Ineos Grenadiers rolled out the old mountain leadout train on the winding road to Alto da Foia, but came up empty on the second stage of the Volta Ao Algarve, despite maintaining multiple sparks in the overall fight.

Michał Kwiatkowski made a big move from near the base of the climb to 3.4km to go, and Jonathan Castroviejo made a big move in the last kilometer. But as Dani Martinez took over and the riders began to scramble in anticipation of the final dash, the racers were pushed further and further back, and Tom Pidcock realized that even if he felt physically strong, he had no path to victory.

Pidcock made contact with the barriers in the chaos before the finish line and could have crashed.

"Maybe I lacked experience with finishes like this today," Pidcock told Cycling News at Alto da Foia.

"The barriers crushed me. To be honest, it's my fault I got off to a bit of a slow start. Maybe it's inexperience. It's a shame it turned out the way it did when everyone worked so hard."

"Bora came out in front and I was on Dani's wheel. We fell back a bit, but we should have been on our own there. It's a shame we messed up at the end, but I was feeling good, so that's a positive.

Pidcock was one of four Ineos Grenadiers riders in the top 25.

Martinez was 15th, the same time as Pidcock, and Timen Arensman was another 10 seconds behind in 25th place. However, in 20th place, just five seconds behind Pidcock and Martinez, was Filippo Ganna.

"It's been a hell of a team," Ineos boss Rod Ellingworth told Cycling News. 'Out of the four riders, any one of them could have won.'

Expectations were high for Arendsman, but he blamed his relatively poor finish on a puncture on the way to the final climb, describing his effort as an exercise in damage limitation.

"I had bad luck today. I got a flat tire at a really bad moment on a bad road going over 70 km/h. Thanks to Lawrence de Plus for lending me his bike." Thanks a lot to Lawrence de Plus for lending me his bike! But it wasn't ideal to start the last climb with the riders chasing from behind already empty. We will keep our losses low and fight as a team."

Four riders are still in contention. Arensman and Martinez were expected to be the GC leaders, while Pidcock, despite his relative inexperience, is capable of strong time trials.

"For me, GC is an afterthought," he said. I want to go for the stage win."

As for Ganna, the time trial on the final day will largely determine the overall complexion of the Volta ao Algarve. With Kwiatkowski and Castroviejo chasing from the front of the Alto da Foia, the Italian had a tough ride at the back of the pack.

The rugged finish to stage 4 in Marhão is a test of a different kind, but Sunday's 24km TT will put the two-time world champion firmly in the overall classification equation.