The late attack in the third stage of the Volta Ao Algarve was a surprise to the fans watching the race. Many riders in the peloton were involved, especially Soudal-Quick Step, where coach Tom Steele admitted that the riders were "not sharp enough."

After 25 km of chasing, the peloton caught up with the pack on the home straight, at which point pre-stage favorite Fabio Jacobsen was caught in the turn and finished 18th.

After a disappointing sprint win in Lagos on day one, the European champion, who was expected to be the record holder for stage wins in the Volta ao Algarve, had to go home empty-handed.

Frustration was evident as Jacobsen returned to the team bus in Tavira.

"Why don't you go interview the winner?" he snapped.

Soudal-Quickstep initially seemed wary of the danger, or opportunity, posed by the intermediate sprint with 25km to go. The team's GC card, Ilan Van Wilder, who was in a close second at Friday's summit finish, had passed the roundabout just ahead of the pack, but disappeared from view as the elite group pulled away to contest the sprint and then the last few meters.

From there, the Belgian team, which had spent most of the day controlling the breakaway group, launched into an even more frantic chase.

"At the halfway point, when they went, we knew we would do everything we could to close the gap. When you see those guys go, all the teams go full throttle," Steele told Cycling News. They got away in the last few hundred meters. That's cycling. It's a good race to watch, but it was tough for us."

Ineos' Michal Kwiatkowski told teammates Filippo Ganna and Tom Pidcock over the radio from the group that they had a gap and should continue to break away, but Quick Step was probably caught off guard.

"They were certainly caught off guard. 'But they got away quickly. But they got away quickly. As far as the riders who got away, it's not easy to catch them."

Indeed, the six-man group from the 25km mark was not always a threat, but this group was all-killer-no-filler: Filippo Ganna, Tom Pidcock, Magnus Korto, Rui Costa, Tobias Foss, and Valentin Maduas.

"In cycling you have to be sharp. We weren't sharp enough," said Steele, explaining that they should have added a representative to the break.

"We were missing one up front. If we had someone there, we could sit easier and have a better chance of coming back in a group sprint."

Jakobsen, who took his first win of the season on day two of the Vuelta a San Juan, is still just one win away. After losing to Sam Welsford (DSM) in the final two sprints in Argentina, he had a trying week in the Algarve.

"He will be disappointed, of course," said Welford. 'But he's had a good run. There are still a lot of goals to achieve. If he doesn't win here, he will win somewhere."