At over 200 kilometres, the opening stage from Portimao to Lagos was immediately the longest. A group of seven formed the breakaway and opened up a lead of up to four minutes. As the peloton chased down the final escapees, part of it crashed 30 kilometres from the finish. Benoot also crashed, holding up Sepp Kuss and Wout van Aert. All three were able to ride on and rejoin the peloton.

The yellow and black brigade were no longer in contention for the stage win and crossed the line safely. "Our goal was to get through the stage well and get Jan Tratnik across the line safely. Julien Vermote, Milan Vader, Per Strand Hagenes and others made sure of that", sports director Marc Reef said. "Wout went deep in the finals of the Clásica de Almeria and Clásica Jaén. We made a conscious decision to give him a rest today and not to sprint with him."