As it happened: yellow jersey changes hands on final day of the Volta ao Algarve

Thanks for joining us today, and for all of the Volta ao Algarve this week. We've seen some of the biggest names in the peloton get their seasons underway here - to mixed fortunes. The 2025 season is in full swing now, so make sure to return for upcoming races. It’s Opening Weekend next!

Vingegaard's first win of the season comes at the expense of Wout van Aert’s first win, though the Belgian will take heart in what was his best showing so far. He now looks well set to take on Opening Weekend, having not convinced earlier in the week.

So just as he did at O Gran Camiño in both 2023 and 2024, Jonas Vingegaard begins his season with a GC win. After looking uncharacteristically impotent on the summit finish, he looked his old self again today.

Christen ultimately tumbled down to 10th overall. Among the riders to leapfrog him were Romain Grégoire, Max Schachmann, Neilson Powless and Ilan Van Wilder, who all produced terrific time trials to fly up to 4th, 5th, 6t and 7th respectively.

Christen slowed a lot on the climb slipping from 17th fastest on the 2nd check, to 27th at the finish. You can imagine he must have gone at a pace he believed was necessary to defend the jersey, but unable to maintain it to the end.

VINGEGAARD WINS THE STAGE AND THE GC

The final top 3 on GC will instead be: 

1 Jonas Vingegaard

2 João Almeida

3 Laurens De Plus

In fact, Christen has lost his place on the podium

Christen slowed down a lot on that climb, eventually arriving over 1-20 down. 

That's it, Christen is already too late. Vingegaard will win the Volta ao Algarve!

Christen is labouring up this climb, he doesn't look like he's going to do it.

De Plus finished with the 6th fastest time, meaning he'll finish behind both Vingegaard and Almeida on GC.

If Christen can't finish within 20 seconds of Vingegaard's time, then he'll hand the yellow jersey over to the Dane.

De Plus has arrived at the finish, meaning we're just waiting for Christen now.

Not enough. Almeida arrives with the 6th best time, 31 seconds slower than Vingegaard.

Here comes Almeida to the finish. Has he gained time on this climb?

It's not all bad new for Christen though. Keep this up, and he could hold on to 2nd overall.

Now Christen's gone through - 33 seconds down on Vingegaard. That puts him 13 seconds down on the virtual GC. Surely the yellow jersey will now pass to Vingegaard.

Almeida's through now, and he isn't picking up any speed yet. He's 45 seconds behind Vingegaard. You can't see him making that up on the climb.

De Plus has opted for Van Aert's approach of switching bikes. He's 11th fastest at the 2nd check, so a defence of his podium spot on GC isn't impossible.

It's going to be tough for Christen to defend the yellow jersey from Vingegaard now, you sense.

NEW FASTEST TIME - VINGEGAARD

..very fast in fact. Vingegaard smashes Van Aert's time by 11 seconds!

Vingegaard is further up the road, and is nearing the finish. It's going to be fast...

That means of the 20 seconds buffer he has over Vingegaard, he has so far lost 6 seconds. It could be tight.

As for Jan Christen, he’s going well - very well in fact. Expected to lose time to Almeida, he’s actually gained 12 seconds so far.

And another change at the top, as Romain Grégoire comes in 3rd fastest. That’s an excellent time by the young rider - at last, a French stage racer who can also time trial?

Another change to the top five at the finish, where Neilson Powless has arrived in the 4th quickest time.

Meanwhile Roglič has slipped yet further down, over a minute behind Vingegaard. He won’t be challenging for a place on the podium.

Vingegaard is on the climb now. Unlike Van Aert, and like most of the rest of the riders, he's opted not to change to a road bike. 

Vingegaard is through the 2nd check, still going strong. He’s 16 seconds off Van Aert - time he can certainly make up on the climb.

17 seconds is the difference between Vingegaard and Almeida already putting the former 1 second up on GC. Almeida likes to pace his efforts, so maybe he will make that back up.

Almeida’s just come through the first time check, and he’s quite off the pace. He’s down in 19th, and has already lost time to be overtaken by Vingegaard on the virtual GC.

More changes at the top of the classification, as the likes of Vacek, Van Wilder and Poole post strong times. Here’s how the top ten looks at the moment:

1 Van Aert

2 Tiberi

3 Schachmann

4 Van Wilder

5 Söderqvist

6 Poole

7 Ganna

8 Tulett

9 Arensman

10 Vacek

Morgado doesn’t look set to challenge for the podium today. He’s over 30 seconds adrift at the first time check.

Excellent ride from Max Schachmann, who’s another rider to gain significant ground on the climb. He posts the third fastest time so far, 19 seconds down on Van Aert.

Now Vingegaard comes through, and it’s not bad - 5th fastest, 6 seconds slower than Ganna.

Roglič is through the first time check…and it’s surprisingly slow. He’s down in 26th, 32 seconds slower than Ganna.

Thymen Arensman is another climber to finish with a good time - the 5th best so far. 

Tiberi's time might also be an indication of what we might expect from the GC contenders. That final climb might see the pure climbers take chunks out of Van Aert’s time.

Jan Christen is off, and beginning his yellow jersey defense!

A terrific climb from Antonio Tiberi. Having been down in 7th at the 2nd time check, he flew up the climb - and was ultimately only 4 seconds short of Van Aert. Whatever was lacking earlier this week in him seems to have returned.

Laurens De Plus sets off. He faces a tough challenge to hang on to his place on the podium. 

Roglič will be arriving into the first time check in just a few minutes…

5th and 4th on GC, Luca Vergallito and António Morgado, are both out on the course now. Just three more riders to start.

Mathias Vacek is the first rider in a long time to bother the fastest times at the first checkpoint. His is the second fastest there, behind only Ganna’s.

And now Jonas Vingegaard is waiting at the start ramp.

Here we go then. Primož Roglič is the next rider to start - can he set a time to challenge for yellow?

A very good time here for Van Aert’s Visma teammate Ben Tulett. He comes over the line with the 4th quickest time.

The first of the GC top ten is now on the road, Romain Grégoire. The final race for the yellow jersey is soon to begin.

We’re nearing the time when the serious GC riders start their rides. Antonio Tiberi has recently started his ride, though he’s further down than he wanted to be on GC, in 23rd-place.

Mattia Cattaneo finishes his ride, and it’s a strong one. Only Van Aert, Söderqvist and Ganna have gone quicker.

Another time trial specialist, Rémi Cavagna, has fared better. He’s set the 5th fastest time.

Stefan Küng has just finished, and the climb has indeed put paid to his hopes. He’s down in 8th, 1-10 slower than Van Aert.

Here's Wout van Aert during his benchmark-setting time. He's been talking to TV a the finish, and, though happy with his time, does call it 'provisional', knowing the calibre of the names still to come. 

You suspect that Van Aert’s time will not be beaten for a while, with the only riders capable of defeating it being the big GC names, set to head off at the end of the day.

Stefan Küng is on the road, and set the 4th best time at the 1st time check. He's another that will struggle with that final climb. 

Oier Lakano passes his minute man Benjamin Thomas in the final hundred metres of the climb, and reaches the top with the fourth fastest time. This was a route that suited his mixture of power and climbing ability.

Now Valgren's EF teammate Kasper Asgreen arrives, with the 6th best time. That's a decent ride from a man who's trying ro revive his career with a new team, moving from Soudal-QuickStep.

Michael Valgren has just finished, with the 5th fastest time.

Here's the stage rankings as they stand:

1 Wout van Aert

2 Jacob Söderqvist 

3 Filippo Ganna 

4 James Shaw

5 Callum Thornley 

Interestingly, Van Aert finished on a road bike. He must have switched from his time trial bike for the climb.

He's demolished what was a very good time by Söderqvist, by a whole 28 seconds.

NEW FASTEST TIME - VAN AERT

Van Aert's reached the finish, and he's the new leader!

Ganna, resplendent in the Italian national champions jersey.

So Ganna won't come from this race with a stage win. That'll be especially frustrating remembering what happened on the opening day.

Ganna's done the climb well...but not well enough. He falls 12 seconds short of Söderqvist. 

Ganna is nearing the top of the climb.

Söderqvist has been bettered at the 2nd time check though, by Wout van Aert. How will Van Aert go on the climb, though?

That looks like a very good time. To put it into perspective, even Ganna is slower at the 2nd time check, by 2 seconds.

NEW FASTEST TIME - SODERQVIST

Here comes Söderqvist...and he's the new best rider, 31 seconds up on Shaw.

Söderqvist will be home soon, and looks poised for a very good time - he’s gone 40 seconds quicker than Shaw at the 2nd check.

Shaw has looked in great form all week, pulling at the front of the peloton, and is now shining with a chance to ride for himself.

NEW FASTEST TIME - SHAW

Here comes James Shaw, and he’s through with the fastest time - a massive 47 seconds quicker than Thornley.

He’s quickly followed at the finish by Tiesj Benoot, who’s set a strong time - the fourth fastest so far.

Thomas finishes, with the 16th fastest time. At his best he’d have been a contender today, but it’s clear he was taking things easy.

And Van Aert has gone through too, just one second slower than Ganna. This could be some battle.

Here we go - Ganna is through the first checkpoint, and he’s gone 2 seconds quicker than Söderqvist.

Afonso Eulálio has just come very close to taking the lead at the finish, but fell just two seconds short of Thornley.

Both Jakob Söderqvist and James Shaw have recently set new fastest times at the first checkpoint, bettering that by Oliveria.

It’ll be fascinating to see how Ganna goes. Normally he’d be a hot favourite for a time trial, but that final climb will complicate matters for him.

This time trial is about to really get going now. Both Van Aert and Ganna have started their rides. 

NEW FASTEST TIME - THORNLEY

Young Brit Callum Thronley has flown up the final climb to depose Ivo Oliveira on the hotseat. He went from being 43 seconds behind at the 2nd check, to 10 seconds ahead at the finish. Goes to show how much the final climb to the finish can change things.

Ivo Oliveira, on his way to setting the fastest time. 

It doesn’t look like Ivo will be challenged by his twin brother, Rui, who has come through the first checkpoint down in 8th.

NEW FASTEST TIME: OLIVEIRA

Ivo Oliverira finishes the job off at the finish, setting a new fastest time of 30.33. That's 11 seconds quicker than Reis, and 1-03 quicker than the next fastest time from Adrián Bustamante.

Ivo Oliveira is still going strong, setting the fastest time at the 2nd checkpoint just as he did at the 1st. 

Some big names are on the course now, and approaching the first intermediate time check - Rui Oliveira, and Geraint Thomas.

The Vuelta a Andalucia is another race that’s come to a close today. Find out how the race unfolded here.

Reis may not be leading for too long, however. His best time at the first checkpoint has just been beaten by Ivo Oliveira, the first elite time trial specialist to take on the course today.

We have a new best time at the finish, set by Rafael Reis. He has smashed Salgueiro’s effort by a whole 1-36.

We have a new fastest time of 32-20, set by Carlos Miguel Salgueiro. The Portuguese rider has been one of the most active riders in the breakaway this week.

As well as the GC being decided, there's a stage win to be won. Wout van Aert is perhaps the best-established time trialist in the race, but has lacked form so far this week. Upon missing out in yesterday’s sprint, he confessed to simply not being good enough.

Although predominantly flat, the organisers have thrown a spanner in the works by having the time trial finish up the 2km Alto de Malhão. It’s 9.1% average will be punishing on the legs, and riders will have to be careful to time their efforts so they have something in reserve for it.

Out on the road, riders are beginning to arrive at the finish in Malhão. Of the five to finish so far, Francisco Campos is the quickest, completing the course in 34-06.

Just three seconds behind Vingegaard is another fearsome time trialist, and legend of the sport - Primož Roglič. The Slovenian has won countless stage races in the past, and many of them thanks to time gained in time trials like this one.

Instead, it’s the two next best riders on GC who UAE Team Emirates will be worried about. Jonas Vingegaard might have been short of his best on stage two, but we all know his quality against the clock. 20 seconds to Christen and 16 seconds to Almeida is a deficit a rider like him can certainly close.

Neither of the three men immediately behind Christen and Almeida on GC are known for their time trialing. Laurens De Plus (at 7 seconds), António Morgado (14 seconds) and Luca Vergallito (20 seconds) therefore won’t be expecting to take the overall win, though you can neve know for sure when things are so tight at the top.

The man most likely to take the overall lead from Christen is his UAE Team Emirates teammate João Almeida. Unlike Christen, Almeida is a very accomplished time trialist, and looked in searing form on stage two’s summit finish, and probably would have won the stage were he riding against rather than with Christen. 

He only has four seconds to make up to take the jersey, and will be confident of doing so.

It’ll be a few hours before Christen sets off, at 16.20 GMT. But the time trial has now officially started, with lanterne rouge Pedro Andrade off the start ramp and onto the course.

Then again, if he’s improved enough in road stages to be leading the GC, we can only assume he’ll be better against the clock too. Plus, he’ll have an incentive to ride hard that was missing in those rides last year. For someone as young as 20-years-old, we don’t really have much of an idea what he is capable of.

What are his chances? His performances in time trials last year suggests he will lose time today — third place at the Swiss national championships behind renowned specialists Stefan Küng and Stefan Bissegger, and 9th at the Tour of Poland time trial, were the standout results. Aside from that, he tended to finish somewhere between 13th and 33rd. 

So, onto the Volta ao Algarve, for what must be the biggest day of Jan Christen’s fledgling career so far. He’s made it to the final stage of the race in the yellow jersey, and now faces the task of defending his slender lead on the final day’s climatic time trial.

Before we look ahead to this stage, be sure to catch up on the action at the UAE Tour, which came to a close this morning with the usual mountain top finish at Jebel Hafeet.

One rider missing from that 159 is Arnaud De Lie. The Belgian, who finished 4th yesterday and 3rd the day before, dropped out of the race overnight.

In 20 minutes, the first of 159 riders will set off from Salir to begin this final time trial stage of the 2025 Volta Ao Algarve.

Welcome to Cyclingnews' live coverage of stage 5 at the Volta ao Algarve