The Portuguese Tiago Machado is the man of Katusha at the Volta ao Algarve/Tour of Algarve (18-22 February), but the Russian team will come to the south of Portugal with a block also able to fight for victories in all stages.

The team, led by José Azevedo, will be composed of Tiago Machado, Sergey Chernetski, Yuri Trofimov, Alexander Porsev, Rudiger Selig, Alberto Losada, Anton Vorobyev and Alexander Kolobnev.

"We are not going to the Algarve just to participate, we want to contest the race and the stages. We have trust in Tiago Machado and Sergey Chernetski for the overall classification, since Yuri Trofimov will have the first race of the year in Portugal and the goal is to prepare for the Giro. Alexander Porsev, Russian road champion, gives us confidence to discuss the sprints, while Anton Vorobyev, Russian time trial champion and eighth in the worlds in the same discipline, will test his condition in the individual exercise of the third stage", says José Azevedo.

The sports director of the Russian team is satisfied with the route chosen by the organization. "The race is very well designed. It has two stages for sprinters, one time trial of 19 kilometers and an arrival at the top of a slope, which will leave the fight for yellow jersey open", says the only Portuguese who runs a WorldTour team.

José Azevedo says that the distance of the stages is suitable for the time of the season in which they dispute the Volta ao Algarve/Tour of Algarve. "This race already has a certain international importance, being among those that truly count for the history of cyclists. However, as it is near the time of classic, is also attractive to men who have the one-day races as objective. For the guys of classics, the stages of the Volta ao Algarve/Tour of Algarve provides an excellent preparation", says Azevedo.

The sports director of Katusha is studying at this time, the possibility of staying in the Algarve after the race. "It is not yet closed, but we are planning to stay a few days in the Algarve. This region has a good weather, a great hotel supply, flat roads and also climbs, both in good condition. It therefore has the ideal working conditions for this time of year", says the head of the Russian team.