Written by Jicky Nonkers of
  NJ procycling
  
  The Volta ao Porto will bring us 10 beautiful stages in the northern part of Portugal. It is still early in the season and this division 2 tour will give us quite some spectacle. The following 24 teams will compete for 10 stage victories and 3 jerseys:
  
   WestPomeranian
  
  Manager Adam completely focusses on the climbing stages with a young, completely Polish team. With Tobiasz Lukaszewicz and Alan Markowski he can choose between two good climbers to get top 9 results.
  
   Szirmai Világos
  
  A team consisting of 6 allround Hungarian riders. Probably not good enough in the real climbing work to get results, but who knows what kind of tactical surprises manager salimami thinks of?
  
   Conero cycling
  
  Another team that focusses on the climbing stages having a specialist like Gottfried Weber. Expecting him to compete for stage results.
  
   Cycling and Kebab
  
  First sprinting team to sign up, with Samuel Jakobsen as captain. Jakobsen is an amazing sprinter and has decent support, but will it be enough to win the sprint classification?
  
   Rigana
  
  Second sprinting team is the South African team Rigana. Won the sprint classifications ones (season 27), but this is a long time ago. This time, it is not expected that the sprinting train will be able to really compete for stage victory.
  
   Spin Doctors
  
  This team is very well known in Porto. Winning the sprint classification three times in total with Kyle Wyles and Sherlock Toll gives Spin Doctors half of the jerseys last six seasons. This time, they are supporting Kirby Abner in TF. A very strong sprinting team and favorite for the sprinting jersey.
  
   Yuri SuperTeam
  
  With Adônis Lourenço and Harmano Montenegro, Yuri has two amazing time trailers that have a chance for the victory in the three time trail stages. The rest of the team is built of sprinters to help Sveinlaugursson in the sprinting stages. Will Yuri regret focusing on two disciplines?

  
   trackstah07
  
  Aiming for some top 9 results in the climbing stages, but missing a real climbing specialist. Most people will be curious for the performance of Ethan Bird in this tour.
  
   CC Est
  
  Manager Taavi travels to Porto with a stage victory in mind. Having a strong sprinting team with Ngay and Batuldzii he has riders who should be able to make it hard for the other sprinting teams to win.
  
   Team Oasis
  
  Strong climbing which we expect in the mountains. With Dominic Haidegger, Nooky has a rider that can win some time in the descents.
  
   Manisaspor
  
  Manager Ozgur Akman is not expecting that much from this race because of a TF failure of his captain Hüsnü Dilmen. Dilmen is a strong climber and has won Norway Tour last year. Will he be in good shape for Porto? He has to be because his support is not as good as his competitors.
  
   Silver Giants
  
  Has won in Porto two seasons ago with Gasana. This time Gasana will help Eigairma in the mountains. Eigairma will be in TF and aiming for a top 9 in the GC.
  
   TJ Banik OKD
  
  There are not that many TT’ers in the three time trails. Two of them represent TJ Banik and will battle with the TT’ers of Yuri SuperTeam for the time trails.
  
   Cremtec
  
  Another team for the time trails. Christopher Dobbelaere is the best chance for this team. Probably no victory in the time trails but top 5 spots should be possible.
  
   Aesop
  
  It is very impressive what this team achieved after its founding not even a year ago. In this year’s Volta it will be hard to perform. The riders are very experienced and might get some top 9 results in the sprinting stages.
  
   Help
  
  Help is here with a decent climbing squad and a

captain that finished twice as number four in the GC. Is Tor Øverland finally going to reach the podium?
  
   Team Unibet
  
  Romanian rider Bostina is a strong captain and has decent support for this tour. He is ready to show his national yersey in Porto but will dream of another jersey.
  
   PegasusFlights
  
  Last two seasons Alain de Keijsere showed himself in Perm Tour. This year it is time to discover a different country. On the longer climbs he will have a tough time when the real favorites attack but a good performance is expected.
  
   Odfjell Tankers
  
  The young, strong Celades will captain this team with support of the experienced Redon. Celades is an allround climber who still has to discover his possibilities in tours.
  
   The Broad Backs
  
  Milton Café is a climbing specialist and has good experience with the region around Porto. He showed in Porto GP that he is a capable of winning stages in Portugal.
  
   Twente Cycling Team
  
  Jeremy Dooley finished second last year and is back in TF. He is aiming for the victory again. The basis for this are some good time trails and following the best climbers.
  
   Sons of the Desert
  
  This team consists of a few riders that are able to show themselves in the climbing stages. The captain (Remie Remry or Andrez Dauwen) aims for a top 9 spot in the GC.
  
   Velo Kiwi
  
  Allan Wade is in TF and eager to win this edition. The last two seasons he finished third and now he wants to do better. He has a manager who knows how winning in Porto feels like. Manager David is not expecting that much but Wade is certainly one of the podium candidates.
  
   Driehoek
  
  Last team to sign up, with a captain who loves Portugal. Former Norway Tour (GC and YC) and Porto (YC and second in GC) winner Chatwin Stiver wants to win a tour again and has a strong team to help him.