Profile & Route Figueira Champions Classic 2026

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 take a look at its profile.

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.

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.