Bos happy to get off the mark at Volta ao Algarve

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Theo Bos claimed his first win of the season when he unleashed a powerful sprint at the end of stage two of the Volta ao Algarve on Friday, and his victory ensured that the leader’s jersey stayed within the Blano Pro Cycling team’s ranks.

Bos’ teammate Paul Martens had pre-empted the sprinters to take a canny victory on the opening stage and Blanco was again to the fore in attempting to set up the sprint in Lagoa on Friday.

“It was a collective victory once again, the guys did a really great job,” Bos said. “The last kilometre was difficult, because it was uphill initially, then it went downhill for a bit before it dragged back up to the line.”

In the testing finale, Bos had looked to position himself on the rear wheel of Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma-QuickStep), but he had to change that tactic when the Manxman suffered a mechanical mishap in sight of the line.

“Tom Leezer had dropped me off around 300 metres from the line,” Bos explained. “I chose Cavendish’s wheel first but he had problems with his chain. I had to come from a little further back, but it went perfectly.”

With Cavendish out of the equation, the powerful Bos had more than enough in reserve to overhaul Giacomo Nizzolo (RadioShack Leopard) and local rider Bruno Matos (Carmim-Tavira) in the sprint. It is now four years since the former track rider made his debut on the road at the 2009 edition of the Volta ao Algarve. “I’m really happy with this win as it’s only my fifth race of the season,” Bos said.

For Cavendish, meanwhile, there was the frustration of missing out on a sprint finish and the chance to add to his running total of five victories in 2013. His Omega Pharma-QuickStep team was active in the finale, but Cavendish’s luck deserted him in the finishing straight and he rolled across the line in 29th place.

“Mark had a mechanical problem while he was preparing to sprint. These things happen,” directeur sportif Tom Steels said on the team’s website. “We did everything we could and I’m proud of the work we did today.”