Born in 2004, Paul Magnier made his seasonal debut on January 25th at the Comunitat Valenciana Classic, but the placement he obtained did not satisfy him. In a lightning sprint, the Frenchman had finished behind the experienced Groenewegen, and that second place felt like a defeat to him. However, yesterday Magnier found his redemption and in the first day of the Volta ao Algarve, he was the fastest, crossing the finish line in Tavira after 183 kilometers, leaving behind Jordi Meeus from Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe andAvel Bittiner from Team PicNic PostNL and Jasper Philipsen from Alpecin Premier Tech.

"I missed my first season victory during the first race," Magnier said, referring to the race in Spain last January, "so I'm happy to have finally obtained this victory after January's second place". That second place in Valencia was not a negative result, but the young Frenchman was keen to point out that when he races, he always does so to get first place. "Certainly, second place is already an excellent result, but yesterday was really different for me. I had a really strong team and my train was complete, even with the new riders. So it was really special for me".

The season has been going for less than a month and teams are still testing riders and equipment, trying to solve any potential issues and be ready for the Classics that will start in a few weeks. The Soudal – Quick Step is also carefully watching its riders to be prepared for upcoming events. "I'm extremely happy with the work we did yesterday: we arrived with important ambitions and I can be truly content with the victory because the result came from excellent teamwork".

Yesterday's stage was perfect for the Frenchman, with a finale suited to a fast rider like him. Today, however, the race will be challenging with a mountain finish that will put sprinters in difficulty. The group will travel from Portimão to Fóia after 147.2 km and in the finale, they will have to face a climb of 8.9 km with gradients reaching 13.5%.

"Today will be a completely different story. For me, the most important thing was to obtain the best possible result and work well with my new teammates. I believe this has been done and the victory is the demonstration, so we can say we've reached a first objective and we're satisfied".