Sacha Modolo (Alpecin Phoenix) sprinted to third place in Tavira on stage 3 of the Volta ao Algarve on Friday.

Modolo, a new member of the Belgian team for 2020, spent 2018 and 2019 with EF Pro Cycling, but all that time battling an undiagnosed illness that has held him back.Modolo, who last won a race in February 2018, last September He explained to Cyclingnews that he had been battling an intestinal fungus all along and was only diagnosed after last year's Giro d'Italia.

Since then, his results have turned around, and he has finished on the podium in stages of La Route d'Occitanie and the Adriatica Ionica race, but Modolo's doctor said it would take him six months to get back to his best. However, Modolo's doctor said it would take him six months to get back to his best.

"The last two years have been very difficult for me," Modolo told Cycling News after the finish. There were times when I thought about quitting cycling. I signed my contract with the team on November 19. When [Alpecin Phoenix] called me, I signed right away. So I said I wanted to get back to my best.

"It's an easy-going team. It's a good atmosphere, it's professional, there's no big pressure on the riders. I love this team."

A gentle uphill finish put Modolo in second place, behind Team Sunweb's Cece Boll.

Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates) and final third-place finisher Fabio Jacobsen (Deceuninck-Quickstep) followed Boll, so it took a little time to overtake them and close in on the winner. Modolo nearly got there too.

"It's my kind of sprint, with a little climb to the line. I tried to get Jacobsen's wheel, but when I tried to sprint past him, the Sunweb rider was two meters ahead of me." [I think if I had another 50 meters I would have won. It's been a very hard couple of years, but I'm happy to win like this."

Modolo finished with the help of one of the sport's big names, Mathieu van der Pol. The Dutch rider used the race primarily as preparation for the spring classics and was happy to turn for his teammate in the Algarve.

"It's funny because Van der Pol is leading," laughed the Italian. 'The team worked very hard and I tried to win for them,' he said."

"Next is Quern, and I'll do it again," said Modolo, who finished sixth in the Tour de Flanders three years ago, "I want to fight for the win.

"I'm not going to Tirreno-Adriatico or Paris-Nice, I'm going to a training camp. My program is Ronde van Drenthe, Milan-San Remo (where I finished fourth 10 years ago), and all the classics."

Given Modolo's track record, which includes five WorldTour wins (including two Giro d'Italia sprint wins), we may be hearing a lot more about the man who felt like a forgotten rider by the end of 2019.