"The first stage of the 51st Volta ao Algarve has been cancelled" - Race organisers react strongly to farcical finish
Cycling
In a complete and utter mess, the opening stage of the 2025 Volta ao Algarve descended into chaos in the finishing straight, with only a handful of riders actually crossing the line, whilst the rest of the peloton rode helplessly down the other side of the barriers.
Filippo Ganna crossed the line first, but it seems the victory may not go down as the 34th of his professional career. "The first stage of the 51st Volta ao Algarve has been cancelled," the race organisation has since posted on its official X (Twitter) account. "More information soon."
This decision has not gone down well with everyone. Familiar face on cycling Twitter Benji Naesen reacted fiercely to the races announcement in the replies. "Disgusting decision," the Belgian fumed.
As this is obviously a developing story, we'll do our best to keep you up to date if and when more news on the situation arrives!
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⚠️ A primeira etapa da 51.ª Volta ao Algarve foi anulada.
— Volta ao Algarve (@VoltAlgarve) February 19, 2025
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- Maybe because he believes in the law of series or momentum ;-) that took Newcastle 70 years to break. No, seriously, I get the feeling Wout is going through a tough patch and feels he needs a « break ».Mistermaumau18-03-2025
- Nothing wrong with discussing, shouldn’t be for this year though. Let’s go through solutions to problems first before deciding anything. Seems there’s a lot of lobbying going on before any proposal is even on the table.Mistermaumau18-03-2025
- But what if that doesn't work? He's throwing away the chance at a monument that he can realistically win, it's not like he's skipping Lombardia type of racevappaxbipmv18-03-2025
- I thought it was obvious since last year. He wants to focus on the monuments that he hasn't won yet.
KerisVroom18-03-2025 - yesKerisVroom18-03-2025
- 20 years I guess?Jumpyjohn18-03-2025
- Not really, the long version: I tend to agree, also I wouldn’t read too much into MVDPs lack of stage wins compared to years ago, he was never far. MVDP usually knows how and when to peak, people read too much into some races. While back, a big thing was made out of Pidcock beating Wout only for a reversal in the more important next race. Does it make more sense now?Jumpyjohn18-03-2025
- "We came to the idea that potentially can be the reason why I’m getting so sick" It is not even confirmed. Is the only cyclist with this issue? I think they are grasping at strawsabstractengineer18-03-2025
- Like Wout maybe, only Roglič just keeps returning to pre-crash levels but maybe with him we never saw his best for all the crashes.Jumpyjohn18-03-2025
- Yep I think he must still be recovering from that crash last year. He has done well to get over that, but I would bet it will take some time yet to get back to peak pre-crash fitness. This latest "off" will not have helped.Cyclingsbestfan17-03-2025