In a statement, the Portuguese Cycling Federation explains that “in the coming weeks it will define the race squad”, which will be disputed in February, and states that “the choice will take into account the 16 top category teams, WorldTeam, but also the Portuguese mainland formations and the ProTeam level sets that requested an invitation”.
The federation considers that the interest on the part of some of the main formations is justified by “the quality of the organization, the international media coverage of the event, the excellent quality of the hotel industry in the Algarve and the security of the destination Portugal, particularly the Algarve, in a time of pandemic”.
According to the federation's activity plan, 'Algarvia', the only event on the calendar of the UCI ProSeries category to be held in Portugal, will run from 17 to 21 February, even before the Opening Event (7 March), which traditionally starts the season.