Alexey Tsatevich (Katusha) sprinted to a fine 6th against some high-level competition in the final stage of the Volta ao Algarve. Having been positively surprised by his condition, last year's winner of Le Samyn promises to do great things in the Belgian classics.

Sunday’s last stage in the Volta ao Algarve resulted in the expected group sprint, with Katusha’s Alexey Tsatevich right in the middle of the action. Tsatevich sprinted to a strong sixth place finish.

“The team did a marvelous job for me," he said. "They really worked for me and surrounded me to bring me to a good position for the sprint. Everything went fine until the last 100 meters. There was a terrible head wind that just killed me."

The sprint was won by former world champion Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma-QuickStep). Joining him on the stage podium were Arnaud Demare (FdJ) and Bryan Coquard of Europcar.

"The race was just a fraction too long, but overall I am happy about my condition," he said. "I did a training camp and then used Qatar as more training. Algarve was my first real race. You can expect something from me in the upcoming races in Belgium.”

Guiding the team through the race in his native Portugal was Team Director José Azevedo who was happy about the spirit in the team.

“It was good to see that all teammates, without a single exception, worked for Alexey today, of course without taking too many risks in view of the coming races. Algarve was good.“

The 155.8km stage began in Tavira and ended in Vilamoura after five local laps. The day’s break of five riders stayed clear until under 20 km to go, when the speed of the sprint teams brought them back into the main field and preparations for the sprint followed. Michal Kwiatkoswki protected his lead and earned the general classification for the 2014 Volta ao Algarve.

Simon Špilak held his 9th place in final classification of the race. Another Katusha rider Sergei Chernetckii finished 15th overall.