Magnus Court, who pushed his front wheel to the line just a second faster than the errantly celebrating Ilan Van Wilder, celebrated a symbolic victory for EF Education-Easy Post at the Volta Ao Algarve.

In just one month of racing, they tied their win total for the entire year of 2022.

After Alberto Bettiol's prologue win in the Tour Down Under, Marline van den Berg got Europe going in the Challenge Mallorca, and Nielson Paules won the GP Marseillaise and Etoile de Besseges. Meanwhile, it rained national titles for Esteban Chaves in Colombia, Richard Carapaz and Jonathan Caicdeo in Ecuador, and Stéphane de Bodd in South Africa.

As a result, the team that was in danger of being relegated from the World Tour last year is now fifth in the UCI rankings before taking Cote's win into account.

While it is often difficult to pinpoint what makes the difference between winning and losing in professional cycling, bike technology and equipment choices seem to be more important than ever.

"I don't know. New bike, new wheels, new tires. ...... It's going well," Colt said of the cycling news and the team's good form at the top of Alto da Foia.

EF Education-Easy Post is riding a new bike not yet released by Cannondale, the latest in the highly anticipated Super Six series.

Cote was riding the new Super Six Evo 4 model for his stage win in Algarve.

He found the bike to be aerodynamically enhanced compared to the old Super Six, but the weight remained the same thanks to the higher modulus carbon.

Dane rode a Cannondale System Six-specific aero bike most of last season, but now he has found the aero benefits of the lighter weight to be helpful, especially on the 7.5 km gentle climb for the win.

"It definitely feels faster.

"I used an aerobike last year as well, so it's not that big of a change for me. A lot of other athletes have faster bikes at the same weight.

In addition to his new bike, Cote was also wearing a yet unreleased tire, a tubeless version of Vittoria's new product.

He also claims to be using new wheels compared to 2022, which Cyclingnews believes is the Vision Metron 45 SL set up tubeless.

"The sponsors are the same, but this year they are using a new Cannondale frame, new wheels, and new tires.

"It all adds up. We can save a watt here, a watt there. All of a sudden, it's more watts."

In addition to the equipment, Colt also points to a hard-to-measure aspect of team spirit, a natural confidence that flows through EF today.

"Once you get going, spirit is high," he said. But really, most of the team is the same as last year, not much has changed. That again helps the spirit. We don't have to know each other, we trust each other, and we know right away when the other players are doing well.

Corto now wears the yellow jersey as leader of the Volta ao Algarve. A rugged summit finish awaits on stage 4, and a 24km time trial awaits on the final day.

"It would be great," he told Portuguese radio before climbing onto the podium.