Welshman Geraint Thomas of Team Sky has won the Volta ao Algarve in Portugal.
Geraint Thomas, after finishing fourth was protecting his lead going into the fifth and final 178km stage from Almodovar to Vilamoura.
The stage started with an attack after six kilometres from Pawel Bernas (ActiveJet), Diego Rubio (Efapel) and Imanol Estevez (Murias Taldea) who clocked up an average speed of 41kmh for the first hour and a lead of 3.57.
Imanol Estevez took the category three climb after sixty one kilometres but the peloton had had enough of them and after seventy eight kilometres of racing, they were reeled back in.
Txoperena (Murias), Luis Mas (Caja Rural) and again Pawel Bernas (ActiveJet), formed a new break, taking a lead of 1.45 which had dropped to forty eight seconds by the time, Bernas has taken the sprint after 123kms.
By the 142kms mark, there were five up front in Mas, Bernas, Txoperena, Isidoro and David De la Fuente (Efapel) and they had a forty second lead as they went over the finish line in Vilamoura for the first time.
Movistar's Jonathan Castroviejo and Adriano Malori joined the escapers who were now thirty four seconds clear with fifteen kilometres of the race left.
With three kilometres remaining, the seven were only ten seconds ahead. The peloton bore down and them and just under the flam rouge, they were caught.
The sprint was on and Andrei Greipel of Lotto Soudal took the win in 4.15.40 ahead of Tom Van Asbroeck and Raymond Kreder with Geraint Thomas finishing safely to take the general classification.
General Classification
1 Geraint Thomas 19.46.13
2 Michael Kwaitkowski +27
3 Tiego Machado +1.11.
Katusha won the Team Classification.