Martínez amazes even his own team BORA-hansgrohe with statement against Evenepoel: "Out of this world!"

Daniel Felipe Martínez, who had him pegged for the victory in the second stage of the Tour of Algarve? The Colombian BORA-hansgrohe cyclist, consistently strong in the first months of the season, made a big impression by winning in a direct duel against Remco Evenepoel.

"We are not the favorites in this race. We have some strong opponents. But today we wanted to take our chances," says Martínez afterwards through BORA's official channels. "The whole team worked very well, and we took advantage of that. In the end, I had the necessary legs in the sprint."

Team director Christian Pömer is proud of his lead rider. "We came here with the goal of winning a stage and Dani achieved that impressively today. He completed a very strong team performance. The way he rode to victory was out of this world. To put in such a long and powerful sprint in the wind against Remco Evenepoel - hats off!"

BORA-hansgrohe does not (yet) believe in final victory Martínez

What now? After two days, Martínez suddenly finds himself in the leader's jersey, and with one more mountain stage and a time trial to go, even BORA-hansgrohe is unsure what the future holds. "Our goal is achieved. Even though we have the jersey today, a look at the start list shows that we are not the top contenders for overall victory," says Pömer.