Remco Evenpole (Deceuninck-Quick Step) will make his 2020 European race debut this week at the Volta ao Algarve. His time trial skills and recent success at the Vuelta a San Juan in Argentina have put him on the start list of Geraint Thomas, Rohan Dennis, Miguel Angel Lopez, Vincenzo Nibali, Mathieu van der Pol and Dan Martin. Despite the fact that he is a natural candidate for the Overall.

The five-day race includes two flat stages for sprinters, two uphill finishes on the Alto da Foia (7.4 km, 6%) and the Alto de Marjan (2.6 km, 9.4%), and a final 20.3 km individual time trial. This is the first time in eight years that the race will conclude with a time trial, and the undulating course south of Lagoa is expected to create a decisive time difference and determine the overall winner's crown.

The race route seems ideal for European time trial champion Evenpole. He won the 15.5km time trial at the Vuelta a San Juan and held the lead on the crucial mountain stage to Alto Colorado.

Last year, the same time trial took place on stage 3, with Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) winning one of the previous day's climbs to Alto da Foia to defend his overall lead. Pogacar chose a different race program this year, heading to the UAE Tour.

The 20-year-old Belgian returned home for a few days after his victory in the Vuelta a San Juan, but after a test in the Bacara lab on February 10, he immediately headed to Calpe, Spain, for a week of training before moving to the south coast of Portugal. After the Volta ao Algarve, Evenpoel will ride the Tirreno-Adriatico and the Ardennes Classics in preparation for his Grand Tour debut at the Giro d'Italia in May.

Deceuninck-QuickStep's Algarve Volta team also includes Yves Lampert and Fabio Jacobsen, who had a stage win and two finishes last week in Volta, Valencia. But when the team announced its lineup, Evenpoel was the star of the show. Also on the Deceuninck-QuickStep team is Portuguese World Tour NeoPro Joao Almeida and hardworking domesticians Tim DeClercq and Florian Senechal. Jacobsen's new lead out man, Davide Ballerini, has been ill and has been replaced by Iljo Keisse.

"Lemko will find a good course for him. The technical time trial on the final stage will be an important test for Lemko, who is hoping for a good GC result, and for Yves, who finished on the podium in the Algarve ITT last year," explained Tom Stiels, Sportif's director.

"The Algarve is one of the most amazing races you can do at the beginning of the year. The parcours is up and down and is the perfect test before the big races in the spring. Fabio, who won a stage in Valencia, will rely on Davide to lead out and Florian, who starts his season next week.

Cycling News will have full coverage of the Volta Ao Algarve. Daniel Ostanek will be on the ground in Portugal to gather exclusive news and interviews.