“The level of the participant list is better than in some WorldTour races” - Tiesj Benoot on his first race of the season at the Volta ao Algarve

Tiesj Benoot is about to begin his tenth season as a WorldTour rider in his first race of the season at the Volta ao Algarve. The Belgian rider will be joined by a strong Visma | Lease a Bike lineup with Wout van Aert and Sepp Kuss leading the team, with Per Strand Hagenes, Jan Tratnik, Milan Vader and Julien Vermote providing support alongside Benoot.

Looking ahead to the race in an interview with Portuguese Cycling Magazine, Benoot said “we bring a strong team, but if you look at the list, there are many teams that bring their best riders. In fact, that's what I experienced in 2015, when the Algarve was one of my first races. It’s not WorldTour, but the level of the participant list is better than in some WorldTour races”.

The Volta ao Algarve is one of the most popular races among the professionals in the early part of the season, as Benoot explained that “it’s a preparation race with a good route, tough but not too tough, normally with good weather conditions, and the fact that we stay in one or two hotels makes everything very calm”.

On his own personal preparation ahead of this season, Benoot said “my preparation was going very well, until December 31st. Then I caught Covid, I didn't train for 7 days and I also had a very high fever”, which led to him pulling out of the Vuelta a Murcia and the Clásica Jaén.