The 50th edition of the Volta ao Algarve, on the road between the 14th and 18th of February, will start in Portimão, consecrating the winners at the top of Malhão (Loulé). Along the way, there will be a brand new time trial in Albufeira.
The only Portuguese stage race on the UCI ProSeries circuit will have 752.9 kilometers and a cumulative elevation gain of 14455 meters, spread over five stages. There will be bonuses for arrivals and, at each stage in line, a bonus target with 6 seconds for the first to pass.
The longest run of the competition is the first, 200,8 kilometers connecting Portimão to Lagos, a journey that is expected to feature protagonism for the sprinters.
The fight for the general classification has an important day in the second stage, 171,9 kilometers, between Lagoa and Alto da Fóia (Monchique).
The goal, at the highest point in the Algarve, will be preceded by three other mountain counts. Two of them chained together, in order to harden and select the run before the final climb. These are the Alferce (3rd category) and Pomba (2nd category) climbs, which are just 6300 meters from the start of the climb to the finish line.
On the third day, a new opportunity is foreseen for the fast men, at the end of the 192,2 kilometers that connect Vila Real de Santo António to Tavira. In an approach to the goal similar to this, the fight for the increased bonus in the Vila Real de Santo António flying goal, messed up the sprinters' accounts in the 2023 edition of the race.
The fourth stage is the big news of the competition, a 22,2 kilometer individual time trial, between the Albufeira Marina and the City Hall.
The route has the ups and downs that are characteristic of the Volta ao Algarve time trials, giving the opportunity to the purest specialists without completely removing complete cyclists who adapt to individual effort from the discussion.
The overall accounts will be closed only in the fifth and final stage, 165,8 kilometers between Faro and Alto do Malhão. The finish coincides with a second category mountain prize. 24 kilometers from the finish line, the peloton will make the first climb to Malhão, after having overcome the mountain prizes of Vermelhos (Km 99) and Alte (km 128,3).
In a squad that will be closed in the coming weeks, thirteen teams have already been confirmed: Ten WorldTeams: Alpecin-Deceuninck (Belgium), Arkea-B&B Hotels (France), Astana Qazaqstan Team (Kazakhstan), BORA-hansgrohe (Germany), EF Education- EasyPost (USA), Groupama-FDJ (France), Lidl-Trek (USA), Soudal Quick-Step (Belgium), Team dsm-firmenich PostNL (Netherlands) and UAE Team Emirates (United Arab Emirates). And three ProTeams: Caja Rural-Seguros RGA (Spain), Tudor Pro Cycling (Switzerland) and Uno-X Mobility (Norway).
Meanwhile, registrations have now opened for the Algarve Granfondo, the mass event of the Volta ao Algarve, which allows amateur cyclists to pedal on the same stage as the biggest stars in the world. The Algarve Granfondo takes place in Albufeira on the 17th, with registration here
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