Volta ao Algarve - Preview

Remco Evenepoel is, according to those around him at QuickStep-AlphaVinyl, a calmer and more mature bike rider in 2022. Mild misgivings about the inclusion of gravel on the route notwithstanding, he was certainly magnanimous in defeat to Aleksandr Vlasov at the recent Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana, offering fist bumps of congratulations to the men who finished ahead of him at Alto Las Antenas Maigmó Tibi.

Even so, one can safely assume that Evenepoel’s new-found zen has its limits. Defeat in Valencia ended his striking sequence of never having lost a leader’s jersey in a stage race – he has seven multi-day wins on his palmarès – and, if his short career to date is any guide, a forceful response would appear imminent.

Enter the Volta ao Algarve, the next race on Evenepoel’s programme. 

Two years ago, he delivered his final exhibition before the first coronavirus lockdown by landing two stages and overall victory here, and he returns to Portugal this week as the man most likely to carry off the spoils in a race that features two familiar – and gravel-free – summit finishes, as well as a 32km individual time trial.

There are 174 other riders in the Volta ao Algarve peloton, including a former Tour de France winner and a brace of former world champions, but Evenepoel is not simply the pre-race favourite, he is the overwhelming box office attraction. 

It has ever been thus. Few riders have ever done their growing up quite as publicly as Evenepoel, the only rider to make junior races a marquee event in World Championships week. Win or lose, the headlines in Portugal will again be his.

The riders

But even if Evenepoel is central to the narrative, there are plenty of other subplots to be followed in the Algarve this week. 

Several of them are shoehorned into the Ineos Grenadiers team, where Geraint Thomas starts his 16th season as a professional in an event where he has shone in the past. He is joined by the future of the British team, as newly-minted cyclo-cross world champion Tom Pidcock begins his road campaign alongside Ethan Hayter, who placed second overall last year, and new arrival Ben Tulett. A deep line-up also sees Dylan van Baarle and Michal Kwiatkowski – overall winner here in 2014 and 2018 – get their years underway in Portugal. For Ineos Grenadiers and everyone else, the early season races are becoming more and more important. 

The Volta ao Algarve also sees Tobias Foss begin his build-up to the Giro d’Italia at the head of a solid Jumbo-Visma squad, while David Gaudu leads the line for Groupama-FDJ and Sergio Higuita is et to make his European debut for Bora-Hansgrohe after winning the Colombian national road race title on Sunday.

On the evidence of early-season form, meanwhile, Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) might well be the rider most likely to challenge Evenepoel. The American was climbing very well at the Challenge Mallorca, where he was an impressive solo winner of the Trofeo Calvia, while the stage 4 time trial here should also be to his liking.

His fellow countryman Joe Dombrowski is on hand for his Astana-Qazaqstan debut, though the team is without another new arrival, Gianni Moscon, due to illness. 

Warren Barguil (Arkéa-Samsic) moves on to Portugal after a fast start in Mallorca, though the sheer length of the time trial likely places a ceiling on what he can achieve in the overall standings.

As ever, the Volta ao Algarve offers something for everything, and there are two clear opportunities for the sprinters. Fabio Jakobsen (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) looked imperious in the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana and he has already won twice on the Volta ao Algarve’s stage 1 finish on the Avenida dos Descobrimentos in Lagos.

Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) and Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) have also both started 2022 with two wins and a sparkling run of form, and they will inevitably be in the mix this week. Alexander Kristoff opened his account for Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert with a win in Almeria, while Tim Merlier (Alpecin-Fenix), Pascal Ackermann (UAE Team Emirates) and Jake Stewart (Grouapama-FDJ) will all be keen to get off the mark here.

Elsewhere, men with designs on Opening Weekend, such as Nils Politt (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Yves Lampaert (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl), will look to bank warm weather miles in Portugal, while Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ) is always a strong performer in the Volta ao Algarve time trial and he will surely enjoy the extra length this time out.

Defending champion João Rodrigues (W52/FC Porto) leads the home challenge, and although the field is deeper than it was during last year’s pandemic-postponed May edition, he will expect to be up there in the uphill finales at Fóia and Malhão, as will his teammate and 2021 Volta a Portugal winner Amaro Antunes.

W52/FC Porto are one of ten Portuguese squads in the peloton and therein lies a sizeable part of the charm of this event. The Portuguese pelotão, composed of teams that are part of bigger sporting clubs, has for decades endured almost independently of trends beyond its borders. 

The Volta a Portugal, by dint of its summer date, has always been an event utterly dominated by domestic riders and teams. The Volta ao Algarve, with its early slot on the calendar, allows the rest of the world to sample a flake of a unique cycling culture.

The route

Every year, the Volta ao Algarve offers mild variations on a familiar theme, and the 2022 edition has a familiar feel, with two flat days, two uphill finishes and a time trial. 

That balanced combination has been drawing WorldTour teams to this corner of the world since the Volta ao Algarve moved to its February date almost twenty years ago, and the organisation have seen no reason to tinker unnecessarily with that formula.

Wednesday's opening stage from Portimao to Lagos winds inland to take in some undulating terrain around the climb to Nave, but the sprinters will contest the win on the Avenida dos Descobrimentos. 

The first rendezvous for the GC men comes on the second day as the race climbs into the hills of the Serra de Monchique. The long ascents of Pomba and Picota serve as a preamble to the Alto da Fóia (7.7km at 6.1%), where Tadej Pogačar announced himself in 2019 and where Evenepoel unleashed a thunderous late acceleration twelve months later.

The category 4 climb of Bengado could provoke late frissons on stage 3 to Faro, but the sprinters’ teams still have more than 20km to ensure another bunch finish. This year, the time trial moves to the penultimate day and the organisers have tacked on an extra dozen kilometres to the usual menu to create a 32km test from Vila Real de Santo António to Tavira. The distance is particularly striking given that this year’s entire Giro d'Italia has just 26km across its three weeks. 

In a five-day stage race, this time trial will carry outsized weight and shortens Evenepoel’s odds of overall victory still further.

The grand finale, meanwhile, comes once again on the Alto do Malhão, which is tackled twice on stage 5. The ascents of Picota, Vermelhos and Alte are also on the route, but the short and sharp haul up the category 2 Malhão (2.6km at 9.5%) is where the race will ignite.

Barry Ryan will be at the Volta ao Algarve for Cyclingnews, providing exclusive news, interviews and analysis from the race.