António Morgado claimed victory in the Figueira Champions Classic. The 21-year-old Portuguese from the UAE Team Emirates—XRG attacked with over twenty kilometers to go and had enough advantage to ride solo to victory. Thus, he became the successor to the currently injured Remco Evenepoel. Paul Magnier finished second, ahead of Mathias Vacek.

With the Tour of the Algarve starting on Wednesday, many riders had already traveled to Portugal for a challenging one-day race. It was only the third edition after Casper Pedersen and Evenepoel had won the first two. This time, after a flat start, the riders rode around a local circuit three times, with two steep climbs at the center.

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Alaphilippe attacked first, Ganna counterattacked

It was time for the early breakaway riders to take advantage of the more leisurely start to the day. A large group of Spaniards and Portuguese drove away from the peloton, but with the challenging final stage in mind, it was sure that they would not stay ahead. The peloton entered the Rua Parque Forestal with about ninety kilometers to go. The race's ultimate test is 2.3 kilometers and 7.1 percent. However, some sections reach 15 percent, so it was all about climbing.

Little happened on the first passage of this climb, but the leaders were caught on the second time up. That was the moment the race was blown wide open. And by none other than Julian Alaphilippe. The French rider was wearing the Tudor Pro Cycling shirt for the first time and attacked with 50 kilometers to go. He didn't get much space, and the group came back together at the top of the climb. The clever Filippo Ganna chose his moment and got away.

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Ganna continued steadily, but the favorites were closing in

The Italian created a small gap immediately and managed to increase it to almost 45 seconds over the next few kilometers. However, the tough Rua Parque Forestal was still in the program, and the gap was gradually reduced. Lidl-Trek continued to push hard before a breakaway followed from the EF Education-EasyPost camp, after which António Morgado immediately attacked. The man from UAE Team Emirates - XRG went full steam ahead and rode away from his competitors.

His lead over the top was small, but he steadily increased it. In the background, Mikkel Honoré (EF Education-EasyPost) and Jon Agirre (Euskaltel-Euskadi) tried to return, but they were no match for the young Portuguese's power. The pace was still good on the final climb. Thanks to a re-energized peloton, it became exciting again. Only 50 kilometers from his hometown, Morgado managed to add a superb victory to his list of achievements. Paul Magnier finished second, ahead of Mathias Vacek.

Results Figueira Champions Classic 2025

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