Michal Kwiatkowski soloed to the win on the hilly 2nd stage of the Volta ao Algarve. We have already posted several reactions and have gathered a few more below.

Sergei Chernetskii (Katusha 6th, +0.17)

“It was a hard climb and we went very fast on the way to the top. One kilometer before the top, Kwiatkowski attacked and no one was able to follow. Once we reached the top there were only 11 riders left, including Simon Spilak and me, trying to chase back Kwiatkowski. The descent was terribly dangerous. It was so wet and slippery. I cannot be unhappy with my result. This shows me I am on the right track.  Now I will try to do a good time trial tomorrow.”

Franck Pineau (sports director FDJ whose best rider was Alexandre Geniez in 5th)

"I am not very happy because I wonder what could have happened if Alex hadn't started the last climb at the back of the group. Obviously, he is fifth but he told me to have super legs. He could have battled for the win.

"Among the many positive aspects of this day, I note the excellent condition of Geoffrey Soupe who finished first in the group two minutes behind. Friday, we will do the time trial of 13.6km and I am sure that Alexandre will take a good result. In this discipline, he is much more than just on the defence."

Ruben Fernandez (Caja Rural, 11th +0.17)

"I had a good feeling and I am satisfied with 11th. You always want more but I have to be happy when I am up against these big riders. I have been riding well and we need to see how the next days go."

Jaime Garzon (sports director Caja Rural whose best rider was Ruben Fernandez in 11th)

"The level in this race is high but the team shines despite its youth. We have tried to be among the best on GC and now we are there. The final part of the stage was funny, the final kilometres were technical and hard and we knew them beforehand. First we tried with an attack from Peio Bilbao who showed his quality but he could not stay away. Ruben did a big stage today. We know he has a big engine. Now he needs to keep progressing and continue to learn."

Alex Sans Vega (sports director NetApp-Endura whose best rider was Jose Mendes in 24th)

“Unfortunately the stage didn’t go anything like we had planned – we thought it would be very different today. The goal was for Tiago [Machado], Paul [Voss] or Jose [Mendes] to get a stage result so that we would have an option for a good position in the general classification. The team worked very well during the stage and our three guys were in a good position during the decisive part of the race.Unfortunately, there just wasn’t enough energy left to stay in the first group with the favorites.

“After the tough stage today, we will think about changing our tactics. Since there’s probably not much more we can do in the general classification, we will now focus completely on getting top results each day. Tomorrow’s individual time trial gives us the first opportunity to do this. With Jan [Barta], we really have a specialist in this field. The fourth stage is a bit more contoured and is really well suited for a rider like Tiago. On the last day of the race, the sprinters will have another chance.”

Sergey Firsanov (Rusvelo, 8th +0.17)

“ It was a pretty hectic race in the final kilometers, the organizers gave those two climbs only the third category, while they felt much harder; perhaps for the Portuguese it's no more than Category 3, as most of their country is up and down all the time. First race is a first race, you have to grit your teeth before you get used to this tempo, but I feel I'm getting better all the time. I wore dark glasses, and it was only after finishing the race that I noticed how wet the tarmac was. Perhaps it was a blessing in disguise for me, when they started accelerating downhill, and managed to open a gap, we chased them down with Ilnur (Zakarin) almost like on a dry. The first impression of the racing with great champions: where most of the pack has to fight for survival, these top guys just start to apply pressure. But we can follow them now and hope to make their life harder in the future.”

Ilnur Zakarin (Rusvelo, 13th +0.28)

"These two first stages were marked by early breakaways, which stabilized the situation and helped us with getting used to the race pace gradually. But the finales were dangerous, with narrow roads and non-ideal road surface. No matter how technical it was, the speed was very high. I like the way the team rides here, all for one and one for all. I made a serious mistake on the descent, almost fell down and lost a bit of time not managing to close the gap. Yet I have good legs and hope to turn it into a good position in the general classification. Tomorrow's ITT is not my favorite type of a time trial, it's too short and not hilly enough, but I'll do my best to distance pure climbers in it to cushion them off before the next portion of the mountains."