The World Tour teams already confirmed for the Tour of the Algarve and the Figueira Champions Classic

The two biggest UCI races in Portuguese cycling take place in February: the Figueira Champions Classic and the Volta ao Algarve. The 2023 season is already in the past and so the details of the races at the start of next season and the teams that will be competing in them are beginning to be known.

The Figueira Champions Classic will take to the road on February 10, after the inaugural edition, at the start of 2023, was won by Casper Pedersen of Soudal-QuickStep. In 2024, the race will be upgraded to the ProSeries level and will feature a course similar to this year's, around 220 kilometers long.

Last year's race in Figueira da Foz featured five World Tour (WT) teams and, according to O Jogo, the race's official newspaper, the presence of three top cycling teams in 2024 is already certain: Lidl-Trek, Alpecin-Deceuninck and Team DSM-firmenich.

The three teams are thus repeating their presence from 2022, and the race's move up a level raises expectations that the announcement of the World Tour teams won't stop there, as João Almeida and Tadej Pogacar have been rumoured to be taking part in the race with UAE Team Emirates.

The 50th edition of the Volta ao Algarve will take to the road between February 14 and 18, and is already a traditional early-season race for several WT teams. As such, according to A Bola, the presence of six teams in the "Algarve" has already been confirmed: Astana Qazaqstan Team, Alpecin-Deceuninck, DSM - firmenich, Groupama - FDJ and Arkéa- B&B Hotels. 

As a result, expectations are starting to build about the riders who will line up in the two races, particularly the sprinters, with names like Arnaud Démare and Fabio Jakobsen being regulars in the Volta ao Algarve. It will be interesting to see whether the other WT teams with Portuguese riders will take part in one or both of the early season races.