Ayuso pips Onley to win Volta ao Algarve finale and seal GC

Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek) won stage 5 of the Volta ao Algarve after overtaking Oscar Onley (Ineos) in the final metres after a real GC showdown on the Alto do Malhão. The win sealed overall victory for the Spaniard ahead of Paul Seixas (Decathlon CGM CMA), who placed third on the stage.

The early breakaway featured Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor), Max Schachmann (Soudal Quick-Step), Jan Tratnik (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Tobias Bayer (Alpecin - Premier Tech) and Luca Van Boven (Lottto Intermarche), and they would push on until 44km to go, when Alaphilippe and Schachmann took off to form a duo at the head of the race.

Back in the peloton, the action kicked off on the first ascent of the Alto do Malhão, where João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) took up the reins, attacking multiple times on the ascent. He was joined by all the pre-race GC favourites, including Ayuso, Seixas and Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe).

Schachmann suffered a hefty crash in the corner of a descent shortly after the first summit of the Malhão, where he slid out and nestled under the roadside barrier, appearing visibly hurt. 

The situation left Alaphilippe with over a minute advantage over the riders behind, with Lipowitz and Kevin Vauquelin (Ineos) joining the earlier breakaway featured riders and motored on with a solid gap over group 3 behind and chasing down the solo Alaphilippe. With 16km remaining, Alaphilippe wound down his effort and awaited the two chasers.

On the penultimate climb of the day, the strongest riders remaining at the head of the race were Lipowtiz and Vauquelin, but their margin was narrow, just 40 seconds with the final climb to go, teeing up a potentially thrilling decider of the race.

The gap was down to ten seconds with 5km to go, with the work behind done by Lidl-Trek and UAE Team Emirates-XRG ahead of the showdown on the Alto do Malhão.

The leading duo was caught at the foot of the climb, where  UAE came to the fore, setting a strong tempo. Almeida then made a long, seated seated with 2km to go in an attempt to launch himself to glory but Ayuso, Onley and Seixas held firm behind him.

Inside the final kilometre, Matthew Riccitello (Decathlon CMA CGM) came to the front and the group was reduced still further as the American launched his teammate Seixas. The Frenchman was hoping to do enough to unseat Ayuso but he was unable to shake him off. 

Onley then launched his sprint in the last 400m with Ayuso following closely. Ayuso nipped past Onley in the last 25 metres to claim the stage and seal the overall title.