'Winner' Ganna won't say anything, but others are furious after fiasco in Tour of the Algarve: 'It's ridiculous, really a joke'

The Italian winner of the day responded very briefly to the incident. He did take the right route first, but what exactly happened? “I don’t know,” said the stoic time trialist in the flash interview. “I took the right route, and I won. Nothing more to say.” While Ganna was riding on one side of the barriers, nearly the entire peloton was on the other. The spectators suddenly found themselves with an approaching peloton right behind them.

Later, the rider from INEOS Grenadiers explained a bit more about the crazy situation. "I know that everyone took the wrong route, and I took the right one," he told Eurosport. Ganna reacted lightning-fast to the debacle and immediately got going. "You need to know the rules, and you need to know the course. In the past, I took the wrong route during the time trial, and because of that, I lost the race. Now it’s different, and I win."

Of the riders who were on the wrong side, Marco Haller was the first to speak up. The Austrian was furious at the event. "You could see that in the last kilometer the diversion was not blocked," said the Tudor Pro Cycling lead-out man. "The riders followed the bikes, as we always do. For me it's really ridiculous, because we do everything to get in the best possible position after 190 kilometers, and then it's for nothing."

That’s why this incident must also be addressed, Haller says. "It’s a joke, really something that should have consequences for the organization. It can’t be that the riders always have to take the blame, because we’re in the heat of battle. It’s very frustrating." From the peloton, Jordi Meeus was ultimately the fastest, but he will not walk away with the victory.

The Volta ao Algarve always finishes with the same arrival in the first stage, but that doesn’t mean for the Austrian that the riders were at fault. "Look, it’s always the same finish, we’re aware of that. But that’s why we have barriers and motorcycles to guide us. It was poor and very frustrating. We want the best to win and not because of luck."

Meeus won the sprint, but on the wrong side of the barriers. The Belgian from Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe was especially relieved that everyone was unharmed. "We weren’t even on the course during the last 600 meters. I didn’t realize it at first. But 200 meters from the finish, I suddenly saw people signaling 'take it easy' and I saw some police motorcycles. That’s when I realized something was wrong."

The sprinter was very disappointed that he couldn’t contend for the win of the day. "I was definitely racing to win and still felt good. It must have been dangerous, but fortunately no one was run over. It’s a pity about the missed opportunity." The Volta ao Algarve will continue on Thursday with a challenging mountain stage, where all the riders will still be on the same time.