As it happened: A hectic sprint opener at the Volta ao Algarve

Hello and welcome to our first live coverage of the 2024 European road season, the opening stage of the Volta ao Algarve!

The opening stage runs a 200km circuitous route in the east of the southern Portuguese region, heading inland from Portimão and heading east to Lagos for a likely sprint finish.

There are two climbs on the route today, though both come in the opening half of the stage.

The fourth-category Aldeia dos Matos (1.9km at 5.2%) and third-category Nave (5.9km at 4.2%) will give the breakaway a chance to battle over the climber's jersey, and shouldn't affect the outcome of the stage.

We're just under an hour away from the start of the stage.

You can take a look at the race start list below.

Our pick of the star names lining up to take the start today...

Remco Evenepoel, Mikel Landa (Soudal-QuickStep); Dani Martínez, Sergio Higuita, Jordi Meeus (Bora-Hansgrohe); Wout van Aert, Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease A Bike); Tao Geoghegan Hart, Jasper Stuyven (Lidl-Trek); Tom Pidcock, Geraint Thomas, Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers); Isaac Del Toro, Marc Hirschi (UAE Team Emirates); Ben Healy, Rui Costa (EF Education-EasyPost); Stefan Küng, Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ); Arnaud Démare (Arkéa-B&B Hotels); Magnus Cort (Uno-X Mobility).

The likes of Van Aert, Meeus, Démare could all feature in the final today.

Watch out for Gerben Thijssen (Intermarché-Wanty), Edward Theuns, Jasper Stuyven (Lidl-Trek), Marijn van den Berg (EF Education-EasyPost), Marius Mayrhofer (Tudor Pro Cycling), Marc Sarreau (Groupama-FDJ), Casper van Uden (DSM-Firmenich PostNL), among others, too.

The official race start comes in 20 minutes, though the real start is a little later after the end of the neutral rollout.

Some news from elsewhere on the Iberian Peninsula today...

Ruta del Sol opening stage cancelled due to farmer protests

While over in the Middle East, the Tour of Oman drew to a close with a summit finish on Green Mountain a few hours ago...

Tour of Oman: Adam Yates wins on Green Mountain to seal overall victory

Back in Portugal, Remco Evenepoel meets some fans ahead of the start.

...so too does Wout van Aert.

Riders also do the media rounds at sign-on before heading to the start line.

That's our reporter Alasdair Fotheringham on the right getting the latest from Vuelta a España champion Sepp Kuss.

10 minutes to the stage 1 start!

Our race preview pits superstar and two-time winner Remco Evenepoel against the world, or at least the rest of the peloton. Can he start his 2024 campaign – heading towards a Tour de France debut – with another stage race victory?

Remco Evenepoel versus the world at Volta ao Algarve – Analysis

2023 winner Dani Martínez is ready to defend his title this week.

The riders have now rolled out to start the 2024 Volta ao Algarve! A 4.7km neutral zone to start the race.

200km to go

Here we go! The flag has dropped and the 2024 Volta ao Algarve is underway.

Wout van Aert and Remco Evenepoel chat ahead of the stage 1 start.

A puncture for Visma-Lease A Bike neo-pro Per Strand Hagenes in the early kilometres of the stage.

193km to go

No breakaway just yet as the riders race away from Portimão.

10km have passed now and still no riders have managed to escape.

187km to go

Now some action as several riders jump from the peloton!

Tobias Bayer (Alpecin-Deceuninck) is among them.

The Austrian is joined by a swathe of riders from the local Continental teams.

Fábio Costa (ABTF Betão-Feirense), Tomas Contte (Aviludo-Louletano-Loulé-Concelho), Diogo Narciso (Credibom-LA Aluminios-Marcos Car), Noah Campos (Kelly-Simoldes-UDO), César Fonte (Rádio Popular-Paredes-Boavista), and Gonçalo Amado (Tavfer-Ovos Matinados-Mortágua) are also in the move.

Five Portuguese riders and an Argentinian (Contte) join Bayer out front.

Fonte is only rider with a professional win to his name in the move. He has a stage apiece at the 2012 Volta a Portugal and 2018 GP Beiras e Serra da Estrela to his name. Bayer has won two Austrian time trial titles at U23 level, meanwhile.

179km to go

Three minutes between the break and the peloton.

The gap continues to edge up as the kilometres pass by. It's up to 3:45 for the seven riders now.

Geraint Thomas is making his season debut this week as he gears up for a bid at the Giro-Tour double later this year.

He recently spoke about his longevity, the rise of young riders in the peloton, and a lack of respect in modern road racing.

Geraint Thomas: 'It's as if it's junior or U23 racing. There's less respect'

Arkéa-B&B Hotels and Intermarché-Wanty among the teams leading the peloton currently.

Our first look at the break of the day.

164km to go

The leaders are hitting the first climb of the race, the fourth-category Aldeia dos Matos, now.

Conte leads the way over the top of the climb for the first three KOM points of the race.

Fonte and Amado collect two and one points in second and third.

150km to go

The gap to the break continues to hold at around the 3:30 mark.

Arkéa's Martin Tjøtta leading the peloton.

It's a quiet period in the middle of the stage as the riders traverse mostly flat ground.

The next, and final, climb of the day comes in just under 40km.

133km to go

Three minutes between break and peloton. All seven men still up front.

The peloton speeding along during stage 1.

Olivier Le Gac (Groupama-FDJ) stops with a puncture in the peloton.

The climb of Nave is coming up soon.

114km to go

The climb is 5.9km long at an average of 4.2%.

It's a third-category hill and will decide the first mountain classification jersey of the race.

How to watch the 2024 Volta ao Algarve – all the information on live streaming the five-day race

The breakaway riders are on the climb of Nave now.

Narciso and Campos have been dropped from the breakaway on the way up.

Bayer, Costa, Contte, Fonte, Amado remain in the lead, still over three minutes up on the peloton.

Contte leads the way to the top once again. That's another four points for the Argentinean and he's on seven for the day.

Amado and Bayer follow him across the summit as Narciso gets back across to the leaders.

With the final climb of the day done, we can take a look at the mountain classification standings after stage 1...

Tomas Contte (Aviludo-Louletano-Loulé Concelho), 7

Gonçalo Amado (Tavfer-Ovos Matinados-Boavista), 4

César Fonte (Rádio Popular-Paredes-Boavista), 2

Tobias Bayer (Alpecin-Deceuninck), 2

96km to go

The stage heads into the second half and the final 100km. No more climbs left to take on.

Amado is back among the breakaway, making it six up front. Noah Campos didn't make it back and he's now 1:30 down on his former breakmates.

The peloton lies at 3:30 down on the lead group.

The peloton out on the road during stage 1.

Sepp Kuss, who is racing in the Algarve this week, has downplayed reports that he's looking to co-lead Visma-Lease A Bike with Jonas Vingegaard at the Tour de France, stating that "Everybody wants to win the Tour, even a sprinter."

'I'm not delusional but I'm not under-ambitious' - Sepp Kuss clarifies his Tour de France ambitions

Campos is now back in the peloton after getting dropped from the breakaway.

80km to go

40km between the riders and the intermediate sprint at Vila do Bispo, then another 40km before the riders reach the finish.

Tom Pidcock among his Ineos Grenadiers teammates in the peloton.

Did the Eurosport commentator just say this race has usurped the Volta a Portugal as the most important race in Portugal? Uhh, not sure about that one...

Here's Tao Geoghegan Hart, back racing for the first time since crashing and and fracturing his hip at the Giro d'Italia last May.

68km to go

High speed towards the finish now on largely flat roads towards Lagos.

We still have Arkéa-B&B Hotels and Intermarché-Wanty working at the head of the peloton. DSM-Firmenich PostNL also represented up front.

Six riders remain out front in the breakaway. No further movement since Campos was dropped.

63km to go

The break's advantage has fallen significantly in the past 15 minutes. It's now 1:40 and falling.

Tour de l'Avenir champion Isaac Del Toro (UAE Tea Emirates) stops for a wheel change.

Sergio Higuita (Bora-Hansgrohe) is the next rider to stop with a puncture. He gets a front wheel change and is back on his way.

55km to go

Under a minute now for the break with the peloton chasing at speed.

Another puncture in the peloton and it's Del Toro again. This time it's a back wheel puncture.

Spots of rain on the TV camera. It's not a sunny Algarve day today.

Tobias Bayer is now pushing on alone at the front of the breakaway.

50km to go

10km to the intermediate sprint in Vila do Bispo.

Filippo Ganna chasing back to the peloton after presumably suffering a mechanical problem.

Bayer is now way out front alone and the remains of the break he left behind are begin recaptured by the peloton.

Contte and Fonte remain between the two groups.

The peloton is now 2:40 down on Bayer after letting the pace drop.

Wout van Aert now riding at the front of the peloton for Visma-Lease A Bike.

Uno-X, Lidl-Trek, and Alpecin-Deceuninck are also up there.

40km to go

Bayer passes the intermediate sprint on his own and picks up six bonus seconds.

Contte and Fonte will be next across the line.

Fonte and Contte next across in that order for four and two bonus seconds.

And now the pair are brought back by the peloton.

36km to go

Tobias Bayer forges on alone.

Two minutes between him and the peloton now.

Duarte Mixão (Kelly-Simoldes-UDO) crashes in the peloton but he's up and running quickly.

François Vie (Credibom-LA Aluminios-Marcos Car) was also held up there and is chasing back to the peloton.

28km to go

Major crash in the middle of the peloton as the riders cross a small bridge.

Van Aert is among those held us, as is his teammate Tiesj Benoot. Valentin Madouas, too. Plenty of riders from the Portuguese Continental squads also involved.

No major sprinters caught in that crash, however.

25km to go

Half a minute to Bayer now.

And now the peloton are closing in on the breakaway survivor.

Nils Politt (UAE Team Emirates) leads the break past Bayer and that's the move over.

Van Aert is back in the peloton already. More riders are still out the rear following that crash, however.

20km to go

Politt and Sam Oomen (Lidl-Trek) at the front.

And now Soudal-QuickStep head to the front with several riders.

We're just waiting for the sprint now, so long as everyone makes it to Lagos without any more crashes.

DSM, Ineos, and Bora are also up front with QuickStep.

It's calm in the peloton at the moment.

15km to go

No rush in the peloton. Warre Vangheluwe (Soudal-QuickStep) stops with a problem.

Noah Campos, who was in the break of the day, gets some attention from the medical car.

The peloton making their way towards the finish.

Still no movement or acceleration at the front as the riders near the 10km mark.

10km to go

Expect the pace to ramp up soon.

Isaac Del Toro stops once again with a mechanical problem. This time it's a bike change.

8km to go

Uno-X move to the front along with EF.

Arkéa, DSM, QuickStep, Intermarché are up there too.

6km to go

Heading towards the outskirts of Lagos now.

Still the same mix of teams on the front.

4km to go

UAE have also moved up.

Now into the final 3km and there's a small rise in the road here.

The peloton speeds up on this 1km hill which maxes out at 4%.

Tudor moving up alongside the long Intermarché train.

Arkéa also shifting up front.

2km to go

The French squad leads the way over that small hill.

Arkéa and Intermarché the most organised up front.

EF, DSM and Tudor with several riders there too.

1km to go

A flat finish now.

Arkéa lead ahead of Intermarché.

A split behind the leading sprinter's teams.

It's a headwind to the line.

Tudor push to the front.

Intermarché launch with Gerben Thijssen up the middle of the road.

He passes Rui Oliveira, who has gone long.

And there's little difficulty for Gerben Thijssen as he dashes to the line. A win for Intermarché-Wanty.

Thijssen beats Marijn van den Berg (EF Education-EasyPost) and Jordi Meeus (Bora-Hansgrohe) to the win.

Arkéa led the way into the final kilometre but didn't have it in the final sprint.

Démare got boxed in and bogged down while Thijssen came bolting in from the right, finding the gap and hitting the front at the right time.

Thijssen celebrates his second win of 2024.

Démare ended up in fifth place behind Lars Boven in fourth.

Volta ao Algarve: Gerben Thijssen fastest in opening sprint stage to take first leader's jersey

A messy bunch sprint opens five-day race in Lagos

Here's what Thijssen had to say after his victory in Lagos.

"This year it was important to get a good start and I have these two wins in February now. It's quite unbelievable and on this level it proves that I worked really hard to be in this shape and you see how the work pays off in the end.

"It was quite hard with the block headwind in the last 15km and then we had the little kick at 2km to go. That was quite hard for me also, but I knew if I could get over the top of that I'd be in a good position and I'd be able to win.

"The team did a really amazing job today. I saw all six guys with me all day and also the whole day they were fighting for me riding on the front and controlling the race.

"We have a good guy for the GC like Rune Herregodts, who was also good last year. Tomorrow we'll go for him in the mountain stage. Then on the third day we'll probably try again to have a bunch sprint but it's already amazing to have this win in the pocket."

Thijssen celebrates on the final podium after sprinting to the victory in Lagos.