The Brit won the five-day Portuguese stage race outright, finishing off a huge five-day effort from his EF Education-Aevolo teammates to set him up for the sprints and keep attackers in check. Noah sprinted into yellow with a win on day one and then held on to the GC leader’s jersey for the rest of the race, finishing second on day two, winning stage three, climbing to eighth on day four, and finishing it off with second on the final stage. The whole squad got behind Noah to help him defend his leader’s shirt. He is stoked that he could pay back their work with this win.

“Defending the jersey put a lot of pressure on the guys and they really helped me,” Noah says. “I relied on them a lot. That put pressure on me to deliver for them. So it feels really good that I did.”

Going into the final stage from Estremoz to Évora, Noah had just a six-second lead at the top of the GC. He’d hung tough over the climbs on day four, backed by Jenthe Verstraete, Gavin Hlady, Miguel Ángel Marín, Kellen Caldwell, Josh Golliker, and Linus Larsson. With bonus seconds to be won on the race course and rivals looking to attack, Noah asked his teammates to control the race for him again and that is what they did. The squad opted to send Jenthe up the road to go for the bonuses and make sure no GC threats were earning time. They then went to the front of the peloton to keep the break’s advantage in check. When it was time to bring back the breakaway, Jenthe dropped back to help lead the chase. Our squad left it a moment too late to get the final stage win as one rider from the lead group stayed ahead, but Noah thundered up the final cobblestoned drag in Évora right behind him to ensure that the yellow jersey stayed his. As soon they crossed the line, his EF Education-Aevolo teammates gathered round him to celebrate.

For Mike Creed, sports director at EF Education-Aevolo, Noah’s victory proves that our development program is heading in the right direction. This is the squad’s first general classification win in EF Pro Cycling pink. Creed is proud of the way that each of the young riders in the squad banded together during the race and the ways that they elevated each other’s efforts in Portugal like pros.

“I hope that this win shows all of the junior riders and the younger riders on this team that if you come to this team, we have the ability to support you and your talents,” Creed says. “Noah is an amazing rider. Maybe he could have won the first stage on any team. But for us to hold onto the jersey and to keep the jersey, shows that if you come to this team, we can make you a bit better by riding together. Hopefully, everyone sees that. For the guys who are already on the team, this shows that winning is possible. Sometimes, it feels so far away, like a mystery or a legend, but it's right there and you can do it. For me, that's awesome.“

Next up for Noah is Paris-Roubaix U23 and he and his EF Education-Aevolo teammates are going to keep this momentum rolling right over the cobbles.