The 51st round of the Algarve is looking for, between Wednesday and Sunday, the successor of Belgian Remco Evenepoel, absent from this edition, with Jonas Vingegaard, Primoz Roglic and Portuguese cyclist João Almeida to be the main candidates for the final triumph.
In the absence of three -time champion Evenepoel (2020, 2022 and 2024), who in December suffered an accident in training and will be out of competition until mid -April, the favoritism falls, above all, in the newcomer Vingegaard and the ‘repeater’ Roglic, winner of the edition From 2017, with João Almeida to peek at an opportunity to counteract the announced supremacy of two of the main voltistas of the platoon.
Whether the Visma-Lease Dane to the bike and the Red Bull-La-Hansgrohe Slovenle chose the ‘Algarve’ to get the time, in a reunion between two old colleagues who fought each other for the Vuelta 2023, won by the American SEPP Kuss, another of the names of the platoon that will align in this edition.
Unlike the two -time champion of the Vuelta Tour and the four -time champion, Almeida (UAE Emirates) reaches the only Portuguese race by stages of the UCI Proseries circuit, after being second on the return to the Valencian community.
The three present themselves as main candidates for the podium, but will have the competition of the ‘Almighty’ Ineos, which will last, for the last time, Geraint Thomas, champion in 2015 and 2016, who chose the Portuguese race for his ‘Tournée’ of the farewell of cycling.
It will be unlikely, however, that the winner of Tour2018 equals record holders Remco Evenepoel and Belmiro Silva (1977, 1981 and 1984), unique cyclists to have won three times, but among their colleagues they can intrude on Fight for the general, namely Dutch Thymen Arensman, fifth last year.
Among the podium suitors are also the British Tao Geoghegan Hart (Lidl-Trek), still away from his best version after the serious drop he suffered at Giro2013, or the young Italian Antonio Tiberi, the fifth classified of the last ‘Pink Corsa’.
Although not candidates for general, Belgian Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike), winner in Tavira last year, Frenchman Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor), Eritreu Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty) or promising Sprinter Arnaud De Lie (Lotto) are other ‘stars’ that will be in the Algarve.
De Lie is really a favorite to triumph this Wednesday in Lagos, the final point of 192.2 kilometers from the first stage, which starts at 11:50 in Portimão.
The 175 cyclists, from 25 teams, 13 of which in the WorldTour, will find the only difficulty of the journey to kilometer 97.2, in the third category count, then heading towards Vila do Bispo, where the steering wheel is installed ( 161,8).
The arrival at Avenida dos Discoveries in Lagos is scheduled for 16:48.
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