Sergio Higuita crashes in sight of a big win at Algarve: "That’s really frustrating as I judged my effort perfectly"

The Colombian had a stage win in mind today at the Volta ao Algarve but an unexpected crash brought down his ambitions at a very bad time.

The Colombian came into the Volta ao Algarve fresh off a big win in Colombia where he conquered the national championships. In Portugal, on his first race in his new equipment, he came in as a big favourite for stage two that finished high in the Alto da Fóia, but came away with nothing but bruises and scratches. As he was in the dispute for the win, on the left side of the road, he collided with Norwegian champion and both hit the deck with around 50 meters to go. Higuita walked across the line 36 seconds after stage winner David Gaudu.

"I felt really good today and the team positioned me well before the last climb. I wanted to wait as long as possible with my sprint because of the wind. In the end I have been in a perfect position and was overtaking on the left side. I thought I can grab the win, but Foss touched me and unfortunately, I wasn’t able to avoid a crash and went down. That’s really frustrating as I judged my effort perfectly," Higuita commented.

With the 32-kilometer long time-trial on Saturday Higuita is unlikely to be in the fight for the top places of the Portuguese race, however he has another opportunity to take a win this sunday at the punchy hilltop finish at the Alto do Malhão where he must be redirecting his focus.