Pro Log: Chaos at Volta ao Algarve; Pogačar and Vingegaard grab stage race victories; Matthew Richardson wins big at first British national champs

Welcome back to another edition of Pro Log. Here’s a rundown of the latest results before we get started:

• UAE Tour, Overall, Sun 23rd Feb: 1st Tadej Pogačar, UAE Team Emirates XRG, 23h 08min 42sec; 2nd Giulio Ciccone, Lidl-Trek, +1min 14sec; 3rd Pello Bilbao, Bahrain Victorious, +1min 19sec.
• UAE Tour, Stage 7, Sun 23th Feb: 1st Tadej Pogačar, UAE Team Emirates XRG, 3h 44min 04sec; 2nd Giulio Ciccone, Lidl-Trek, +33sec; 3rd Pello Bilbao, Bahrain Victorious, +35sec.
• Volta ao Algarve, Overall, Sun 23rd Feb: 1st Jonas Vingegaard, Visma-Lease a Bike, 13h 19min 30sec; 2nd João Almeida, UAE Team Emirates XRG, +15sec; 3rd Laurens De Plus, Ineos Grenadiers, +24sec.
• Volta ao Algarve, Stage 5 ITT, Sun 23rd Feb: 1st Jonas Vingegaard, Visma-Lease a Bike, 28min 25sec; 2nd Wout van Aert, Visma-Lease a Bike, +11sec; 3rd Antonio Tiberi, Bahrain Victorious, +15sec.
• Vuelta a Andalucía, Overall, Sun 23rd Feb: 1st Pavel Sivakov, UAE Team Emirates XRG, 19h 41min 03sec; 2nd Clément Berthet, Decathlon-AG2R la Mondiale, +23sec; 3rd Tom Pidcock, Q36.5 Pro Cycling, +26sec.
• Clasica de Almeria, Sun 23rd Feb: 1st Ally Wollaston, FDJ-Suez, 3h 16min 03sec; 2nd Linda Zanetti, Uno-X Mobility, +00sec; 3rd Dominika Wlodarczyk, UAE Team ADQ, +00sec.

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Volta ao Algarve marred by cancelled stage

The opening stage of the Volta ao Algarve descended into chaos in the final kilometre when the majority of the peloton followed the commissaire’s lead car as it peeled off the route, launching their sprints on the wrong side of the barriers – alongside the spectators.

Filippo Ganna won the actual sprint as one of just a handful to take the correct turning, however organisers then cancelled the stage, declaring there was no winner.

Afterwards, his Ineos Grenadiers team released a statement, ‘Cycling is tough. Some days you win but most you lose. We want to pay tribute to the incredible love and dedication that organisers and volunteers put into our sport, as well as its amazing fans. We’re thankful that today everyone finished safely, but let’s use this opportunity to continue to shine a light on making the best sport in the world a safer one.’

Tudor Pro Cycling‘s Marco Haller added, ‘You could see that on the last kilometre, the deviation wasn’t blocked by the officials, and obviously when the riders are coming, they follow the motorbikes, like they always do. And for me, it’s pretty ridiculous because we suffered 190km to put ourselves in the perfect position and then it is basically everything for nothing.’

After Stage 1’s cancellation, UAE Team Emirates XRG’s Jan Christen led home a 1-2 with teammate João Almeida to take the leader’s jersey before Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe’s Jordi Meeus and Cofidis’s Milan Fretin won following two days’ sprint finishes. On the final stage time-trial Jonas Vingegaard got his season up and running with an impressive victory ahead of teammate Wout van Aert, and it was enough to overtake Christen and Almeida to win the general classification.

Tadej Pogačar wins UAE Tour

Tadej Pogačar took over the lead of the UAE Tour from Josh Tarling with a stage-winning attack on the Jebel Jais climb on Stage 3, and held it all the way to the end of the race, finishing the job with a second stage win up Jebel Hafeet on the final day ahead of Giulio Ciccone and Pello Bilbao.

The bunch finishes at the so-called 'unofficial sprinters' world championships' were split between Lidl-Trek's Jonathan Milan and Soudal-QuickStep's Tim Merlier, who won two stages each.

Elia Viviani signs for Lotto

Sprinter Elia Viviani has signed for ProTeam Lotto on a one-year deal. The Italian had spent the past few months with a focus on the track, including winning a silver medal in the elimination race at the World Championships.

Track Cycling National Championships

Matthew Richardson won big in his first British National Championships, winning in the keirin, sprint and team sprint.

Katie Archibald won the women’s points race with a 37-point gap to Dannielle Watkinson and third place Cat Ferguson, and Anna Morris claimed titles in both the individual pursuit and the scratch race.

Other results:

• Women’s Sprint: Lauren Bell
• Women’s Keirin: Lauren Bell
• Women’s Team Sprint: Team Inspired A – Lauren Bell, Rhian Edmunds, Lowri Thomas
• Women’s B 1km Time-Trial: Unwin/Holl
• Women’s Para C1-5 1km Time-Trial: Elisabeth Simpson
• Women’s B Individual Pursuit: Unwin/Holl
• Women’s Para C1-3 Individual Pursuit: Amelia Cass
• Women’s Para C5 Individual Pursuit: Morgan Newberry
• Men’s Points Race: William Perrett
• Men’s Individual Pursuit: Josh Charlton
• Men’s Para B 1km Time-Trial: Ball/Lloyd
• Men’s Para C2 1km Time-Trial: Matthew Robertson
• Men’s Para C3 1km Time-Trial: Jacob Smith
• Men’s Para C4 1km Time-Trial: Archie Atkinson
• Men’s Para C5 1km Time-Trial: Alex Jones
• Men’s Para B Individual Pursuit: Bate/Latham
• Men’s Para C2 Individual Pursuit: Matthew Robertson
• Men’s Para C3 Individual Pursuit: Finlay Graham
• Men’s Para C4 Individual Pursuit: Archie Atkinson
• Men’s Para C5 Individual Pursuit: Xavier Disley
• Para B Mixed Team Sprint: Jean-Claude Tan Damme – Ball/Lloyd, Unwin/Holl
• Para C Mixed Team Sprint: The 3 Amigos – Samuel Davies, Rebecca Newark, Jacob Smith