The return of Vingegaard, his possible duel with Roglic and Van Aert bring excitement to the Volta ao Algarve 2025

A truly luxurious lineup that has come together this year at the Volta ao Algarve, a race that will take place from Wednesday, February 19 to Sunday, 23. The Portuguese race will see the debut in 2025 of a Jonas Vingegaard determined to leave no doubts from the beginning of the season and who comes with his best men to a race that always offers a beautiful spectacle.

The best of the peloton come together at the Volta ao Algarve 2025. Favorites for the victory

In few races on the calendar, and especially considering that the Volta ao Algarve is a 2.Pro category race, we will see a start list with more and better names than those that will come together in this 2025 edition at the start of the race in Portimao.

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With all these big names, one team shines on its own, the Visma-Lease a Bike team that comes to the Portuguese race with the intention of not leaving any prisoners. Obviously, the leader must be Jonas Vingegaard who will try to start this 2025 in the same way he did last year in O Gran Camiño, that is, with a victory. To achieve this, he has lined up a team that will not be very different from the one at the Tour de France with cyclists of the caliber of Wout van Aert, Sepp Kuss, or Tiesj Benoot.

If anyone can face the power of the yellow team in this Volta ao Algarve 2025, it is the Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe team of Primoz Roglic who has also traveled to the south of Portugal with the intention of not leaving empty-handed. He is accompanied by top-level support riders such as Jan Tratnik and Oier Lazkano.

We must never forget, when talking about the possible protagonists of a race, the men of UAE Team Emirates-XRG who have given the reins to Joao Almeida who relies on his Portuguese praetorian guard to help him be as far ahead as possible: Antonio Morgado and the Oliveira brothers.

As a last name to highlight, we would mention Romain Bardet who will surely give battle on the winding roads of the Algarve, terrain that perfectly suits his characteristics.

Route of Volta ao Algarve 2025

The Portuguese do not complicate things when it comes to designing the profile of the Volta ao Algarve, applying the maxim of "if it works, don't change it". Thus, we find a race that seeks to make the most of the rugged terrain of the Algarve region in southern Portugal.

The race starts with what is supposedly a simple and fairly flat stage between Portimao and Lagos. A small warm-up for the favorites before facing a tough medium mountain stage the next day with no less than 5 categorized climbs, including the traditional finish at Fóia, a stage that should define the general classification until the last stage.

The third and fourth days are more gentle. Friday's stage is a leg-breaker, although the finish is completely flat in its approach to Tavira, so it will be an opportunity that the fast men will not miss. Saturday offers more movement options, also with a hilly route and 4 categorized climbs, the last of them just 7 kilometers from the finish, which could lead to some surprises.

The Volta ao Algarve 2025 will conclude with the great novelty of this edition, where the time trial has become a decisive stage by including in the final three kilometers of its 16.6 the ascent to the tough Alto de Malhao which usually closes the race but in a road stage format. A climb that will force the cyclists to measure themselves a lot since we are talking about an ascent with its first two kilometers above 10% gradient.

How to watch the Volta ao Algarve 2025

The coincidence of dates with the UAE Tour and the Vuelta a Andalucía does not pose any problem to follow the Volta ao Algarve as the time difference between the three locations minimizes overlaps.

Eurosport and the Max platform will cover the Portuguese race between 4 and 6 pm with a replay of the stage of the day both at night and the next day.