Sport Lisboa e Benfica (), commonly known as Benfica, was a professional

road bicycle racing Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on Road surface, paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional sport, professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and ...

team A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal. As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson (academic), Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interde ...

based in

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

, Portugal.

History

Cycling Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...

was the main sport of the original ''Grupo Sport Benfica'' formed in 1906. Upon the merger with ''Sport Lisboa'' in 1908, a cycling department established within the new

Sport Lisboa e Benfica Sport Lisboa e Benfica (), commonly known as Benfica, is a professional football club based in Lisbon, Portugal, that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football. Founded on 28 February 1904 as ''Sport Lisboa'', Ben ...

, and along with

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

, is one of only two sports referenced in the club's logo. The sport was in activity from 1906 to 1941, 1947 to 1978, 1999 to 2000, and once again for two seasons in 2007 and 2008. In 1931 the Portuguese cycling legend José Maria Nicolau won the

Volta a Portugal The Volta a Portugal ( en, Tour of Portugal), also known as Volta a Portugal em Bicicleta ( en, Tour of Portugal on Bicycle), is an annual multi-stage road bicycle racing competition held in Portugal. The competition takes place during a two-week s ...

and helped Benfica to win the Volta as a team. Benfica won the Volta once again in 1932. In 1934, Benfica won the Volta for the third time with Nicolau being the overall winner, beating his rival Alfredo Trindade from Sporting of

. After some years without success, Benfica won another Volta as a team in 1939. The benfiquistas had to wait until 1947 (due to the end of the cycling section in 1941) to see once again one of their cyclists winning the Volta. It was José Martins, who also helped Benfica to win the Volta as a team. In 1963, Benfica won its sixth Volta a Portugal, but had to wait two more years to see a Benfica cyclist winning the Volta. It was Peixoto Alves, who was succeeded by

Francisco Valada Francisco Valada (15 May 1941 – 23 December 2021) was a Portuguese cyclist. He competed in the individual road race and team time trial events at the 1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics ( it, Giochi Olimpici estivi del 1960), of ...

one year later and another team win. In 1968 Américo Silva won the Volta, but Benfica failed to win it as a team. That happened in 1974, when Benfica won its eighth Volta (and due to the cycling section's end in 1978 the last one for a long time) and its cyclist Fernando Mendes the seventh individual Volta for Benfica. Two years later, in 1976,

Firmino Bernardino Firmino Bernardino (born 19 March 1950) is a Portuguese racing cyclist. He rode in the 1975 Tour de France The 1975 Tour de France was the 62nd edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It took place between 26 June and 20 J ...

won the last Volta for Benfica before its end in 1978. It was the Spanish cyclist

David Plaza David Plaza Romero (born 3 July 1970) is a Spanish former professional road bicycle racer, who competed in the team time trial at the 1992 Summer Olympics. He now works as a directeur sportif for UCI Women's Continental Team . Major results ...

, the first foreigner to win a Volta for Benfica, who won the last individual Volta for Benfica in 1999. It was the same year that Benfica won its ninth and so far last Volta a Portugal. Another Spanish Benfica cyclist,

Melcior Mauri Melcior Mauri Prat (born 8 April 1966 in Vic) is a Spanish retired cyclist who won the 1991 Vuelta a España, as well as numerous smaller stage races, mainly due to his abilities as a time triallist. He won the silver medal at the time trial Wor ...

, won the

Volta ao Algarve The Volta ao Algarve (Portuguese; en, Tour of the Algarve) is a road bicycle racing stage race held annually in the Algarve, Portugal. Since 2017, it has been organised as a 2.HC event on the UCI Europe Tour. The race became part of the new UCI P ...

. In 2007, the newly created Benfica cycling team around superstar

José Azevedo José Bento Azevedo Carvalho (born 19 September 1973) is a Portuguese retired road racing cyclist, and most recently, general manager of UCI WorldTeam . During his racing career, Azevedo rode for between 2001 and 2003 and for between 2004 an ...

ended the 2007–2008 UCI Europe Tour in 27th with 622 points. In 2008,

Rubén Plaza Rubén Plaza Molina (born 29 February 1980) is a Spanish former professional road bicycle racer, who competed professionally between 2001 and 2019 for the , S.L. Benfica, , (over three spells), , and teams. During his career, he recorded a to ...

won the

Vuelta a Valencia The Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana (; en, Tour of the Valencian Community or Tour of Valencia) is a road cycling stage race held in the Valencian Community (''Comunitat Valenciana''), Spain. Its position in the cycling calendar means it is often ...

Titles

National

: 9 ** 1931, 1932, 1934, 1939, 1947, 1963, 1966, 1974, 1999 *

: 1 ** 1999

International

2007-08 UCI Europe Tour Teams Results * 2007 Tour de Luxembourg: 5th * 2008 Clásica Internacional de Alcobendas: 5th * 2008 Volta a Portugal: 3rd * 2008 GPCI Torres Vedras - Troféu Joaquim Agostinho: * 2008 Volta ao Alentejo: 13th * 2008 Grande Prémio Internacional CTT Correios: 6th * 2008 GP Rota dos Móveis: 11th 2007-08 UCI Europe Tour Individual Wins *

2008 Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana The 2008 Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana was a road cycling stage race that took place in the Valencian Community between 26 February and 1 March 2008. The race was won by Rubén Plaza. Stages Teams Standings General classification ...

UCI 2008

References

{{S.L. Benfica S.L. Benfica (cycling),

Cycling teams based in Portugal Defunct cycling teams based in Portugal Cycling teams established in 1906 Cycling teams disestablished in 2008 1906 establishments in Portugal 2008 disestablishments in Portugal