Dunas Douradas - Albufeira 151 km
A new race that as far as I know hasn't been available for a wide TV audience before but will be this year thanks to Eurosport. More live racing, gotta love that.
This is the traditional kick-off for the serious stageracers and Ardennes specialists. With five stages, generally hilly/climby and the final stage being a 26 km timetrial it's the perfect course for them to gauge the quality of their winter preparation and get back into the rhythm of racing.
Last year's race was won by Tony Martin ahead of Tejay Van Garderen and before that Contador has won two years in a row. All in all it also reads like a pretty good preview to who will do well at Paris-Nice.
Stage 1 is lumpy-ish with a flat finish, made for a sprint-battle.
Podiumcafe likely suspect: Gerard Ciolek
Official site , Startlist , Stageinfo
Live video:16:45 CET (10:45 US EST, 02:45 AUS EDT)
Video: steephill , cyclingfans , Procyclinglive , Sports Livez.