Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) won stage 2 at the Volta ao Algarve after attacking a select group of climbers with 200 metres to the mountaintop summit finish in Foia. The young Slovenian out-kicked a group of five to take the win ahead of Wout Poels (Team Sky), Enric Mas (Deceuninck-QuickStep) and Sam Oomen (Sunweb). Amaro Antunes (CCC) made the first searing attack near the top of the final climb but was caught by the chase group and hung on for fifth. "I feel like I'm dreaming," Pogacar said in a post-race flash interview. "It's my first victory in the WorldTour. I'm really happy." Pogacar took over the leader's jersey from stage 1 winner Fabio Jakobsen (Deceuninck-QuickStep). He will wear the yellow jersey into the stage 3 time trial, leading the race by a mere one second over Poels and three seconds to Mas.ADVERTISEMENT "Now that I have the yellow jersey, I will do everything, and my team, to keep the jersey until the end," Pogacar said. "Tomorrow is the time trial. I will try to put everything on the road. We'll see how it goes." The opening stage was marred by a crash with seven kilometres to go that saw many overall contenders lose valuable time in the GC; however, Pogacar was not affected by the accident and finished in the front group, along with Poels, Mas and Oomen. The final ascent to Foia was always going to be the toughest part of the stage, at 8km with a 6 per cent average gradient. Team Sky led into the climb with a pace only about 35 riders could immediately follow.
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