World’s top cycling team to race at Volta a Portugal

UAE Team Emirates, currently ranked as the world’s top professional cycling team, has confirmed it will compete in this year’s Volta a Portugal, marking the return of a top-tier international squad to the country’s biggest cycling race for the first time in five years.

Among the riders expected to line up at the August 5 prologue in Lisbon is Portuguese Olympic champion Rui Oliveira, who won gold in the Madison event at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

The participation of UAE Team Emirates was announced during the presentation of the 87th Volta a Portugal, where race director Ezequiel Mosquera described the team’s presence as an important boost for the event.

“It is the best team in the world and, apart from the Portuguese teams, the one with the most Portuguese riders. We hope its participation helps strengthen the image of the Volta a Portugal,” he said.

The UAE squad includes some of the biggest names in world cycling, led by four-time Tour de France winner and reigning world champion Tadej Pogačar, alongside Portuguese riders João Almeida, António Morgado, Rui Oliveira and Ivo Oliveira.

It will be the first time since Movistar competed in 2021 that a team from cycling’s top tier has taken part in the Volta a Portugal.

Algarve stage returns

The 2026 edition will take place between August 5 and 16, beginning with a six-kilometre prologue along Lisbon’s waterfront before heading south for one of the race’s key stages.

Stage two, on August 7, will run 177 kilometres from Sines to Albufeira, offering what organisers describe as a route suited to sprinters but with enough challenging terrain to create opportunities for attacks before the finish in the Algarve.

The route then continues to Elvas, before tackling the mountains of the Serra da Estrela, an individual time trial between Anadia and Águeda, and the traditional summit finish at Senhora da Graça, before concluding in Porto on August 16.

Full Volta a Portugal 2026 route

August 5: Prologue – Lisbon to Lisbon (6km)

August 6: Stage 1 – Lourinhã to Sintra/Queluz (153km)

August 7: Stage 2 – Sines to Albufeira (177km)

August 8: Stage 3 – Beja to Elvas/Fortaleza (180km)

August 9: Stage 4 – Figueiró dos Vinhos to Torre, Serra da Estrela (144km)

August 10: Stage 5 – Anadia to Águeda (17km individual time trial)

August 11: Rest day

August 12: Stage 6 – Santa Maria da Feira to Peso da Régua (129km)

August 13: Stage 7 – Vieira do Minho to Gerês (147km)

August 14: Stage 8 – Melgaço to Fafe (166km)

August 15: Stage 9 – Paredes to Mondim de Basto (Senhora da Graça) (141km)