The KMC team rode the three-day stage race Algarve Bike Challenge in Tavira, Portugal, last weekend. Ramses Bekkenk rode for the first time as a duo with Gerben Mos and Karen Brouwer formed a duo with Martin Schuttert in the so-called ‘Mixed’ category. On Friday evening, a short prologue started through the historic center of Tavira in which Brouwer-Schuttert took the victory and Mos-Bekkenk finished fifth.
Under sunny conditions, a tough ride over 85 kilometers was scheduled on Saturday in which it went up and down constantly and at the end there were 2400 altimeters on the counter. Mos-Bekkenk came in fourth and were only separated twenty seconds from second place. Brouwer-Schuttert also won the second stage after a tough battle. Unfortunately, on Sunday they were unable to maintain their lead and had to recognize their superior in the Portuguese duo of Melissa Maia and Pedro Pinheiro. The Mos-Bekkenk duo lost a lot of time as they gave first aid to a badly crashed fellow mountain biker but still came in fifth behind the stage and final winners Jesűs Nero and Juan Mora from Portugal. In the final standings, Mos and Bekkenk just missed the podium with fourth place.