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 A multistage rocket or step rocket is a launch vehicle that uses two or more rocket ''stages'', each of which contains its own engines and propellant. A ''tandem'' or ''serial'' stage is mounted on top of another stage; a ''parallel'' stage is ...

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 ...

competition held in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

. The competition takes place during a two-week span.

History

The competition started in 1927, although its second edition only occurred in 1931. In 1936 and 1937 the tour did not take place. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

the race was cancelled between 1942 and 1945. In 1975 the competition was skipped due to the

Carnation Revolution The Carnation Revolution ( pt, Revolução dos Cravos), also known as the 25 April ( pt, 25 de Abril, links=no), was a military coup by left-leaning military officers that overthrew the authoritarian Estado Novo regime on 25 April 1974 in Lisbo ...

. In the period 1940-1980 the competition was staged over three weeks. Since the 1980s it was reduced to the period of two weeks. As of 2005 the race consisted only of ten stages. In the last years the race consisted of ten stages and a prologue (a short time trial that starts the race). It is still the longest competition in cycling after the three grand Tours. It is one of the oldest stage races in the world. Although not as important as the three

Grand Tours In road bicycle racing, a Grand Tour is one of the three major European professional cycling stage races: Giro d'Italia, Tour de France, and Vuelta a España. Collectively they are termed the ''Grand Tours'', and all three races are similar in ...

, it has long been a significant competition. In the last few years, however, it has declined in importance, especially because it now takes place immediately after the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...

, and before the

Vuelta a España The Vuelta a España (; en, Tour of Spain) is an annual multi-stage bicycle race primarily held in Spain, while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries. Inspired by the success of the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia, the ...

, a schedule that precludes the participation of major teams and cyclists.

List of winners

Wins by cyclist

In bold cyclist still active. ;1 win *Adelino Teixeira *Alejandro Marque *Américo Silva *Antoine Houbrechts *Augusto de Carvalho *Belmiro Silva *Carlos Carvalho *Cássio Freitas *Cayn Theakston *César Luís *Claus Moller *David Bernabéu *David Plaza *Fabian Jeker *Fernando Carvalho *Fernando Mendes dos Reis Dias *Fernando Moreira *Firmino Bernardino *Francisco Inácio *Francisco Miranda *Francisco Valada *Jesus Manzaneque *João Rodrigues *João Roque *Joaquim Andrade *Joaquim Fernandes *Joaquim Leão *Joaquim Sousa Santos *Jorge Silva *José Pacheco *Manuel Cunha *Manuel Zeferino *Marco Serpellini *Mário Silva *Massimiliano Lelli *Moreira de Sá *Nuno Ribeiro *Peixoto Alves *Ricardo Mestre *Rui Vinhas *Sousa Cardoso *Venceslau Fernandes *Vítor Gamito *Vladimir Efimkin *Xavier Tondo *Zenon Jaskula

Wins by team

Wins by country

Classifications

As of the 2016 edition, the jerseys worn by the leaders of the individual classifications are: * Jersey yellow

Yellow Jersey – Worn by the leader of the general classification. * Jersey green

Green Jersey – Worn by the leader of the points classification. * Jersey blue

Blue Jersey – Worn by the leader of the climbing classification. * Jersey white

White Jersey – Worn by the best rider under 23 years of age on the overall classification.

References

External links

*{{Official website, https://www.volta-portugal.com/ Volta a Portugal Cycle races in Portugal UCI Europe Tour races Recurring sporting events established in 1927 1927 establishments in Portugal Summer events in Portugal August sporting events