The peloton faced a hilly stage with lots of challenges in the Portuguese race after the result of the chaotic first stage was cancelled,. The final climb, roughly seven kilometers long at an average gradient of six percent, was expected to be the decisive moment of the day and that proved to be the case.
Christen who ended up winning the stage attacked at the foot of the climb, along with Ben Tulett and others. The group gained around thirty seconds, but as the final kilometers approached, Tulett couldn't keep up anymore and was forced to drop back while Vingegaard began chasing further back.
The Dane quickly ate into the lead of the escapees as he moved to the front of the favorites’ group
Vingegaard looked so strong that he might single-handedly close the gap to Christen, but the Swiss rider had one last acceleration in store. Having spent significant energy, Vingegaard was forced to see a few rivals take advantage and make a late move.
In the end, he crossed the line in sixth place, ten seconds behind the stage winner.
“The feeling was good, but I am disappointed with the result”, Vingegaard said after the stage. “The team worked as planned. We had Ben up there in the finale, which was good tactically. Unfortunately, he was dropped and then I tried to chase the front group. I came close, but others benefitted from my work in the end. With stage 4 and 5 we still have everything to play for.”