"The last kilometre was the longest of my career" - Laurens De Plus secures third place at Volta ao Algarve with impressive time trial

Laurens De Plus secured third place overall at the Volta ao Algarve after delivering an impressive time trial on the final stage. The Belgian rider finished eighth on the Alto de Malhão climb after a very impressive performance on the time trial bike.

Jonas Vingegaard claimed both the stage victory and the overall title, with João Almeida finishing second and De Plus rounding out the podium.

In an INEOS Grenadiers press release, De Plus reflected on his time trial performance, saying, "This TT was all about pacing, and I could hear my coach behind me in the car and maybe I got a little bit excited."

The 29-year-old Belgian, who previously won a team time trial stage at the 2019 Tour de France with Jumbo-Visma, finished 15th overall at last year’s Tour, one of the few bright spots for INEOS in an otherwise challenging season.

"We’ve had a really nice journey together these past four years and maybe I got a bit overenthusiastic hearing his voice. By the end, the last kilometre was the longest of my career!

"It was a good week for our team in Algarve, but the wider team, we had collarbone injuries to some key riders," he concluded.