s the type of finish which suits me really well, so it was perfect."

It's taken Soudal - Quick-Step nearly an entire month to log a victory in 2026, but ultimately they could lean back on their main weapon; lightning-fast sprinters. After the departure of Remco Evenepoel, this is a key reassurement for the team that they can succeed even without their poster-boy of this decade's first half.

"It’s true it’s been a bit of time that we haven’t won, we’ve had a lot of injuries this winter, especially Tim [Merlier]," Magnier said. "So I think it will do good and motivate the whole team."

He pointed to composure as the difference in the final kilometres. "It’s good for my morale, it allows me to take confidence well and it’s good we all stayed together in the last kilometres when it was really chaotic."

To outsprint Philipsen is never a bad way to wrap the day, but Magnier expressed pride with how his team stood its ground against Alpecin's strong leadout. "Yes, well I’ve already beaten him [before], but he had a very good train with him, including Kaden Groves, so I’m very proud of the collective performance."