23rd February – Stage 5: Salir – Malhão
Volta ao Algarve concluded on Sunday afternoon with a challenging time trial, taking place on an a hilly 20 kilometre long route which concluded with the ascent of Alto do Malhão. Team Picnic PostNL set to get round the course in a good way, with Frank van den Broek producing a good effort over the terrain to clock a time of 29 minutes and 40 seconds. Last man down the ramp for the team was Max Poole and the youngster measured his effort well and sustained a good ride over the course to cross the line in 29 minutes and nine seconds. It would be an effort that would see him take 11th place on the stage and move up to 13th overall in GC at the end of the race.
Poole said: “It was a really hard TT and quite a tricky course so we knew it was going to be tough. I went out and tried to be disciplined and controlled until the final climb. It was pretty hard to do that considering the parcours which was constantly up and down, but then after that I tried to get over the climb as fast as possible and hold on. I’m pretty happy with the ride and it’s a nice way to end the first race of the year. The group we’ve had here has been nice so it’s good to have been a part of that and I’m looking forward to what’s coming up.”