Preview Figueira Champions Classic 2026 - UAE versus the world on hilly and windy classic
CyclingFriday, 13 February 2026 at 19:22
On the 14th of February, the peloton will takle Portugal's first pro race in 2026, and its most prestigious one-day race: the Figueira Champions Classic. The race comes as a precursor to the Volta ao Algarve, providing opportunities for the climbers, sprinters and classics specialists all at once. We preview the race ahead.
The race was created in 2023, seeing the success of the Volta ao Algarve, which is now used as a racing block for the riders looking to seize the good weather in coastal Portugal at this time of winter. Casper Pedersen won the first race back in 2023, and the following year there was a big success in the triumph of Remco Evenepoel, a win which saw the race's reputation quickly grow into what it is today. In 2025, Local favourite António Morgado won with an attack on the climb to the Serra da Boa Viagem (Rua Parque Florestal) which then saw him take a solo win.
Profile: Figueira da Foz - Figueira da Foz
Figueira da Foz - Figueira da Foz, 190.7 kilometers
The race will be just over 190 kilometers long, with a mostly flat start and a hilly circuit finale - one that features three laps of a hilly circuit where there should be plenty fireworks. 2200 meters of climbing, the grand majority in its final half.
Once the first half of the route has been covered, we enter Figueira da Foz once again where we find two main climbs: Rua Parque Florestal (2.3Km; 7.8%; 20Km to go) and after some rolling terrain, the very short but sharp 'Enforca Cães' (800 meters; 7%; 6.1Km to go). This is a circuit that will be tackled on three occasions, with both climbs featuring double-digit gradients where it is not complicated for the best climbers to create damage. It's a very fast downhill then into the final few kilometers where it's still possible, but hard to chase a lone attacker.
Prediction Figueira Champions Classic 2026:
*** António Morgado, Brandon McNulty
** Jarno Widar, Toms Skujins, Lorenzo Finn
* Jakob Soderqvist, Daniel Martínez, Jan Tratnik, Marc Hischi, Marijn van den Berg, Max Poole, Riley Sheehan, Javier Romo, Tom Gloag, Sandy Dujardin, Diego Pescador
** Jarno Widar, Toms Skujins, Lorenzo Finn
* Jakob Soderqvist, Daniel Martínez, Jan Tratnik, Marc Hischi, Marijn van den Berg, Max Poole, Riley Sheehan, Javier Romo, Tom Gloag, Sandy Dujardin, Diego Pescador
Pick: Brandon McNulty
How: Solo win.
Original: Rúben Silva
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- This looks like it'd be a good watch with a route like so
leedorney13-02-2026 - The thing is that until someone fails a test or is caught in some other way then riders should be considered innocent. However, when the climb times, level of competition, watts achieved and many other data points are taken into consideration and put in context with guys like Armstrong, whom they are kicking to 20th place on mountains he once dominated and held records on, when we know he was doping in his prime, it seems impossible that cheating at some level is not happening. I think a guy like Tadej is probably a guy who only comes along in two or three generations, looking at the way he wins across different cycling disciplines tells me this. Like everything else, time will tell the truth. I want guys like Tadej and Jonas to be clean and I hope they are, I'll keep believing anyway until someone who is really in the know, like a failed test or the UCI, tells me different.awp13-02-2026
- Stupid quote. There is not a single person who in their life has not been lied to, for different reasons: also self-defense, kindness, mercy with others, etc. Then is a world of unrepentant DANGEROUS liars? you included?. And why is this atmosphere of CONSTANT suspicion and accusation only applicable to cycling and not to all sports that have had mega doping scandals?
maria2024202413-02-2026 - What a wet stage. I love it when the breakaway wins, especially with a Conti rider. Fabulous!RidesHills13-02-2026
- The UAE Tour is now level on UCI points with the 7 major stage races, and looking at the 2026 route, I think it deserves it. Previously, it was comprised of 4 flat stages for the sprinters (with the opening stage to Liwa Palace being an uphill finish), 1 flat ITT, 1 shallow summit finish to Jebel Jais (which served only to kick out the non-GC contenders like Joshua Tarling, as it always ends in a sprint of the climbers) and 1 steep summit finish of Jebel Hafeet (where the GC is always decided). In this route, one flat sprint has been replaced with the hilly Fujairah stage, a novelty in the race, providing variation not normally seen here. The Jebel Jais stage has been replaced with the Jebel Yibir stage, and crucially this comes before the easier Jebel Hafeet stage (if it had been the other way round, riders would go easy on Jebel Hafeet). In addition to this, the opening and closing stages (Liwa Palace and the Abu Dhabi Breakwater) have become iconic. What's missing is that all the mountain stages have very little variation, all being unipuerto. Because they don't have big mountain passes, the solution is to make some of their big climbs into dual carriageways. Jebel Jais and Jebel Hafeet are already very wide. That also opens up the possibility of having mountain stages with flat finishes, which increases variation further. Of course there are the ethical issues of promoting further a race in such a country. The question would be if previous winners of the race will have their wins counted as triumphs in a major stage race. This race doesn't have the history but that can't be used as a defining metric because then there's no hope for any new race.
Rafionain-Glas13-02-2026 - Remco Mustafa is a f**** liar. He knew very well that Pogi will not race the UAE Tour. In December 2025 Pogi said, that he doesn't have a schedule yet but his first race will be Strade Bianche. After asked about the UAE Tour, he said NO, not next year. Capish, you Belgian Mustafa?Mou-Cro-HR13-02-2026
- Zonneveld is trying to make a name for himself attacking Pogacar like David Walsh of the Sunday Times attacked Pharmstrong all those years. Only difference really, at the end of all things Walsh was a damned fine investigative journalist.....slappers6613-02-2026
- What is the big deal I am 61 and put out 230 for a 3 hr ride . Do not know what the fuss is about🤣🤣🤣paultryan200213-02-2026
- What is the big deal I am 61 and put out 230 for a 3 hr ride . Do not know what the fuss is about🤣🤣🤣paultryan200213-02-2026
- Its great to see teams like EF Education, Jayco Alula and PicNicPost NL, the smaller budgeted teams, do well and the World Tour needs them. Cycling as a world sports interest is finished if we are left with two or three conglomerate teams winning everything.whit2pet13-02-2026
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