Michal Kwiatkowski (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) confirmed that he is flying right from the beginning of the season when he took a fantastic solo win in today's second stage of the Volta ao Algarve. The strong Pole attacked near the top of the final climb and held off a strong chase group consisting of Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo), Rui Costa (Movistar), and Eduard Prades (OFM) to take a big solo win and the leader's jersey in the Portuguese race.

One week ago, Michal Kwiatkowski showed that he is ready to continue his rise towards the stars right from the beginning of the season when he won the hardest of the four races in the Challenge Mallorca in solo fashion. Today he repeated the feat when he took an almost identical win in the second stage of the Volta ao Algarve when the race hit the mountains.

Kwiatkowski stayed well-protected in the peloton when Tinkoff-Saxo set a fierce pace up the final climb, the yellow team trying to set up an attack for two-time winner Alberto Contador. However, the multiple grand tour champion saw his attack being anticipated by Kwiatkowski who accelerated off the front when less than 1km remained to the top.

Kwiatkowski crested the summit with a 10-second lead while on the descent a 3-rider chase trio formed. Rui Costa, Contador and Eduard Prades did their best as they tried to reel in the lone Pole but they were overmatched against the strong Omega Pharma-Quick Step rider.

Kwiatkowski crossed the line with a solid 6-second gap over Costa who beat Contador and Prades in the sprint for 2nd while the first bigger group crossed the line 11 seconds later, led home by Alexandre Geniez (FDJ). The win was Kwiatkowski's 2nd this year and allows him to take the leader's jersey with a 4-second gap over Costa.

Kwiatkowski has a fantastic chance to increase his lead tomorrow which is the day for the flat 13.8km time trial. While it may be hard for the Pole to beat his teammate Tony Martin on the stage, the strong time trialist has a good chance of extending his lead ahead of Saturday's queen stage.

The first mountainous stage

Already on the second day, the Volta ao Algarve peloton hit the climbs as the 196km second stage from Lagoa to Monchique  had a very hilly finale. A 4.6km climb with an average gradient of 7.6% was located just 5.8km from the finish and was followed by a fast downhill run to the line, setting the scene for the first big battle between the GC riders.

The unpredictable nature of the hilly route meant that several riders wanted to be part of the early breakaway and it took some time for the escape to be created. At the 8km mark, three riders finally managed to get clear when Arnaud Demare (FDJ), Alexandre Pichot (Europcar), and Florian Senechal (Cofidis) making up an all-French break while the local continental teams were left disappointed.

The gap grows slowly

5km further up the road, the gap was already 2.17 as the peloton was happy to take a small breather after the hectic start. However, the peloton was reluctant to let things get out of control and the gap only grew at a very slow pace.

After 35km, the gap appeared to have been stabilized at around 3.15 but by the time Demare won the first intermediate sprint ahead of Senechal and Pichot, they had been given a bit more leeway. The gap reached its maximum of 4.02 after 63km of racing but the peloton was in a very determined mood today.

Lampre-Merida lead the chase

Lampre-Merida had big ambitions for world champion Rui Costa and Chris Horner and they started a serious chase very early in the stage. They got assistance from Radio Popular who were keen to catch the break before the second intermediate sprint, thus trying to protect Cesar Fonte's lead in the sprints competition.

They didn't succeed in that mission as Demare again led Senechal and Pichot across the line in the second sprint but at that time the gap was down to 1.15. The peloton kept the pace high and already after 109.5km of racing, the break was caught.

New attacks

This opened the door for new attacks and after 113km, 5 riders managed to get clear. Three riders from yesterday's escape, sprint leader Fonte, mountains leader Valter  Pereira (Banco BIC), and Luis Afonso (LA Aluminios), were again part of the action and they were joined by Mickael Delage (FDJ) and Luis Fernandes (OFM).

The break had no success and was reeled in after just 6km but Afonso, Fonte and Pereira refused to give up. The trio made a new attack and managed to build up a 35-second gap by the time they reached the third intermediate sprint at the 132km mark.

Tinkoff-Saxo ride hard

Fonte beat Afonso and Pereira in that sprint while Cedric Pineau (FDJ) and Bruno Silva (Efapel) - who was also in yesterday's break - successfully bridged across. The front quintet didn't stay together for long though as Fonte and Afonso dropped off when they hit the bottom of the day's first climb.

Tinkoff-Saxo decided to tighten the screws on the climb as they had big plans for Alberto Contador. Before the top, they had caught Fonte and Afonso while Pereira beat Silva and Pineau to extend his lead in the KOM classification.

Bilbao attacks

Tinkoff-Saxo kept the pace high after the climb, quickly neutralizing the escapees. The Danish team continued their acceleration and despite several attempts no one managed to get clear until Peio Bilbao (Caja Rural) opened a gap with 24km to go.

Movistar now hit the front and led the peloton past the 20km to go banner. At this point, Bilbao was still 10 seconds ahead and the Spaniard did a good job to stay clear for a little while.

Kwiatkowski launches his attack

With 14km to go, Movistar had brought Bilbao back and now it was Belkin who hit the front, setting up Wilco Kelderman for the final climb. When they hit the bottom, however, Tinkoff-Saxo was back on the front of the splintering pace.

The team set a fierce pace all the way up the ascent, discouraging any attacks until Michal Kwiatkowski launched his move 500m from the finish. The Pole crested the summit with a 10-second gap while Eduardo Prades (OFM) and Horner were the first riders from the peloton.

With 3km to go, Kwiatkowski was still 12 seconds ahead while Prades, Contador and Costa were chasing hard behind. However, they never managed to catch the strong Pole who could solo across the line to take his second win of the season.